How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement?

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos around the post to be sure.

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that would be ok.

(And I have an old 4' piece of rebar that, with a rope, had been holding up my apple tree. The tree doesn't need it anymore and it kept me from mowing the lawn right. I threw away the other 3 but kept the last one, even though it was bent too, for a reason I didn't know. Now I know!)

Look up "prussik" knot. It is a good way to have a rope hold onto something. Or, just rock the post back and forth until it is loose, and lift it out.

Bob

I pulled about a dozen 4X4 posts in my yard using a "farm jack" which is kind of a super-heavy-duty bumper jack. If I didn't already own one, I believe a regular bumper jack would have worked OK. Instead of a chain I used a couple big C clamps and clamped a 2X4 block about 8" long to the posts, and then put the jack against the block. If the jack isn't powerful enough, soaking the ground around the post may help. Put the base of the jack on a piece of 2X10 or whatever to distribute the load and keep it from sinking into the ground.

Done it many times and it works great; just remember to set the jack on a concrete block, paver, or scrap of 3/4 plywood.

It's kind of embarassing when the post doesn't move and you just jack the jack into the ground(done that too)

John

I just did. I'll try it.

This is pretty obvious too, nowthat you've told me. I guess I should think more before posting, but somehow those things seem permanent!

Thanks.

I hope I remember that. ;) Thanks a lot guys.

I tore down an old shed last year that was built on 8 4x4's sunk 2 feet into the ground with no concrete. But the soil around here is heavy clay, and the earth had a death grip on those posts: a four-ton hydraulic floor jack and tow chain failed to do the job.

What finally worked for me was to dig a small trench around each post, and let the garden hose run slowly for about an hour on each post. Then rock the post back and forth, and pull the sucker out by hand.