Like the stumps thread but any tips please for removing wooden posts that have been concreted in. One of the problems is that on one side I have shrubs and a box hedge growing around the posts so would rather not hack those back to get all round access.
Is it going to be a case of digging down to the concrete and then using a cold chisel and lump hammer to break it up until I can get enough leverage to get the post out ?
Any hints or tips appreciated. Rather not buy any expensive tools as there's only 6 to come out and that will be it
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If you don't mind leaving the concret lumps in then cut off the posts as low as you can and then attend to the remaining wood with a power drill using flat wood bits.
If you do want to get the concrete out then use a power drill with a hammer action and break up the concrete with hammer drill/chisels.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Hired a kango to get the ones out from my sons garden made light work of it.
If the posts and concrete are solidly together then you can sometimes lever both out by bolting a block of wood to the post about 8" from ground level and using a couple of bricks and another post to lever under that. In my case the posts slipped out of the concrete on half of them so I had to dig those and lever with a crowbar.
Get one of the Titan heavy duty sds drills from Screwfix for about £60 they will go through pretty much anything and are like a mini kango
If buying SDS drill make sure rotation can be turned off - unfortunately can't on mine.
Originally Posted by deepreddave
I was going to suggest using 'science'. This video kind of demonstrates what you suggest.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kPqJ21CSDl8
Don't bother. Cut the posts off close as possible to the concrete. Start with half a fence panel, and dig a new hole and fix your post. Every panel should now end halfway between the old posts, leave them in and dig new holes for the new posts. Job done.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
If you’re ok with leaving the concrete in situ, then cutting off the wooden posts at ground level is the easiest option - that’s where the posts rot first and are weakest, so if they’re old and rotten it may be less difficult than you imagine.
if you want to remove the concrete, then dig & scrape the earth to expose the concrete (unfortunately, not very neat or shrub-friendly), and try hitting the concrete a good whack on the flat upper surface where it touches the post with a sledgehammer - often that can split the concrete into halves, making it easier to remove. Failing that, and as suggested, an SDS drill can help hammer it out, or for the same price as buying an SDS you could hire a kango for a day - more power & reach, and your back will thank you.
If you wish to bodge it quickly & cheaply (compared to full replacements) to try to keep the existing knackered wooden posts in a bit longer, then look up ‘post buddies’ on Amazon - steel bars you hammer down between post and concrete, and then bolt onto the post to knit the good, strong wood below & above ground together.
Much will depend upon how much concrete was used in the first place - some contractors try and get away with nowhere near enough.
I usually ask Eddie Platts to remove unwanted posts.
Don't bother. Cut the posts off close as possible to the concrete. Start with half a fence panel, and dig a new hole and fix your post. Every panel should now end halfway between the old posts, leave them in and dig new holes for the new posts. Job done.Do we know the OP even wants new posts?
Priceless :):):):):
Good point!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
When writing, I thought someone might raise that.
No - there’s nothing in the OP’s post to suggest they wish to put new ones in.
However, noting the OP’s desire not to spend too much on new tools in the process, whilst I was at it I thought it would do no harm and potentially be of assistance to provide a further suggestion in case they did want a low-cost, low-tech option to keep them with minimal effort and no need for new posts.
Posts are usually there for a purpose, and often replacement follows removal. Not always of course, they may just have some useless posts to pull out.
It would be good if the OP could reply to all the questions.
I once watched a fence guy use a pair of car jacks to lift out old posts.
He screwed another post horizontally to the post about a foot off the ground, put a piece of hardboard each side, jacks on those, then two people jacked them up and out they popped. Some came out post only and others pulled the concrete out as well.
Thanks for all the advice. I'm not replacing the posts they held up some old trellis panels which were destroyed by age and an over vigorous rose. The plan is to remove the panels and posts then replant .... without trellis
This shows what I'm dealing with and the rose trunk
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I'd just cut them off. Removing the concrete not worth the hassle TBH (taking out any individual ones really in way of planting out if you must!).
My neighbour got a guy to remove fence posts and replace with a new fence and new concrete.
What he did was very similar to the one in this video. He fixed a little block to the post, then used a large Jack to pull it out. Then reused that block on the next post. It took literally less than an hour for four posts. I was quite impressed. The he used the same holes to pour the new concrete.
https://youtu.be/4VWZXvop79g
PS: Unlike the guy in the video, he did loosen the soil around the concrete
Last edited by Franco; 10th October 2021 at 11:19.
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