There's a company in the Boston area that does about 90% of all concrete saw cutting. They are called Pro-Cut and I have seen there trucks around since well before the beginning of the Big Dig.

I was just on a job in downtown Boston with JF White and ProCut was using a track guided diamond saw to precut an area of wall leading into a subway station that was going to be hammered out by a Brock the next day.

The ProCut crew was one man with his Isuzu NPR 1/4 box and flatbed truck mounted to the gills with scaffolding, ladders, hose and compressor doing what he did best.

i think were refer to ourselves as brothers of the blade.

Digdug;8985 said:
I've been cutting concrete for 22yrs. maybe in another 20 I'll have it figured out. :confused:

then it's not because of the experience!

what model ring saw do you have? the old model was worth it's price in scrap metal, but the new models are neat! you can cut with the ring until there is no longer diamonds on it, without any major adjustments. and the adjustments are really easy to do!

we have had some "professionals" working for us that never did learn that you can't load and push the ring saw like a direct hydraulic unit, the RGC S16 for example. thats the reason we always use the softest rings for concrete, they wear more but needs a lot less preasure to stay sharp. in brick walls we use the medium ring.

also cutting with to little water wears out the wheels faster!
do you use a 4,5mm (1,77") wide pre-cut disk to open up a 15cm (6") deep cut first? it really saves money and nerves!

we only use the ring cutter when it is absolutely nesesarry, when the concrete walls are thicker than 15cm (6") we usually mount the wall saw. the cost of using it is a lot cheaper and the amount of time is the same or less if you hit a lot of reinforcement.
but then we use the ring saw to prevent over cuts (in combination with the chain saw), and when it is not possible or nesessary to use the wall saw.

but then again, when thinking back to the -90's, i still remember how MUCH i hated the old ring saw!!!
i had to cut a 60m (196') long horisontal cut in heavily reinforced concrete at a steel factory, i will probably never forget that one...

Digdug;8969 said:
I had a Partner ring saw and hydraulic powerpack years ago. You always needed new drive wheels and a tool box to keep it going.

this is only partly true...
it is a really good tool in the hands of a skilled PRO, but if you don't know how to do the correct regular maintanance and adjustments -> it will be a real pain in the a..
for concrete i recomend to always use the softest segment type cutting ring, and stick to the original Husqvarna diamond tools ring. there are a lot of "pirate" rings that are not the right materials and often even not soft enough.
and always put a new drive wheel on a new disk! and remember to relase the spring tenision everytime it's not in use.
the suport wheels are corectly adjusted if you can barely keep them from spinning with your hands, when you rotate the disk by hand! (with tenision on the springs). remember to shut off the power pack when doing this!!!

We don't own one single gasoline driven concrete cutter, we always bring our own truck with built in power packs and generators!

James,

I agree with the sawcutting breed, those guys make us demo guys look normal. To answer the question , i usually sub out any cutting that i can't do with a stihl demo saw and a walk behind cart. For wall cuts we bought a partner ring saw which will cut 10", but i warn you that the amount of time you cut with the saw is tripled by the time you spend wrenching on it.

James;8837 said:
Like I said there is just something about them.

Thats so true!

you can contact me also! could be that i'm quite far away, but...

I sub most of the larger amounts. I do have one of those Stihl walk behind wetcut kits for smaller slab cuts, but it isn't made for lots of continuous use.

We sub out most sawcutting but do most of our slabcutting. One of the hardest things was finding a good cutter who was dependable.