If you’ve got an old fence on your property that you want to replace, there are right and wrong ways to remove the posts.
No matter what type of fence you’ve got, getting all of the posts pulled out is going to be a challenge. Sheer strength won’t necessarily help you, so you’re going to have to employ some strategy here.
In this post, we’re going to tell you how to remove a fence post. Try out one of the following 3 methods and learn how to remove that old fence the best and easiest way.
Method #1: Rope and Board
If you’ve got a wooden fence post dug into the ground with no concrete around it, this method should work just fine. All you’ll need is a shovel, hammer, 2 concrete blocks, a good amount of rope, some nails, and a long 2×4 board to get the job done. Here’s how you do it:
First, dig a trench with your shovel around the fence post until it’s exposed on all sides. Go about a foot deep and then pour water on the soil around the post to loosen it, at which point you should be able to wiggle the post in place.
Once you’ve got the post wiggling, hammer 1 nail onto each side of the post at the base (4 total), then tie your rope around the post and each individual nail. Lay down your concrete blocks as a lever for your wooden board, then tie the bottom of the board to the closest nail to secure it to the post.
Stand on the opposite end of the board to create a seesaw effect, which should jog the post slowly out of its hole.
Method #2: Chain and Jack
For those that want a slightly less labor-intensive method, you’ll need some chain and a floor jack, in addition to a concrete block. Following the same process as method 1, dig out an area around the post and loosen the soil as much as possible before tying the chain around the post as many times as you can (the chain should be 3-5 feet long) with a bit of slack at the end.
Lay your concrete block across the hole as a support for your jack, so that it’s on level ground. Place the jack on the block and secure the chain to it. Then, all you need to do is operate the jack and the wooden post should come right out of the ground.
Method #3: Finding Tools
If you’ve got a lot of posts or they’re cemented in the ground, then you’ll need special tools to get them out. Fortunately, you can buy a post puller to do just this. There are post pullers for basically any application, so it doesn’t matter if you’re pulling out a fence post or construction materials, one of these will get the job done.
Likewise, if you’ve got a tractor at your disposal, you can use the chain method and achieve the same results in a much easier fashion.
Learning How to Remove a Fence Post The Easy Way
Now that you know how to remove a fence post in a myriad of methods, you’ll be able to pull that old fence out in no time. If you’ve got the tools to do it, you can have it done in a matter of minutes. Doing it manually will take longer, but at least you’ll get a good workout while doing it.
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