Removing rotten fence post stubs

[calal]

hi everyone, i am trying to refit my fence i had 6 rotten stubbs set in concrete so far i have been able to remove 3 via a leverage method,connected and old bracket/hinge to the top of the post and managed to pull them out by levering a length of wood and chain, the thing is the next to are already 6 inches down(due to my stupid idea of trying to dig them out with a spoon before finding out the leverage way) my questions are

1. would it be ok to set a post 6-7 inches int the ground(within already set concrete post holes) which i would add a little extra postcrete where i can get it in(fence panels are 4 foot high 6 foot long)

2. if above would not be a good idea are there any ideas of getting the remaining rotten stubs out? with ease?

we can not dig out as the main concrete is next doors drive and we have a relativity newly fitted driveway.

thank in advance guys

 

[EddieM]

if possible move the fence half a panel along.

 

[calal]

unfortunately not it needs to be reinstalled exactly where its been removed

 

[Lower]

Hydraulic car jack under a lever attached to the fence post stub.

 

[foxhole]

Continue with leverage method, 3m timber [3x2] makes for a lot of leverage.

 

[calal]

thanks for the reply's, first 3 worked on leverage but the next 3 are having non of it so having to dig them out by drill chisel and spoon whats the minimum depth i can get away with planting the post? 4 foot panels.

 

[StephenStephen]

Can you put some big screws into both side of the stubs then lever or jack them up alternately from either side?

 

[Diver Fred]

Well having just spent my sunday lunchtime visit to the pub doing just this the answer I came to ws to dig the post base concrete out. Chuffing big hole Once the concrete was out a couple of good thumps with a sledge hammer and had lots of rubble to back fill the hole with. Made a up sloppy motar mix of sand and cement (5:1) to bind the rubble. (pour some of the mix into the hole, locate the post into place, drop some of teh rubble around the post and 'ram' it down, more mix, more rubble, repeat until just below ground level. Allow to go off, but not cured and then cover the top with a layer of concrete.

Your posts should be in about 16inches (400mm) - 1/4 to 1/3 of the height of the fence.

 

[JohnD]

unless you really enjoy digging out rotted fenceposts, and want to do it repeatedly, this should make you resolve to use only concrete posts in future.

When you have a big mass of concrete, stop pouring about 6" below ground level and make up a simple wooden box as shuttering round the post, so only a neat square collar of concrete is visible, a few inches bigger than the post. You can slope it slightly to encourage rainwater runoff. A concrete post doesn't actually need the mass to be visible, all the strength comes from the mass below.

 

[Doggit]

Post some pictures, but as the fence is a common one with next door, have a chat with them and see how they feel about having a little bit of their driveway cut back. You can't replace the post without cementing them in at least on one side. When you say you've had a new driveway fitted; it's a a block one, then you can lift some of the blocks, then they should go back easily once the posts are back in.

 

[calal]

thanks for all the reply’s guys and sorry for the late reply, i got it done in the end, it resulted in a conversation with next door as i noticed after removing some weeds and over growth on their side they already had traces of the previous posts being concreted from their side, luckily we get on with them really well and was told to just get on with it and it be nothing that a bag of postcrete wouldn’t sort out, so we bought a cheap concrete breaker off the bay and broke the final holes out, it was hard work and still needed the leverage method(including the car jack that was suggested) to but we got there got them all out and managed to reinstate the post in the same places, fence is up and everybody is happy, thank for al, your advice without it I would not of tried half the things I did to get the final result