Need to cut a plastic water butt in half

[Rollerball]

I have an old 200 liter plastic water butt which I'd like to cut in half and use the lower half as a large tub. It's like this:

Cloudburst 200 Litre Water Butt Kit

Collect roof rainwater with a 200 litre water butt, lid, stand, tap and diverter kit. Made in the UK from recyclable plastic.

evengreener.com

it has a 5 inch vertical split down one side which I've tried to repair many times using many methods but none have worked so it's time to put it to another use.

Not really sure of the best way to cut it though. A jigsaw is perhaps the best option but I don't have one. Maybe a wood saw?

Edit: Thanks all, I eventually used a wood saw and it was much easier than expected.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Small angle grinder, multi tool, or even fine point hand saw.

Andy

 

[Why Not Indeed]

I would vote "jigsaw" for effectiveness. You can get one for less than £20. Alternatively, a handle that you can fix a reciprocating saw blade into would be cheaper. A regular timber push saw would work fine.

However you do it, I would suggest doing something to keep the split closed, for example, screw a piece of scrap timber across the split on the waste side of the cut. It would be annoying to have the crack progress into the part of the butt you wanted to keep. And there's nothing worse than have more crack in your butt than you wanted.

 

[Stivino]

Just use an ordinary woodsaw, if you have one.

 

[Rollerball]

I would vote "jigsaw" for effectiveness. You can get one for less than £20. Alternatively, a handle that you can fix a reciprocating saw blade into would be cheaper. A regular timber push saw would work fine.

However you do it, I would suggest doing something to keep the split closed, for example, screw a piece of scrap timber across the split on the waste side of the cut. It would be annoying to have the crack progress into the part of the butt you wanted to keep. And there's nothing worse than have more crack in your butt than you wanted.

Excess butt cracking is of course not a great idea.

Thanks to you and the others for the suggestions.

I'd also pondered using my Dremel but as the cutting discs are so small it may take some time .......

 

[RepairingDave]

I'd usually go for a hacksaw or hacksaw blade, but you would need something along the lines of this hacksaw handle for there not to be a frame getting in the way.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

IME a Dremel-type tool cutting plastic results in a glob of molten plastic due to the heat, caused by the speed. Sometimes it can weld itself back together again as the gap is so small.

 

[Rollerball]

IME a Dremel-type tool cutting plastic results in a glob of molten plastic due to the heat, caused by the speed. Sometimes it can weld itself back together again as the gap is so small.

Useful to know. I also had to drill some holes in the bottom and the drill bit completely gummed up with molten plastic and that was difficult to remove.

 

[conny]

The secret to drilling plastic is a sharp drill at very low speed so it doesn't melt its way through.

 

[Rollerball]

The secret to drilling plastic is a sharp drill at very low speed so it doesn't melt its way through.

Thanks, great tip, noted for future reference.