Washing line post removal

S

SALL2009

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• 2 May 2021

• #1

I've been having fun with trying to remove this post from my garden. The concrete seems to be never ending and I have dug foot on the one side. The first foot was soil and then a food for solid concrete. So far I have been using a SDS drill to break the concrete.
I am considering buying a sledgehammer if it will help. Question is, looking at the site, do you think I'll get enough angle to wack the concrete?
And also, does anyone one has an idea how long this type of post might be? It's roughly 6foot above ground, 1 foot buried in soil and then roughly a foot of concrete. Could there be much length left?

 

Harry Bloomfield

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• 2 May 2021

• #2

8 foot total, or possibly 8' 6". I used a pair of jacks to pull one out...

Rope lashed tightly to a length of horizontal timber with car jack's at either side.

 

K

ktuludays

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• 2 May 2021

• #3

Why not cut it off below ground level and cover over

 

Harry Bloomfield

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• 2 May 2021

• #4

ktuludays said:

Why not cut it off below ground level and cover over

Click to expand...

A sledge hammer will bust it up, but then an angle grinder will be needed to cut the steel reinforcements.

 

Tigercubrider

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• 2 May 2021

• #5

Have you tried to wiggle the post from the top? Leverage is an amazing thing.
Filling the hole with water every night for a day or two may make it easier, especially if the water is delivered via pressure washer.

 

JohnD

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• 2 May 2021

• #6

the jack method is really good.

 

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SALL2009

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• 2 May 2021

• #7

Harry Bloomfield said:

8 foot total, or possibly 8' 6". I used a pair of jacks to pull one out...

Rope lashed tightly to a length of horizontal timber with car jack's at either side.

Click to expand...

Will this rope be strong enough?

https://www.toolstation.com/polypro...A7ms_oHm0G_jNpeIiAVt8dSVTB5hawzRoC0d8QAvD_BwE

 

Harry Bloomfield

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• 2 May 2021

• #8

SALL2009 said:

Will this rope be strong enough?

https://www.toolstation.com/polypro...A7ms_oHm0G_jNpeIiAVt8dSVTB5hawzRoC0d8QAvD_BwE

Click to expand...

Almost certainly not - you need a much stronger rope than that.

Having said that, if you bind the post to the timber with multiple windings of the rope, it might then be strong enough..

 

C

Captain Nemesis

• 3 May 2021

• #9

Tigercubrider said:

Leverage is an amazing thing.

Click to expand...

So is the weight of a reinforced concrete post embedded in a big lump of concrete.

Unless complete removal is needed for horticultural/landscaping reasons, the easiest thing would be to hire an angle grinder, cut it off below ground, fill the hole, and use the time saved to do things which can be seen.

 

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SALL2009

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• 5 May 2021

• #10

The rope method worked. The post is now loose, but still need to break the lump of concrete to shift the post out of the hole.