Floor & Road Saws

A floor saw or road saw is a walk-behind machine that cuts far deeper and straighter than a handheld saw, with the operator’s weight and a wheeled chassis doing the work instead of their arms. It’s the standard machine for road and pavement cutting, slab removal, expansion and control joints, trench lines and demolition set-out.

Taman stocks Lissmac, Turner Morris and Taman-branded floor saws in petrol, diesel and electric, from compact 400mm units through to the Lissmac COMPACTCUT 601 E with 420mm cut depth. Backed by blades, spares and in-house servicing from our Belmont workshop, delivered Australia-wide.

Petrol, diesel or electric

Petrol — the default for general contractors. Honda GX390 13HP units handle most road, pavement and slab work, start easily and cost least to buy and maintain. Suits open-air work and crews running one or two saws.

Diesel — better fuel economy across long duty cycles, more torque for sustained deep cuts, and the right choice for civil contractors doing full-day road work or sites with diesel-only fuel policies. Also the standard for hire fleets. Low-emission models meet tightening site requirements.

Electric — zero exhaust emissions and much lower noise, which makes it the only viable option for enclosed work: basements, car parks, tunnels, plant rooms and occupied buildings. You trade fuel logistics for a power supply requirement.

Cut Depth

As a rule of thumb across walk-behind saws, maximum cut depth runs roughly blade radius minus 50–80mm for arbor and flange clearance.

Always specify more depth than your current job needs. Cutting at a saw’s absolute limit is slow, hard on the blade and leaves you buying a second machine the first time a slab comes in thicker than expected.

A floor saw is only as productive as the blade on it, and bond selection is where most money gets wasted.

Soft, abrasive materials such as asphalt, green concrete, abrasive aggregate need a hard bond. The abrasive material erodes the matrix quickly, so a harder bond is required to hold the diamonds long enough to do useful work.

Hard, dense materials such as cured concrete, reinforced concrete, hard river aggregate, need a soft bond, which erodes at a rate that keeps fresh diamond exposed rather than glazing over.

Get this backwards and you’ll either burn a blade in a shift or watch it polish and stop cutting. Browse road and floor saw blades or use our blade selector.