Fence Post Removal. Getting rid of concrete posts easily by hand.

Fence Post Removal. Getting rid of concrete posts easily by hand.

Hey fellas, so I was having a blast getting rid of the fence posts. Each fence post had nearly two foot of concrete footings. The first round I took each one out with a breaker, nearly twelve hours to remove 3 posts.

So to remove the following posts I had to come up with a new plan.

I picked up a chain hoist from Ebay, secondhand £20. You can buy a chain hoist brand new between £40 to £80 approx. The secondhand chain hoist worked a treat.
I built the framework from old posts and an old picnic table. A decent job of recycling old timber. The framework performed it's function perfectly, and even though the stresses were incredible, the framework still held together.

Before I could remove the fence post with the chain hoist I had to dig down between 6 to 8 inches of depth around two sides, to loosen the grip of the soil. Once I had done that, to my great surprise the huge block of concrete fence post came out quite nicely.

This was a great fun project, I still have plenty of fence posts to replace in future. The one thing I would do differently to remove the fence posts even more easily, I would build the framework using scaffolding poles.

I hope you enjoy the video, stay tuned for a few out-takes at the end.
God bless
Matt

[andrewm]

We have the same type at our house (in Australia). The fence installers broke and then cut with an angle grinder. But unfortunately, the complete footings are left behind. I had to do a bit more work to at least break the concrete that was above ground and then bury the rest of the footings. Not ideal - I'd have preferred they remove them properly, but I guess they don't get paid enough for that. Concrete posts are great - they're probably as old as the house and perfectly level still, whereas the rest of the fence almost rotted away. But they're a bitch to remove! I can see why they're not really used any more.

[jodiecouling]

Would an engine crane do the same sort of thing ??