Removing a Broken Fence Post

[kfra]

I had relatives in the fencing business, they left an a frame made out of metal fence posts, chain or cable around the concrete or post if intact, tighten with a come-a-long and rock and pull the a frame and everyone comes out fairly easy. Good luck

 

[TheEquineFencer]

CONCUR !


But if you really want it out get a San Angelo digging bar. Break the asphalt out around the post and concrete lump, probably about 3-4' diameter. Dig down far enough to get a chain around the concrete lump. Then build one of these.

Patent Pending Post Puller

That chain is attached to a 1/2 ton pick up. That lump weighed over 200 lb.

I vote for this if you don't have front end loader to do the same. That's one way to get them out. Another, if you have a way to put some real leverage on it, bolt or screw a board to the side of the post and put a "lever" under the board and a fulcrum under the lever and pop it straight up. I use this method with the front end loader on my tractor now when pulling them out. I've been planning to build a "grapple" to drop over the post and just pull them out. The fun part is putting a post back in that same hole. I have a post driver on the back of my tractor and put a post back in the same hole.

 

[joe49]

We rented a Toro "Dingo" when we built a 200 foot fence.. Dingo® Tracked Compact Utility Loaders

even better.

 

[joe49]

I had relatives in the fencing business, they left an a frame made out of metal fence posts, chain or cable around the concrete or post if intact, tighten with a come-a-long and rock and pull the a frame and everyone comes out fairly easy. Good luck

that you Kenny?

 

[TheEquineFencer]

Old post I know....pun inteneded...

 

[Slednut]

Get a 3/4"x 18" lag screw and drive it in through a piece of chain. Use an engine hoist to pull it out.

I do this but I wrap the chain around a digging bar and use a jack stand to pry the old post out. I did this to a neighbor's mail box post and was able to put the new post right back in the hole.

 

[BFBOB]

This is the perfect excuse (as others have hinted) to use that 20percent Off coupon to buy a Harbor Freight engine hoist. yup, drill a big screw with a chain into the center, use the engine hoist to pull it up.
Another hint: even the normal(notstowable)=cheaper hoist comes apart very easily into smaller, portable, stowable sections. One of these dismantled enough to fit in the back of my Ford Escape (yeah, not Explorer!) with room to spare. Used it to help out FIL who had given it to us in the first place! Yup, karma can be a blessing!!
Save it to be a hero to friends who need one - but only once - or for the next round of rotted posts.

 

[engineer2]

Another vote for an engine hoist

 

[theoldwizard1]

Get a 3/4"x 18" lag screw and drive it in through a piece of chain. Use an engine hoist to pull it out.

Nope ! It will bend the hoist.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

Have a puzzling question here about a broken fence. I'm on the building committee for our local synagogue and we had a day or two of really high winds, and there's a portion of a fencing concealing the dumpster that blew down. Cedar posts, they were pretty rotted so not altogether shocking. But, the question here is as I'm trying to figure out if I take this one on myself is how in the heck I'd get the rotted posts out of the asphalt. It might be hard to tell from the picture but there's the rotted wood post, as well as the concrete around it.

Any tricks for getting this out, or does it have to be excavated / dug out? I've seen some tricks for getting out posts that are still standing using farm jacks, but not ones that are broken off at the base.

I know this is an old "post" what did you ever do?

 

[theoldwizard1]

Another vote for an engine hoist

This MIGHT work, if the soil is very soft/moist !

If it is mid-summer and you have heavy, clay soil, try digging a shallow depression around the post. Put your garden hose on trickle overnight.

The next day, hook up the crane, add some tension and use your garden hose on high pressure with a "jet stream". Slowly add tension. You will have a muddy mess, but it will come out. You will have to wait at least 24 hour before you can plant another pole.

The fastest solution : Dig down far enough to get a chain around the concrete lump. Then build one of these.

Watch the video :

Patent Pending Post Puller

That chain is attached to a 1/2 ton pick up. That lump weighed over 200 lb.

