Replacing fence post

Something like this in the right size:

Unless you have pre-fab'd fence panels you could divide the run into three rather than two so the new posts are in a different place. If that's not possible then hire a small breaker and attack the concrete. Prevent the need for future repairs by setting a 4' concrete spur in the hole and bolting the old post to the spur.

If the post is well and truly rotten below ground, you could remove that rotten wood. Then you should have a fence-post shaped hole. OK, might not fit perfectly but a little bit of fettling might be enough. If needed use stones, sand, wedges to stabilise the post and make it vertical.

That's the problem, setting in concrete does exactly that, the post gets wet around the area where it enters the concrete, stays wet, and rots.

Ah, my standard method is to put a couple of big coach screws into the 'good' left over part of the post that's still in the ground and pull it out with the three-point hitch on my (little) tractor. You don't have a neighbour with a small tractor do you?

For 60cm? That's going to be bloody hard work. The usual fix in this case is, after snapping off the post at ground level, to bang in a metpost into the original hole. The rot will be localised relatively close to the surface, you may be surprised how hard it is to get the metpost in to full depth. If it is still not secure, excavate as much wood from the hole as you can, fill it up with postcrete or concrete, and then put the metpost back and let it set.

last time I fitted a fence post I did exactly that, had to shape the end of the post, and of course the post still rots in time.

time and a pickaxe and a deep spade

its probably too deep for a concrete saw.

Expect it to take all day, get in plenty of beer and just keep at it.

Or a prop on one side of the hole, a beam over to attach to your pull rope/whatever, and a car jack on the other. So you can jack the beam up and pull out whatever its attached to.

(or more likely pull out the fixing in the remaining bit of post!)

:-)

That's the original plan - I came here in the hope of an easier route (don't think I got one unfortunately). No worries, I'll dig it out - cheaper than going to the (closed anyway) gym...

There are around 30 such posts that I put in altogether. All are fine except for this one. Problem was that I put up the fence right after we had had a very large extension added to the house. Since the kids started to learn to wonder a quick solution was needed, and I didn't want to wait until the builders would level the ground properly as it would have been a few more weeks. I tried my best to work out the required heights for the posts, and succeeded in 29/30 cases, but the coccrete for this posts ended up around 5-6cm below ground level, which I suspect is the reason it rotted.

Thanks all for your input!

They invariably rot at or near ground level - usually slightly below where it is almost continuously damp and well provided with oxygen.

How good are you with a pick axe and sledgehammer? You will almost certainly have to smash it to bits to get it out.

Use of a scaffold pole as a lever and my most brutal chisels and crow bars is my method of choice. It just takes time.

It is really that or a mate with a mini-digger.

I'm always surprised how well it works actually, there is nearly always sound wood down in the ground. The first time I tried it I really didn't expect it to work but it just about always does (well, I've had one failure in a dozen or more).

Once I finish digging around I plan to use my SDS to break it down a bit before trying to remove/

We inherited some gateposts sunk into concrete. I was able to get all the timber out of the holes and drop new posts in. This was 30 years ago and I can't remember how I did it. The holes were 4"x4", so probably was able to get my hand in.

Let me just rp this --

I have done the "chisel out" thing for one post hole - it was hard work & took a few hours. I used a sturdy metal tube I had lying around (I think an old curtain pole or similar) and hammered it as far as possible (typically ~ 5cm) into the trapped wood, then pulled the pole out, so removing a cylinder of wood; then repeated. One it was mostly clear, I chiselled the remains stuck to the inside of the concrete. This was also hard, owing to the confined space inside the concrete (if I'd had a really long chisel-like tool, this step would have been less hard).

The wood wasn't rotten all the way down, only maybe 5cm at most, even though it had rotted through at ground level; making it much harder to do than it at first seemed. If I had to do another one, I'd probably do it faster - though I'd guess it'd take at least an hour, even with practise. A larger diameter tube would have helped, but you wouldn't want it to break and get stuck.

#Paul

Are you saying you managed to get 60 cm down a 4 inch square hole (sorry for mixing units)?

Not saying it can't be done, just that it is not easy. Given the best part of a day, with a 4 kg SDS chisel you could break up and dig up the concrete "ball".

I'd say if you have nearly 60 cm of relatively solid wood then I would try to drill as far down the centre as possible with a long 1 inch auger. Then bash in a metpost, after putting "cutting edges" on the tip with an angle grinder.

That should work. Expose by digging, crack bits off with the SDS and remove in (relatively) small pieces.

I would have liked to do that on my neighbour's fence. I saw the original being built two neighbours ago, and the swines used some big nails poking out of the wood before pouring in the concrete to stop the posts being pulled out. So to clear the hole I would have to have cut the nsils.

In the end my neighbour got someone to bolt on separate concrete posts, but I don't know how they avoided the old concrete under the wooden posts.

Thanks, that's the plan. I may even get to use the angle grinder, which is always a bonus ;-)

Sorry, I forgot the add that I don't think it was 60cm, but I think was at least 40cm. It was quite frustrating trying to clear the last bits, since the thing I was using as an improvised chisel wasn't long enough. I'd hate to have to do 60cm.

#Paul