I am setting up my new barn and it’s time to install the mats. For some crazy reason, I thought my 12 x 10 stalls were actually 12 x 10. They aren’t. Which means I have lots of cutting to do. I keep being told to use a utility knife and make several passes but I have about 35 cuts to make. I don’t think I will be able to move my arms for a month if I have to do it that way. Is there anyone out there that has discovered a better way? my mats are 3/4" thick.
here is a link to a prior Coth thread on the same
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/around-the-farm/210038-cutting-stall-mats
our 3/4 inch mats were ribbed with grooves on the bottom side which made cuts really easy
I KNEW there had to already be a thread! I couldn’t find it. Thanks!
Circular saw
do a Google search rather than using the Coth search …five threads show with another five under “more results”
search was “cutting stall mats”
[h=3]Cutting Stall Mats? - Chronicle Forums[/h] https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion.../210038-cutting-stall-mats [LIST=1]
use a Google search… using Cutting Stall Mats … I came up with eight Coth threads
A couple pair of lockjaw pliers will help moving them easier
Didn’t work for me - seized up. Is there a secret?
Hmm I didn’t have that problem, but it was 8 years ago with my dad’s help. Probably need to make sure it stays stable, i.e. the piece you cut off doesn’t droop down and get in your way? Work bench with grips or something? Or put a piece of wood under where you will be cutting so it stays upright, and you’ll want to cut into the wood a little bit. And a very new saw blade with small teeth, or perhaps even no teeth, just a continuous blade.
Or maybe a jigsaw, or a handsaw.
I’ve only had to cut a couple and did them by hand, but if I had that many and the other ideas don’t pan out, I think I would be making myself up a wood block that kind of simulates the shape of a plane. Then I’d attach the cutter blade to the back of that, so that all I was doing was pushing the block of wood forward, maybe with some downward pressure, dragging the blade down into the rubber. Make one set of cuts with the blade set to about half-depth (e.g. 1/4 inch if they are 1/2 inch mats) and then adjust the blade for a second swipe at nearly all the way.
We found a circular saw did not work. We used a sawzall to make the rough cut and then trimmed it down with a boxcutter/razor. They took forever to do though.
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Two person job, use a long measure stick to make a straight line, mark it with a marker you can see, fold the mat at the line with the line showing, have one person fold the mat back holding it folded, have the other person cutting with a razor blade knife/box cutter. It will cut like butter if you keep pressure on the mat by folding it. It will take a couple of passes but it will cut easy.
DH stumbled upon the answer. We’d used both reciprocating and circular saw, and neither worked well. The circular saw kept binding/seizing. So hubby used clamps to attached the mat to scrap plywood, and cut with the circular saw. He said it went through like butter. The blade jams when the mat ends kind of fall in or out along the cut, but with the plywood holding the mat stiff, he said it was actually easy. The time consuming part was clamping the mat to the plywood for each cut. But he could reuse the same piece of scrap for multiple cuts.
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i would think you could mount the blade on the circular backwards and it would cut better. I had to do that for plastic light panels in my barn.
We cut mats for 7 stalls. Using a good utility knife or box cutter is not that hard.
Start with a fresh, sharp blade. Mark cut line. Place a 2x4 on the ground (we had a cement aisle to work in). Place mat over 2x4 where you want the cut. It will drape down slightly. (Using another piece of wood or a metal lever as a straight edge to cut along may be somewhat helpful for the first cut.) Cut firmly. The cut will open away from the knife slightly due to the “drape”. It’s easier to make several cuts, rather than try to do it all in one. The grove is easy to follow once you have the first cut in.
Using any kind of power saw will build up heat and gum the blade, causing it to bind.
Good luck; the low-tech option was quite easy for us.
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Jigsaw FTW. I just cut mats last week with one. Worked so much better than trying to slice them with a sharp utility knife. The utility knife would work if you had small notches to cut, but you have to be able to bend the mats and slice several times to get through. It worked, but it was warmer then! The jigsaw was faster and easier, especially since the mats were extremely cold and not pliable.
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We are installing stall mats as well. Decided to use a jig saw…you can get blades that are aggressive enough…works great.
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JIGSAW!!!
i will NEVER use anything else again. Get a couple of gnarly wood-cutting blades. Cuts like butter, including CURVES!
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Spam reported.
We just laid mats for 5 stalls and this is exactly the technique we used. The “drape” is the ticket and makes your cut so much easier. Power saws did not work. Once you get the hang of it, it goes quite quickly.
