A while back, I saw a vid on youtube where they were pulling large concreted in fence posts out of the ground relatively easily with a farm jack and as I've got 20+ 6ft concrete posts to pull out, I bought a cheap 3 ton farm jack and a lifting sling, but the problem I've got is that the ground is very soft, so even with wood under the jack, the jack starts to sink and tilt over towards the post and it can't get any leverage on the lifting sling. Been trying all kinds of things to get it to work, but I think it's won. So, has anyone sucessfully done this? How did you support the jack and stop it leaning over? What did you use to grip the post? Do I just dig them out or persevere with this? Seemed like a good idea at the time! Thanks.
Easy. Always use jack at an angle, never have the jack straight & support legs help a lot, & I prefer to use a chain, straps always seem to stretch, or slide up the post. Chain around post or the concrete, which ever works best, you'll need a base plate under jack (not too small in size) & maybe support legs as well. If you got holes in post for straining bolt, you can use a bolt or metal bar to stop chain sliding up post. See this linky. In this link, he lifts at an angle.
Same way for stumps. And you use a chain make sure it is for lifting, some are not & will snap. Usually a lifting chain will have a minimum breaking load that is 4 times the W.L.L (Working Load Limits) You might be lucky with you sling around the concrete.
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated Yes, I was doing it like the second video with a litle raised platform for the jack, but no support legs. The sling seemed a good idea, but as you say, they stretch, so no use. Will order a chain off ebay, cheers again!
It's not as easy as it looks on the videos is it? The process I've followed is: Set jack up as shown in the videos Use jack Snap chain Replace chain Use jack Sink jack into ground Release tension Lever jack and timber legs out of the ground Place boards under jack and timbers to distribute pressure Use jack Become alarmed at the tension in the whole system Snap timbers Get mattock and just dig the things out But that's just me.
Haha, yes it's not as easy as it looks. I am going to smash off some concrete round the lower part of the post so the chain has something to grab onto.
Chuck a spade down the side of the post and chuck a bucket of water down there(do them all). Come back to the first one and shake it about in all 4 directions, then try and jack them out.
So, made some legs for the jack, made a little stand for the base of the jack, so that should have covered any movement, but what I hadn't banked on was the uneven soft (very wet and mushy) ground and the two gardens being anything up to 6 inches higher/lower than each other. After lots of swearing, I've reluctantly conceded defeat and hired one of these. Now this is the dogs danglers! It's everything the jack method should have been and more! The only downside is that if you are working on your own, it can be a bit of a faff getting the old post and lump of concrete off the machine and onto the ground without injury
Been really weird seeing what's come out of the ground, most of these posts have been set in about 9 or 12 bricks, all mortared together and then some concrete poured on top, the ball of stuff that comes out in enormous, it's no wonder I couldn't get them out with the jack. Also looks like they've cut up some concrete fence posts into blocks and used them round the base of some of the posts. Odd.
I use this same technique to remove farm jack easily. and It's working good and it's very simple processes.
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