John Rumm wrote:
On 15/05/2020 12:40, Chris Green wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
a 4 x 4 treated wood post that was in place for around 15 years has
rotted and needs replacing.

It is a 2.4m one - 60cm under ground, set using a couple of bags of
postcrete. Unfortunately the post has rotted right at the ground level.

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.


Once I free the post from the rest of the fence I am certain that I will
be able to simply snap it at the point where it meets the concrete.

Is there an easy way to remove the lump of concrete so that a new post
can be easily set in its place without having to dig a very large hole
around it and pull it out?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PS: I do not have access to any heavy machinery.

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?

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!)

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).

--
Chris Green
·