Removing old fence post

[micky]

The fence post I thought was broken off near the bottom, under ground, turns out to be broken off just above ground level.

The post still in the ground seems to have turned into dirt.

What do you all think about using my wet-dry vac to vacuum out the moist dirt. Will I ruin the vac? Will I ruin the foam cover inside?

When I buy a new post, what do you think about my getting one 1/2" less in diameter? Easier to put back in the hole?.

The post is about 4 1/2 " in diameter, but interestingly, the middle 3/4 to 1 inch is still made of wood. Below ground level (to a depth not yet known) it's not dirt yet, and in the piece of the post that was standing above ground level, it's different from its surroundings too.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Rent an auger to dig them out. Wonder if vac. is powerful enough to suck them out. I use car jack when I pull old fence post. Good luck.

[Frank]

What's the hole made of, concrete? Otherwise, every homeowner should have a post hole digger.

[micky]

It turns out the center core that is still wood gets thicker an inch below the surface, almost 2 inches in diam.. Can I still use an auger with the center of the post in the hole?

A bumper jack, with a chain wrapped around the post?

[micky]

I forgot that I had one. The previous owner used it to plant rose bushes and he left it behind. But because of the still wooden center core of the old post, it stayed open 2 inches and wouldn't pull up much dirt. I could probably think of a way to cut off the core a few inches down, but deeper down it seems much harder.

[micky]

I was wrong. It's not dirt in the center. The center wood core got thicker, to almost 2 inches, just a couple inches down.

OKay.

Dirt not removed won't get in the way.

Okay.

[TomR]

I am not sure that I can completely picture what you have there now. But, could you just dig out a hole down on one side of the buried post, then maybe do the water trick to remove more dirt around the old post, then tip the old post into the hole and pull it out from there?

Or, do the same as above, including the water part, then tie a tow rope around the "stump" (old post), and pull it out with a vehicle. That's how I recently removed some pretty large arborvitae tree and bush stumps -- muddy, but definitely fun.

[Dan Espen]

You are over thinking this.

Dig down around the post and remove it.

Don't post here for instructions on how to use a shovel.

[CRNG]

On Thu, 14 Aug 2014 14:09:51 -0400, micky wrote in

That will work.