Abstract: Means for braking down carcasses such as sheep and pigs comprising a pair of endless belt for conveying the carcass legs uppermost to a splitting saw for cutting along the backbone of the carcass, means for holding the split carcass as it moves along, and a saw for cutting the carcass laterally, the positions of the lateral cuts being predetermined (i) by an operator viewing the carcass through a video system and indicating the position by a pointer, the information being stored in a microprocessor which controls the relative position of the saw and the carcass or (ii) by an algorithm stored in the microprocessor.