I found that Metposts into the old stumps didn't hold the post solidly.
They were also nigh on impossible to get in vertical, as you mention..

After losing fence panels for a third time, I bit the bullet and went for a
proper repair. I used 4ft concrete posts sunk 2ft into the ground next to
each wooden post. This did mean digging out the old concrete from around
the wooden posts, and was a lot of hard work, but the fence hasn't budged an
inch since.

Mal


"Peter Bull" wrote in message
...
A fence post has snapped again and needs renewing for the 3dr time.
I remember last time, I put soooo many bags of ready mix into the
hole. This time I recock I'll need a readymix truck. The post HAS
to go in the same place. Is there anything I can do other than
drilling out the old concrete and putting more in?

I did the post yesterday using the Metpost repair spur
kindly suggested by Clive Summerfield.
I bought a new post, but thought afterwards that I
could have turned the old post upside down and used
that, sawing off the top.
The spike wend down the edge of the old post in
the concrete, but it was a n ightmare to get it vertical....
one tap down with the sledgehammer then three on the
sides to get it vertical, one tap down.....
The inside of the spike that receives the post has 'fins'
that bite into the post to hold it steady, plus the inside
is bigger that the post it takes. I therefore found it
impossible to locate the new post in exactly the same
place as the old one, and had to do a lot of fixing to
get the fence panels attached to the new post. I noticed
later that my local garden centre sells 'Quikposts' that
have a smaller socket for the post, and you tighten
*bolts* to hold the spike to the post.

Comments anyone?