Cutting out tarmac

dancelikeamonkey

Hi all, I have a largish pothole (about 1/2 metre across) on my tarmac drive which I plan to fill with cold lay tarmac. A few Youtube videos had people just filling the hole and tamping down but I think it's going to look better if I cut it out in a square shape.

So the question - I know I can rent a saw and it would probably be cheaper, but as I like any excuse to add to my tool collection can I buy pretty much any circular saw and just use a diamond blade with it, or would they not be powerful enough for the job?

I wouldn't want to pay more than £100 for the saw (and would prefer nearer £50).

Cheers in advance.

[Deleted User]

We cut through tarmac when laying a new drive, but we hired a 2-stroke petrol stone saw (which was attached to a hosepipe when used).

A circular saw would work, but probably not a £100.00 one. It depends how deep you wish to cut. A bigger saw blade will need a more powerful motor hence more purchase cost.

Probably just easier to hire - you can always buy a new saw later on anyway : ) They are very useful. We have used ours for many things including to cut a bath in half so that it would fit into a hatch back car to be taken to the tip.

MisterBaxter

If it's only normal tarmac then a cheap disk cutter would do the job for cutting out a small square as tarmac isn't particularly hard. I would suggest back cutting to an angle to provide a better key for the filling material, it should last longer.

You would have to weigh up the cost difference between buying and hiring if you are only needing it to do a one-off job.

firefox1956

Just use any old angle grinder..........
With the correct blade of course

dancelikeamonkey

Thanks for the thoughts guys. One thing I hadn't thought of which I stumbled across on Google is that cutting tarmac can really gum up the innards of the tool.

So I've decided just to hire one after all. Then it's HSS' problem and I'll just have to wait until next Christmas to get one of my own

firefox1956

dancelikeamonkey wrote: »

Thanks for the thoughts guys. One thing I hadn't thought of which I stumbled across on Google is that cutting tarmac can really gum up the innards of the tool.

So I've decided just to hire one after all. Then it's HSS' problem and I'll just have to wait until next Christmas to get one of my own

Errrr......if you gum up the innards of any hire tool YOU will be the one that pays for it NOT the hire shop !!

MisterBaxter

dancelikeamonkey wrote: »

Thanks for the thoughts guys. One thing I hadn't thought of which I stumbled across on Google is that cutting tarmac can really gum up the innards of the tool.

So I've decided just to hire one after all. Then it's HSS' problem and I'll just have to wait until next Christmas to get one of my own

Think again. If you return it to a hire shop all gummed up don't be surprised when they bill the cost of cleaning it to the card you used for your deposit. They'll accept reasonable use but they would want it back in the condition you picked it up in.

A cheap angle grinder with suitable cutting wheel from Argos would suffice for a small patching job, and it's yours for future use.

andyhop

Last time I cut Tarmac with a petrol saw it gunked up the diamond blade and ruined it . For the cost I'd buy a cheap grinder and throw away once used

ilikewatch

I'd echo the comments above - when I needed to do a similar job I bought a used 9" 240V grinder from a car boot for a tenner, got the job done and sold it on afterwards for a couple of quid more than I'd paid.

In fact this has been my approach whenever I've needed a tool for a one-off job - buy it cheap second hand and flog it after use, I've rarely lost any money and have saved a fortune in hire fees.

phil24_7

This even works out for big jobs.

I bought a micro digger for £4k, me and my brother used it for 2 years for renovations and landscaping and we have agreed a sale for near enough the same.

Regards
Phil