How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.

I have an all-wood picket fence that came with the house, installed by
a well-known fence company which is still in business at 3 locations
in 3 counties 26 years later**. No cement or concrete shows at any
post, but no posts have shown any indication of leaning, except the
one that the gate is hung on. With that one, I diconnnected the
section of fence atttached to it, soaked the earth with water, used a
come-along to pull the post vertical, and then nailed the fence
section in place while the post was vertical. The post straightened
up pretty easily after quite a bit of water, but not a flood.

**I guess I should call them and ask, but maybe no one knows anymore
what they did then.

In article ,
mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.
...snipped...

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and
try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You
should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos
around the post to be sure.




--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:18:46 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.
...snipped...

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and
try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You
should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos
around the post to be sure.

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.


(And I have an old 4' piece of rebar that, with a rope, had been
holding up my apple tree. The tree doesn't need it anymore and it
kept me from mowing the lawn right. I threw away the other 3 but kept
the last one, even though it was bent too, for a reason I didn't know.
Now I know!)

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:18:46 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.
...snipped...

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and
try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You
should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos
around the post to be sure.

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.


Look up "prussik" knot. It is a good way to have a rope hold onto something.
Or, just rock the post back and forth until it is loose, and lift it out.

Bob

In article ,
mm wrote:
On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:18:46 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.
...snipped...

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and
try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You
should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos
around the post to be sure.

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.


(And I have an old 4' piece of rebar that, with a rope, had been
holding up my apple tree. The tree doesn't need it anymore and it
kept me from mowing the lawn right. I threw away the other 3 but kept
the last one, even though it was bent too, for a reason I didn't know.
Now I know!)


I pulled about a dozen 4X4 posts in my yard using a "farm jack" which
is kind of a super-heavy-duty bumper jack. If I didn't already own
one, I believe a regular bumper jack would have worked OK. Instead of
a chain I used a couple big C clamps and clamped a 2X4 block about 8"
long to the posts, and then put the jack against the block. If the
jack isn't powerful enough, soaking the ground around the post may
help. Put the base of the jack on a piece of 2X10 or whatever to
distribute the load and keep it from sinking into the ground.


--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

On Sun, 8 Oct 2006 14:36:30 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
.. .

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.


Look up "prussik" knot.

I just did. I'll try it.

It is a good way to have a rope hold onto something.
Or, just rock the post back and forth until it is loose, and lift it out.

This is pretty obvious too, nowthat you've told me. I guess I should
think more before posting, but somehow those things seem permanent!

Thanks.

Bob

they don't need concrete in some rocky soils in some climates.
your particular post may vary from the others. the specifications of
the job may have been selected by the previous homeowner or local
permit office.

mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.

I have an all-wood picket fence that came with the house, installed by
a well-known fence company which is still in business at 3 locations
in 3 counties 26 years later**. No cement or concrete shows at any
post, but no posts have shown any indication of leaning, except the
one that the gate is hung on. With that one, I diconnnected the
section of fence atttached to it, soaked the earth with water, used a
come-along to pull the post vertical, and then nailed the fence
section in place while the post was vertical. The post straightened
up pretty easily after quite a bit of water, but not a flood.

**I guess I should call them and ask, but maybe no one knows anymore
what they did then.

On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:30:47 GMT, "John‰]*
************************************************** *************"
wrote:

In article , mm
wrote:

On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:18:46 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
How do I know if my fence posts are set in cement? The dirt and
grass goes all the way up to everyone of the 30 plus posts.

I need to know now because I may have to take one post out
temporarily.
...snipped...

Get a piece of rebar about 4 or 5 ft long, 1/2" dia would be god, and
try to drive it down alongside the post, a couple inches away. You
should be able to tell if it hits concrete. Try it in a few spos
around the post to be sure.

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.

Done it many times and it works great; just remember to set the jack on
a concrete block, paver, or scrap of 3/4 plywood.

It's kind of embarassing when the post doesn't move and you just jack
the jack into the ground(done that too)g

I hope I remember that. Thanks a lot guys.

John

mm wrote:
On Sun, 8 Oct 2006 14:36:30 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
.. .

Thanks. Boy, is that obvious, NOW THAT YOU'VE TOLD ME!

So, if there is no cement, how hard is it to get a 4" diameter round
wood fence post out of the ground, and how do I do it?

CAn I connect a chain to my bumper jack, or a floor jack, wrap it
around the post, and jack? If I make some dents in the post, that
would be ok.


Look up "prussik" knot.

I just did. I'll try it.

It is a good way to have a rope hold onto something.
Or, just rock the post back and forth until it is loose, and lift it out.

This is pretty obvious too, nowthat you've told me. I guess I should
think more before posting, but somehow those things seem permanent!

I tore down an old shed last year that was built on 8 4x4's sunk 2
feet into the ground with no concrete. But the soil around here is
heavy clay, and the earth had a death grip on those posts: a four-ton
hydraulic floor jack and tow chain failed to do the job.

What finally worked for me was to dig a small trench around each post,
and let the garden hose run slowly for about an hour on each post.
Then rock the post back and forth, and pull the sucker out by hand.







Thanks.

Bob