Larry Jaques wrote:

(...)

I found that most of the wood will drill out easily, then I put a
digging bar in the middle of the footer and break it into 4 slabs,
ideally.

Thassa good idea.

I *had* a nice auger bit bought specifically for that
purpose around here but it lost track of me.

(...)

There ya go. I need to replace the springs on a farm jack I got which
was in a fire. I think it might work as a post jack, but once it dries
up enough to run that hot lead to my battery, I'll finish the
installation of the little winch on my truck. A triangular steel
framework with a pulley on top (plus a truck/winch) would be ideal for
lots of things.

The 'no sweat' approach.

I fantasize about using some powder actuated
masonry fasteners to attach 'stamp eye' end fittings
to the footer, then popping the mess out of the
ground en masse.

Nevahoiduvit.

Still would be faster than anything I've tried before.

Anybody done that? I'm all ears.

I think an 8" eye bolt might be usable. Drill, lag into the somewhat
rotted wood, and pull vertically. As a che^H^H^Hfrugal SOB, I liked
that spare tire puller, but a direct vertical pull is best, I'm sure.

The tensile strength of that rotted wood is about zilch point zip.
It started out life as untreated redwood, with an axial tensile
strength of zip point zero 1. By the time I get to
it, it is holey red mush. An expanding masonry fastener or a
couple powder fasteners into the footing would work 'way better.

P.S: Boy, are your fantasies dull. Masonry?

(Obvious 'hard joke' redacted)

--Winston