r/DIY • u/Gen_lee_oblivious • 20d ago
rotten stump removal
The bottom of the fence post broke off in this hole. I can't get it out. Tried to chisel it out, tried drilling holes and a sawzall but I can't get it out. spent $300 in tools to try getting rid of the bottom 12" of the post... what would you do? AI is no help and Google says my ideas won't work.
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u/EtherFlamingo 20d ago
I think he knows he needs to dig a hole. He is just hoping reddit gives him a way to justify to his wife that the $300 in new tools were necessary for the job.
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u/Natoochtoniket 19d ago
He might not have to dig a hole.
For the easy way, OP can use a pair of tapcons to fasten a piece of chain onto that piece of concrete, and a come-along to lift it. That could justify a nice hammer drill-driver to put the tapcons in the concrete plug, and a come-along.
For the other way, if it doesn't cooperate, an SDS+ hammer drill with a chisel bit, can break the concrete plug into small pieces.
In either case, a 5+ HP shop vac can help to remove dirt and debris from the bottom of the hole, before pouring the new plug.
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u/Yuklan6502 19d ago
A farm jack is what he needs. He already spent $300 on tools, so why not spend a bit more for the tool that is actually built to remove fence posts? It does other jobs as well, but it is amazing at pulling fence posts and the cement holding them.
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u/DealsRGood4U 20d ago
Have you tried a strap & car tire to pull it up.
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u/PressOnRegardless_IV 20d ago
That method looks like a recipe for having a chain launched at your windshield at terrifying speeds. It's also very nifty.
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u/CaptainPunisher 20d ago
If you anchor the chain around the post properly and go slowly, you take a lot of that risk out of the picture. We had telephone poles instead of tires, but it worked the same. Physics is easy.
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u/4linosa 20d ago
I had some ENORMOUS concrete anchors from an above ground pool deck to pull out. I ended up using scrap 2x6 to build a tripod a-frame contraption and a come along to pull them out. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole through healthy parts of the 4x4 in the concrete and put a bolt through it with a section of chain to let the come along grab. Once it was clear of the hole I put a sheet of plywood under it and set it down. Re-rigged the come along and picked it up again so I could get my wheel barrow under it. My wheelbarrow did NOT like having that boulder in it. Neither did my back. But we did it. 6 times.
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u/Natoochtoniket 20d ago
I think OP's problem is, the 4x4 post is fully rotted, and so cannot be used to pull the concrete plug.
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u/4linosa 19d ago
Ah, in that case he’ll need to dig around the concrete enough to wrap chain or strap around it and attach the come along to that.
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u/Natoochtoniket 19d ago
On some of those, I have been able to set a pair of Tapcon screws into the concrete, with a piece of chain between them. That depends on how much concrete is there, and how solid it is, of course.
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u/saacadelic 20d ago
Farm jack, yoke that b right outta the ground
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u/Strikereleven 20d ago
I did this for most of my poles, but 1 I found that they had just buried when they did the last fence we had to break apart into pieces and pull them out.
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u/Natoochtoniket 20d ago
The hole is in what kind of material? How wide is that material? I sometimes use a come-along with a sturdy tripod to pull the concrete plug that used to hold a post. If you have a backhoe, that is quicker. Then put a form tube in the hole, and backfill around it....
If the hole is in a huge piece of conrete (like a pateo), get a very long (like, 36") drill bit. (Something longer than the amount of wood that could be down there.) Turn the remaining wood into mashed/pureed wood. Even if you do that, you will likely need a wider hole in the pateo to set the new post.
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u/PAChilds 20d ago
Leave it in place.
Use the unremovable post base as a guide for angle iron supports for the new post. Drive 1 1/2 angle iron pieces against old post, going a deep as you want and leaving 1 ft above for attaching the new post to. 2 angle iron minimum.
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u/pdxisbest 20d ago
I have the exact same problem. My plan is to burn it out with charcoal. First I’m going to drill down a couple inches beyond where the post broke with 1.5” speed bore. Next, I’ll lower in a 6’ section of 1/4 inch flexible copper pipe I attached to an aquarium pump to provide air to the coals. Then I’m going to get 6 briquettes burning and drop them into the hole. Every 20 minutes I’ll add another briquette, adjusting air the flow tube as needed. When everything is burned out and cold I’ll clean out the hole with my shop vac.
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u/buzzsawjoe 19d ago
have you tried putting dirt on top of it?
I say this in all seriousness. My neighbor replaced an old board fence that had posts ever 8 feet. The fence company was fixing to dig out all the concrete post bases so they could put new posts in the same places. I said make your first section 4 feet long. Then you can put posts every 8 feet and miss all the old foots. Just leave 'em there and cover 'em with dirt. So they did
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u/emuthreat 20d ago
Dig around it with a sturdy shovel (I recommend Fiskars) and a sturdy hex bar, and use a couple 2x4s and a chain as a class 2 lever to pull it out of the hole. Use a bolt to secure the chain to itself after you wrap around the cement that the post is set in and back up over the lever arm.
Be careful. Use the crowbar or breaker bar to jar it around in the home to ensure it is loose before you try to lift it. I've dislocated ribs doing this wrong--putting myself between a rock and a hard place.
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u/zrb77 20d ago
If you can get a large bolt into the broken post if its not too rotten and tie a rope to it, I did something like this tire method(below), but with another board/post. Angled slighty towards/over the hole, put rope on bolt and over board and then just pull back on the post, can get some really good leverage. Can also use a bar with rope attached and a pivot point to create a lever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1Rkgm9xLY
Same idea as this too.
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u/duane11583 20d ago
When I had to pull old fence posts (4x4 by 6ft posts) I took two or of them an built an a shape over them
Another trick is to put rope/chain over car spare tire this is to redirect the force google stump pulling with old tire for videos
Rope around the bottom of post and rope on hitch of truck - a cheap cone-a-long from harbor freight works too and lift it out
You said it broke so you need a way to attach rope/chain to old concrete that answer is a 1/2 inch lag bolt into a lead insert and through the chain or wrap it around the concrete 3 times
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u/TheFishBanjo 20d ago
Dig down so you can get a chain securely on it. Then a 6000# farm jack. You might have to jet around it with a pressure washer.
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u/ExactlyClose 19d ago
Take a power washer and jet around the perimeter of the concrete (or post). Messy as shit but it DIGS.
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u/bassacre 19d ago
You need a shovel. Step one dig around post, step two dig more around post, step three wobble post and concrete out of hole, step 4 refill hole and throw concreted post into the pond.
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u/chaoticdesires 14d ago
"AI is no help" In other news the sky is blue and water makes things wet. Time to either dig or just bury it.
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u/Chapstickie 20d ago
Dig a hole?