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Started By
Message
Removing 4x4 fence posts: Tell me I'm being lazy
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:22 am
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:22 am
I'm currently removing a ~4 foot tall picket fence from my backyard. I'm getting a pup soon and will need to get a new fence under my carport so that I can let the dog out without worry of it escaping.
Anyways, I got all the fence down and started to remove the posts. The first one was rotted and broke off near the top of the concrete base in the ground. I got pissed and said screw it I'll move on to the second one. Again, it broke off. I'm thinking they're about 2 feet underground. My plan now is to dig a little under the ground then saw the posts off and leave the concrete so I don't break my back all day trying to dig and remove them all. I don't ever intend on putting anything in this area after the posts are removed.
Is this a bad idea and I'm just being lazy or has anyone done this before?
Anyways, I got all the fence down and started to remove the posts. The first one was rotted and broke off near the top of the concrete base in the ground. I got pissed and said screw it I'll move on to the second one. Again, it broke off. I'm thinking they're about 2 feet underground. My plan now is to dig a little under the ground then saw the posts off and leave the concrete so I don't break my back all day trying to dig and remove them all. I don't ever intend on putting anything in this area after the posts are removed.
Is this a bad idea and I'm just being lazy or has anyone done this before?
12
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:26 am to dualed
took out 18 post this weekend.
Used this
Wedge in each side and pry back and forth, concrete breaks, then wobble the post while pulling up.
I am sure there are other methods, but that worked for me
Used this
Wedge in each side and pry back and forth, concrete breaks, then wobble the post while pulling up.
I am sure there are other methods, but that worked for me
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:28 am to dualed
i once had a batting cage in my back yard that was made out of 4x4 posts. when my parents divorced, my dad needed some lumber to build his front porch for his new trailer he bought. so what does he do? he gets his saw-zaw and cuts my batting cage down from the top of the concrete base. 
i was done using it at this point so i didn't care. but then i'd hit the concrete bases with the lawn mower every so often so there is that little issue.
i was done using it at this point so i didn't care. but then i'd hit the concrete bases with the lawn mower every so often so there is that little issue.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:31 am to dualed
It is all fun and games till the new fence post needs to be installed in the same location as the old fence post...
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:31 am to dualed
quote:
I'm just being lazy
yes but,
quote:
I don't ever intend on putting anything in this area after the posts are removed.
so what does it matter?
and yes to
quote:
has anyone done this before?
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:39 am to finchmeister08
that's funny. Alright I'm gonna go ahead and cut and leave them then. I won't be converting the area within the old fence to grass because it's already filled with limestone rock. So hopefully no lawnmower issues. Thanks all.Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:40 am to dualed
You'll sell that house and the poor bastard who buys it will get asked by his wife to build a new fence. He will try to dig new post hole where old post was. Will proceed to curse you lower than a kid biting dog.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 10:41 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
We have been taking 4x6 post out from our old deck slowly for about 2 months now. Nothing fun about it.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 11:12 am to dualed
Dig to the top the concrete and hopefully you can wrap a chain around it. Then back truck over post and wrap chain tight and pull it out.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 11:16 am to dualed
Build yourself a water jet with a piece of PVC you can screw onto your hose. Jet around the post then pull it out with a truck. That water jet will dig down deep pretty darn fast.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 11:29 am to dualed
Break them and leave the concrete. You'll spend two minutes per post instead of two hours per post
Posted on 1/30/17 at 11:41 am to Hammertime
They are not hard to take out if you do it properly. Use the thing above or even just a sledge hammer and the concrete usually busts into a couple pieces, you can pull the wood out and then enough concrete to get it below ground level.
Don't try to take them out whole, thats foolish. I put a gate where I had a corner on my side yard and had to do 4-5 of them, it took me maybe 30 mins to remove all of them with a sledge hammer.
ETA: The other thing you can do is hit the wood with the sledge and often times that will break up the concrete enough to pull the wood out. Once the wood is out and there is a hole the concrete breaks up easily.
Don't try to take them out whole, thats foolish. I put a gate where I had a corner on my side yard and had to do 4-5 of them, it took me maybe 30 mins to remove all of them with a sledge hammer.
ETA: The other thing you can do is hit the wood with the sledge and often times that will break up the concrete enough to pull the wood out. Once the wood is out and there is a hole the concrete breaks up easily.
This post was edited on 1/30/17 at 11:43 am
Posted on 1/30/17 at 12:34 pm to dualed
A high lift jack works well. Not sure about with a rotted post though. Just screw a 2x4 on the side of the post to use as a jack point on the post. Jack it up.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 2:02 pm to dualed
Posted on 1/30/17 at 2:03 pm to DeoreDX
quote:
A high lift jack works well.
If the post breaks, wrap a chain around the concrete and pull it up with the jack. I just did this with about 30 posts. About 5 minutes to dig a small trench around the top of the concrete and then another 5 minutes to get the concrete up. One side benefit is you already have a hole to put the new post in.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 2:05 pm to dualed
Posted on 1/30/17 at 2:16 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
You'll sell that house and the poor bastard who buys it will get asked by his wife to build a new fence. He will try to dig new post hole where old post was. Will proceed to curse you lower than a kid biting dog.
Exactly my thoughts. But hey, not OP's problem any more.
For a 4x4 to break, that has to be seriously rotted out.
Posted on 1/30/17 at 3:08 pm to SportTiger1
I cut my old ones below ground level with a chainsaw. I'm too lazy/smart to waste time digging them up
Posted on 1/30/17 at 3:46 pm to Hammertime
Sawzall did the trick. Got a few posts I couldn't cut below ground level bc they're next to some pavers I didn't wanna pull up. Just gonna chisel them down to where I can cover them up. Appreciate the input fellas. If I ever need to do this again I'll likely do it a better way .
.Posted on 1/30/17 at 7:46 pm to dualed
Farm Jack.
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