Broken fence posts removal

[raging bull]

Following the recent bad weather my daughter's fence got blown over!
So the job requres me to extract 4 75mmx75mm fence posts that are sitting in @concrete 2ft deep.
Any suggestions on an easier method of extracting without me busting a gut.
[Plenty of drill bits available, 12mm largest plus array of power tools.]

Unfortunately, no….

Just got to dig out the old base…

(If I’m wrong, please correct me - I’ve got to do this soon)

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by raging bull

Following the recent bad weather my daughter's fence got blown over!
So the job requres me to extract 4 75mmx75mm fence posts that are sitting in @concrete 2ft deep.
Any suggestions on an easier method of extracting without me busting a gut.
[Plenty of drill bits available, 12mm largest plus array of power tools.]

You ring someone up and pay them to do it. Tackling these things always ends up more aggro than it's worth, and you're supporting a local business !

[Carth]

Yep, either dig them out yourself or get a fencing chap in that uses a jack type thing to pull them up.

How to get rid of the buggers is another problem altogether

[GrimUpNorth]

Go to your local tool hire shop and hire a breaker, if you've only got 4 to do you'll do it in a day so will cost you maybe £30 to £50. A bit steep but money well spent if you don't want to be chipping away for a few days. You could alway use the opportunity to justify buying your own breaker and then you've got one for future.

Or you could just pay someone to do it for you and put your feet up!

Originally Posted by Mr K

You ring someone up and pay them to do it.

Originally Posted by GrimUpNorth

Or you could just pay someone to do it for you and put your feet up!

+ 1 for these.

A least that's what I would do

Originally Posted by Hugh

Unfortunately, no….

Just got to dig out the old base…

(If I’m wrong, please correct me - I’ve got to do this soon)

You’re not wrong.

I did a similar job last summer - there’s no way round it. You need to dig around the lump of concrete, and use whatever is left of each fence post as a lever. If you can lift the concrete enough to get a spade under it then if it’s too heavy for one, two of you should be able to move it between you, using the spade and the post.

[spiderplant]

Tip off the police that there's a body under one of them.

(With thanks to Viz Top Tips)

Originally Posted by Mr K

You ring someone up and pay them to do it. Tackling these things always ends up more aggro than it's worth, and you're supporting a local business !

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Mr K

You ring someone up and pay them to do it. Tackling these things always ends up more aggro than it's worth, and you're supporting a local business !

When my son's fence posts needed replacing i supported him by digging the old ones out and concreting new ones in.

[Taf]

My late Uncle did this job professionally. He used a ground anchor, 2 Steel A-frames and a hand winch to lift the concrete out of the ground. No digging, just soak the earth and lift. If the post stump was still sound, he used another spiral ground anchor to attach the cable to it. Otherwise, he had an expanding anchor that gripped the hole the post had been in.

Fence posts tend to rock back and forth, so if you have to resort to digging it out, dig only from one SIDE, never front or back. This will leave compacted earth that will make a new concrete base stable.

He taught me a great trick for fitting new posts. Wrap the bottom of the post in 2 plastic bags, each held in place with tape. Place this bagged end into position in the hole, but stood on a couple of inches of gravel. Concrete into place, and once cured, you lift the post out, remove the bags and drop the post back into the hole. When the post needs to be replaced, you just lift it out and drop in another (posts may be "standard" sizes, but sometimes you might need to trim the new one down a touch). The gravel underneath allows water to drain away, extending the life of the posts.

[raging bull]

Going to have a play with a selection of spade bits used with attached steel extender rods attached to drill a deep hole in the centre of a broken post.
Once I know the depth the post buried I can then drill a series of deep holes radiating and hopefully split the wood and extract the broken remains, leaving my son in law to brake up the concrete?
My old 56lb sledge hammer and 2ft long chisel should do that!
And at 75yrs young, I've no intention of going on a trip to local A&E!

[raging bull]

Well I made a start Sunday morning, should have stayed in bed.
Having taken over my HD mains drill together with a d.
ecent battery drill found out a) mains extension lead not long enough, 20metre lead length needing another 5 no other lead available.
So using battery drill started to drill a 12mm hole but found the wood was wet through and this was making it hard work.
Managed to drill @1ft down before I gave up as battery drill starting to labour.

Longer mains lead purchased this morning so will attempt to continue later today.

[mrmistoffelees]

Move the new posts along..... we needed somewhere between 8 & 10 replacing the breaks in the old one were not visible above ground level... and the posts are visible on the neighbours side not ours so...

[Taf]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

the posts are visible on the neighbours side not ours so...

There was nigh-on war between 2 families here. They inherited a wooden fence with the posts on side A. The neighbour on side B said that meant it was side A's fence, so they had to repair it.

It went to a dispute tribunal, and they were told to share the costs. Both refused.

Land Registry records solved it in the end. Side A had been occupying around 6ft of side B's garden.