 

[mdurbanc]

You have to be careful using an engine hoist. They are not designed for this type of lifting. If the post is really stuck, as you start to crank away at it you will preload the hoist, and if the post breaks free all at once, you have a lot of stored energy to deal with.

 

[engineer2]

Done many in clay soil and an engine hoist works just fine. No stored energy if you go slow. I ask the naysayers: have you ever done this and had problems, or is this armchair speculation?

 

[louiec6]

Ive had luck screwing a scrap piece of wood into it then using a floor jack. Scrap plywood under jack so it doesnt sink. Hit the post with a sledge a few times before to loosen it up.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Shiftless]

Ive had luck screwing a scrap piece of wood into it then using a floor jack. Scrap plywood under jack so it doesnt sink. Hit the post with a sledge a few times before to loosen it up.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

That technique worked for me pulling 6x6 posts out of clay soil.

 

[bradpac]

I have done this attaching a chain to a post (this is the hardest part with a broken post).

Then wrap the chain around an old steel wheel right next to the post so when you pull on it with the pickup the chain rolls up the wheel to get a vertical pull on the post. Works great if you can keep the chain hooked to the post.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Done many in clay soil and an engine hoist works just fine. No stored energy if you go slow. I ask the naysayers: have you ever done this and had problems, or is this armchair speculation?

At my son's house, we must have pulled close to 40 or 50 posts over a period of 4 to 6 years (one mangle chain link fence, multiple failed wooden fence posts and removed 2 decks). Most were PT 4x4, some galvanized steel. All set in concrete. I have tried every method I could find with Google and YouTube. Most failed completely (but I have a real nice farm jack now !) or were just too hard/tedious to do.

Read my previous post. Watch the video. That ball of concrete weighed over 200 lbs (two 30 yo could barely move it). When pulling post set in concrete, you do have to get the chain down around the ball of concrete or the wood will just crush. If I had to build it again, I would make it taller, so that it provided more "up lift".

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have done this attaching a chain to a post (this is the hardest part with a broken post).

Then wrap the chain around an old steel wheel right next to the post so when you pull on it with the pickup the chain rolls up the wheel to get a vertical pull on the post. Works great if you can keep the chain hooked to the post.

Tried it. Could not keep the wheel upright. (This was sort of the inspiration of my design.)

The biggest problem with my design is having long enough chains/straps to stretch across the yard to a concrete drive for the vehicle doing the pulling. (I now own lots of HF chain, joined with double clevis.)

 

[Shiftless]

Did you ever try a come along instead of pulling with your truck? I think a come along will pull at least 2000 pounds. Hook one end to the trailer hitch of a parked vehicle or ???

 

[bradpac]

Did you ever try a come along instead of pulling with your truck? I think a come along will pull at least 2000 pounds. Hook one end to the trailer hitch of a parked vehicle or ???

Using the truck, you stand back and get a bit of slack in the chain and yank that puppy. We had good access though, the truck was within a few feet of the hole. Doing it across a yard probably wouldn't work as well.

 

[dmaxfireman]

Tensionless hitch with a tow strap around the post and lift with an engine hoist.

Lag Bolt down center lift with engine hoist.

Drill holes and chisel or burn what's left.

 

[engineer2]

That ball of concrete weighed over 200 lbs

Sorry, didn't meant to sound crass. Agree a 200 lb gyros is hard to pull, and depends greatly on soil conditions and depth. I found with my hoist, put tension on it and if it is stubborn, let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Out soil tends to be a few inches of topsoil then wet sticky clay.

 

[joe49]

The chain hitch is, around the post over the chain, then around again and over the chain in the opposite direction, and finally then around again and over the chain in the opposite direction, leave the loose end hang.

 

[mdurbanc]

Done many in clay soil and an engine hoist works just fine. No stored energy if you go slow. I ask the naysayers: have you ever done this and had problems, or is this armchair speculation?

Real experience here..no armchair required
Going slow is the key, and stop if it is not moving with moderate pressure. Continuing to add pressure with no movement loads up the hoist. I have done this, and have ended up with part of a fence post attached to the chain swinging violently around the end of the engine hoist when it let go. Dumb move on my part, now I know better. Luckily no one was injured.