I invite you to take a look at the first post above.
My wife and I think that we repotted maybe 2 times in 30 years. Not sure... The very first picture at the top is the container I am referring to. That one remains. It SOOOO needs to be split and repotted.
But the reciprocating action of my sawz-all is ~ 4 inches. No freaking way I could hold it steady without trashing the container. Thinking about a serrated knife. To do the ones posted in the OP, I did have to break one clay pot. And the roots were attached to it big time.
I got 4 that are hardy here - Blue Younder and planted them out in Aug or Sep.