A skill saw is not a concrete saw , not sure what your question is.

the questions is if I am strong enough to use other types of equipment would I be strong enough to use a concrete saw. I have researched all the different types of concrete saws but none mention how strong the operator needs to be. I do not know how much strength is needed to use the saw or if it is mostly a matter of technique.

You want a gas operated concrete saw. It's just like a chainsaw, but it has a masonry blade instead of a chain. It's noisy as heck, but a person with moderate upper body strength shouldn't have any problem. This thing will cut concrete like a knife through butter. Your local tool rental should have one. With both of you wearing eye, hearing, and respiration protection, have a friend blow a leaf blower at the blade while you cut so you can see your line.

Thank you Revolutionary Gardens and Joseph Corlett. I also use a chain saw so the comparison was very helpful. My husband was inquiring about the hand held concrete saw since what we have to cut is so small and then we would not have to worry about hauling and unloading. What do you think?

It just sounds like to fun to me to try it! :)

It take's much less strength and energy to handle a walk behind saw than front tine tiller. The hand held is more challenging AND dangerous than regular chainsaw. From the standpoint of cost,you can buy masonary blade for your skill saw to score 2" into concrete and rent a 60 Lb jackhammer to break it out. Regardless what you use,forget the leaf blower and have your helper run a small stream of water as you cut/chip.

klem1:

Unless you set up a fence, how are you gonna see your line with water distorting it until it washes away?

You're (I'm assuming) not a pro and I don't know your level of fitness and skill w/ tools, which is why I didn't bring up the gas powered demo saw. One of my masons, who has been doing this 30+ years, hit a piece of rebar in what he was cutting, the saw kicked back, and he cut his leg open and was off work for two months. I'm a worrier, if I had kids they'd probably be wrapped in bubble wrap with a snorkel so they could breathe.

If you feel comfortable with either, it comes down to what you're trying to do. If you need a perfectly straight line a walk behind saw is going to be a lot easier to achieve that.

Also when enquiring about hand held saws, some of them have a a threaded hose coupling integrated with the blade guard so you can use it as a wet saw. Can be a useful feature. You'd be amazed how far the dust goes from cutting dry (leaf blower won't help). We did a job in a DC suburb and we had to pay to get cars washed 4 house down because the guys cut dry.

A masonry blade will eat through rebar, no problem. If he got a kickback, that wasn't the cause.

Pros and cons for the three most used types of concrete cutting equipment:

Large wheeled saw:(like Revolutionary Garden posted) More strength necessary to unload/load off/on trailer than to use. Lots of body strength needed to maneuver.Way too big for your project.

Small wheeled saw: Much easier to maneuver, better choice for your job. Like this

Hand saw: Much like a chain saw, but heavier and needs much more upper body strength to use, especially if it has the hose adapter to use with water. If used dry, LOADS of dust generated. Second choice for your job.

As for the line to guide the cut, simply paint one using a straight edge along the part of the material to remain and use that defined line as the guide(the rest of the painted part is cut off).

"we had to pay to get cars washed 4 house down because the guys cut dry."

And was lucky some chain smoker didn't claim damaged health that required disability benefits for the rest of their life.

For all the hassle, this is one job that I would hire out.

Definatly not a job for wuss pups but vicpm said " It just sounds like to fun to me to try it! :)". I say,you go girl.(*_*)

Last year I rented an electric hand-held dry concrete saw with a 12" blade and used it to cut an 8" wide trench across a small patio about 4 feet wide. It was not that hard to handle, and since it was sitting on the concrete while cutting, the weight was not an issue. There was quite a bit of dust, but nothing major. I just put lines on the concrete with a magic marker and made an initial shallow cut to score the lines into the concrete.

One issue I ran into is that with a 12" blade you only cut about 5" into the concrete, and much of my patio had more than 5" of concrete depth. I had to go back to the rental shop and rent a small jackhammer to finish the job. Even after making a 5" cut, the remaining 2-3" of concrete in the trench would barely crack when I tried hitting it with a sledge hammer.

Bruce

I rented a 12" handheld saw for floor and wall in basement. Glad I started with wall cause I was dead after using it for most the evening. Since you are only working on a small area and on the ground I would get the hand one. If anyone is considering the hand one for a wall, expect it to be heavy and you need to be strong and careful but its doable. I had to cut from both sides of the wall. Pros typically have one of those expensive mounted setups for walls.

Bruce is right, it only cuts about 5" deep. If you need to cut deeper then get the walk behind with the bigger blade. It only cuts about half as deep as the blade diameter.