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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Now that the new fence is up, I have about 800' of old chain link fence to get down. The posts were concreted in many cases, which makes them impossible to pull out with my loader. Pulling the concrete ball through the ground has proven to be more than the loader can handle.
Does nay one have any suggestions on a good method for pulling these posts? They are 1-1/2" pipe posts. I have about 100 of them to pull.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
With smaller posts I had good success using an old 20" truck rim to run a chain over and hook onto the post. Then when you pull with the tractor you're pulling up instead of out.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Leverage, mechanical advantage, call it what you will, but that's what you need.
There's an old farmer's method that was popular for pulling out rocks and stumps back in the days when horsepower really did come from horses.
In todays version, you would basically you make a block & tackle using some wire rope and heavy pulleys, suspend it from a steel tripod affair and then run the cable to the drawbar. If you can't get them out of the ground with that method then they're not coming out. Just be careful, a broken cable can be deadly.
The other 'down & dirty' way would be to make a puller using a big hydraulic cyclinder, maybe borrow the one on your log-splitter. Mount one end to a big steel foot (with a notch in it for the post to fit in) to spread the load out and a clamp at the top, clamp the top to the post and extend the cylinder.
You wouldn't even need to pull it right out, once you get the post moving and broken free the FEL will pick it up.
Best of luck.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
If you have a pressure washer, you could try cutting out the soil around the concrete ball enough to pull them with the FEL. If you can find a way to hook the post to one of the 3 pt. hitch rockshafts; that will more than double your pulling/lifting power. Just a few thoughts that came to my mind.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
I saw a hydraulic fence post puller once that used a big bottle jack. You might call around to some rental yards and see if they have anything to offer. For 100 posts it might be worth renting a bigger machine for a day.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Good point Ken. I missed the part about 100 fence posts. Holy crap! That is a lot of work!
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Here's an old, unsafe way we pulled posts 50 yrs ago....Back the tractor rear wheel up against the post. Attach a log chain around the post at ground level. Run the free end of the chain up over the center of the wheel. Loop chain throgh the tire/rim at the top and hook securely. Slowly pull the tractor forward and the post will lift up with the tire....WATCH FOR THE POST TO HIT YOU IN THE BACK!
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Beagle, You've got a bunch of work ahead of you. The least expensive method would be two or three overweight brother in laws with spades and shovels while you run the tractor, the snacks and refreshments might get a bit out of hand tho so maybe that's not a good idea. In the real world why not rent a backhoe for a day and do it safely. Seems like every summer I hear of someone being badly hurt or killed trying to pull a stump, fence post, push a tree over, etc.. Early this spring we lost a good young man in our neighborhood. He cut a tree and it would'nt tip over so took his "H" Farmall with the loader to push it over, you know the rest, it was a shocking loss for our community. So how ever you get it done do it with safety in mind, we're kind of a little community here on Tractor Point and we don't want to lose one of our best. Frank.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Thanks everyone, especially Chief for his grapple of the task ahead. I tried the tire rim idea last night, sounded simple enough to work...but didn't. The issue seems to be pulling the concrete ball through the root mass that is about 18" thick above the ball. It's time to employ some shoring tricks we have used for high rise buildings and bridges. All hydraulics from here. Too many accidents occur from rigging that isn't properly set up, the last thing I want is for one of these posts to pop loose and hit me or the wife in the head.
Out to the barn to fabricate a jacking frame. We may 3pt mount it just for ease of movement. We thought putting up the new fence would be the work, this has turned into one of those head scratchers. But...the neighbors sure are enjoying the show. The tire rim idea brought about $25 to the neighborhood bookie.
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Tricks for pulling fence posts
Beagle, your welcome to my TLB (Pic. # 3) but you're a little too far away.
I can grab 10" stumps and tear them right out of the ground clean. Steel fence posts are the same.
Check the rental yards, I think if you rented a full-size TLB for an afternoon you would have them all out easily. They generally rent for about $250 a day, sometimes you can rent them Saturday afternoon till Monday morning for a half day's rental price.
Best of luck.
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