Fixing a leaning garden gate post without digging the whole thing out?

[SawdustSparrow]

One of the wooden gate posts at the side of my house has started to lean, just enough that the gate drags on the ground and will not latch properly. The post itself does not look rotten at the base, at least from what I can see above ground, and the concrete around it still seems solid.

I am trying to avoid digging the whole post out and starting again, as the path runs right next to it and I do not want to disturb that. Has anyone had any luck straightening a post in place, for example by packing the side it has moved away from, or by adding a brace while the ground settles back? Or is that just putting off the inevitable, and a proper replacement is the only fix that lasts?

If you have done a repair like this, how long did it actually hold up, and what would you do differently next time? I would rather do a proper job once than keep adjusting the gate every few months.

 

[Wayners]

Can you fit a bar (wood) across the top so it pushed it straight

 

[Stivino]

What about a picture of the gate and post.

 

[JohnD]

I have some leaning fence posts. Since they are on concrete spurs, it is not related to rit, but to strong coastal winds abd wet soil.

I have put ringbolts through them, and intend to use metal posts and pulleys to supply tension to pull them upright. I can leave it pulling for a week or more.

As Wayners says, Gate posts tend to lean with the constant weight of the gates on the hinges, pulling the posts together. If it is a full-height gate, a board or lintel between the tops of the two posts will stop them pulling together. I did that with my garden gates, and it was simple and effective.