If you have some fence posts that are anchored in either soil or concrete, and you need to get rid of them, then you have a few different options at your disposal. Today, we are looking at the nine best ways for removing fence posts from both soil and concrete.
Depending on your situation and what tools you have at your disposal, any of the following methods may work.
9 Ways to Remove Fence Posts
Let’s now take a quick look at each of the nine best ways to remove fence posts from the ground or concrete.
1. Use a Sledgehammer
If the fence post is anchored in loose ground or in a small piece of concrete, you may just be able to sledgehammer it out. If it is in soil, hit the fence post in the center with the sledgehammer to loosen it, and then just pull it out.
If it is anchored in a bit of concrete, use a sledgehammer to break the concrete apart, and then proceed to pull the fence post out. This will, however, only work for loose fence posts and ones anchored in small pieces of concrete.
2. Dig Them Out
The next solution at your disposal is to dig out the fence post. If a fence post is anchored in soil, then you can just dig away the soil around the fence post using a shovel until it is loose and just falls over.
Moreover, if the fence post is anchored in a small piece of concrete, dig around the concrete, and then rip out the fence post along with the concrete base. This will of course not work if the fence post is anchored in a large slab of concrete.
3. Dig and Pull Them Out
If your fence posts are anchored down into the soil quite deep, then you may need to dig away a lot of the soil surrounding the fence post using a shovel. Here, you want to dig away enough of the soil so that you can easily get to the bottom of the fence post.
Once you reach the bottom or near the bottom of the fence post, you can then start shaking the fence post back and forth to loosen it until you can pull it out. Here, you can pull out the fence post by hand, or use any other method, such as attaching a chain to it to pull it out.
4. Cut Them Off
If your main goal is simply to get rid of the fence post above the ground, another option you have at your disposal is to cut it off at ground level. You can also choose to dig around it slightly, and then cut it off just slightly below ground level, so you can then pack soil on top of it.
Here, you are going to need some kind of saw, such as a hacksaw or a metal cutting saw, to cut off the metal fence post at ground level.
For instance, if a fence post is anchored in a large slab of concrete, and you don’t want to break the concrete, this may be the best option at your disposal, because you can then just fill in the hollow fence post with concrete and create an even slab.
5. Pull Them Out With a Rebar Lever
If the fence post is anchored very deeply in the ground, another option at your disposal is to use a rebar lever. Here, you are going to use some sort of drill that has the ability to drill through metal. You are then going to drill a hole through the fence post about a foot off the ground. This hole needs to be large enough to fit a piece of rebar.
Next, you are going to put a piece of rebar through that hole. Then, under one side of the rebar, place something like a cinder block. You are going to use that cinder block as a lever, along with another piece of rebar or something like a 4×4 beam, to leverage the fence post out of the ground by pushing up on one side of it.
6. Pull Them Out With Your Vehicle
If the fence post is anchored very deeply in the ground, or it’s even anchored down with a small concrete base, then another option at your disposal is to pull the post out using your vehicle. Just like above, you are going to use a drill to make a hole in the fence post, and then insert a piece of rebar through that hole.
You’re then going to attach chains to either end of that rebar and attach the other ends of those chains to your vehicle. Using a good bit of horsepower, you can then use your vehicle to just pull that fence post right out of the ground, whether it has a concrete base or not.
Now, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of drilling through that post and inserting rebar, something else you can try doing if you have a large vehicle with a lot of horsepower, is simply using the front end of the vehicle and slowly drive into the post to loosen it from the ground and push it over. However, this is really only something you want to do if you have a strong push bar on the front of your vehicle, such as a farm vehicle like a tractor or a pickup truck.
7. By Using a Car Jack
You may also use a car jack to push or pull the fence post out of the ground. Here, just like with the above two methods, drill a hole in the post, insert a piece of rebar, and then get your car jack. You will then place the car jack under one side of the rebar.
Next, use the lever on the car jack to raise the mechanism and create enough pressure to push one side of the rebar upwards, which should then loosen the pole to the point where you can pull it out of the ground. This is likely one of the easiest methods to use.
To learn more about this method, read my detailed article about how to remove fence posts with a car jack.
8. Use a Post Puller
If you don’t want to do any hard work, and you happen to have a post puller on hand, then it is indeed one of the best tools to use. This is especially the case if you have many fence posts that need to be pulled in a limited amount of time.
A post puller consists of two parts, one that attaches to the post and anchors to the ground, as well as a lever that you push down on. Here, you simply attach the post puller to the fence post, make sure that the base is securely on the ground, and then pull on the lever. This should be more than enough to remove more or less any fence post from the ground.
9. Break the Concrete
The final option that you have at your disposal here is to actually break the concrete. If the fence post is anchored down in a slab of concrete, you will need to break the concrete around the post in order to remove it.
Therefore, use something like a jackhammer, sledgehammer, or concrete saw to break the concrete to the point where the fence post can be pulled out by hand or with any of the other methods listed above.
Mistakes to Avoid, Tips & Tricks
Let’s now quickly go over some tips and tricks to help make this process much easier and faster for you:
- If you are drilling a hole in the post to insert a piece of rebar, make sure that you use a drill that is capable of doing so, along with the proper drill bit. Also, make sure that you use a relatively thick piece of rebar.
- If you are going to be breaking the concrete around the post, make sure that you wear proper eye protection, and if using loud machinery, proper ear protection.
- If using your vehicle to pull the post out of the ground, make sure that the chains are securely attached to the fence post. You don’t want those chains coming loose and shooting into the back of your vehicle.
Summary
As you can see, there are many different methods at your disposal to remove fence posts from the ground. They are very similar to the methods used to remove metal fence posts.
Exactly what method you use really depends on the tools that you have at your disposal, as well as how deeply the post is anchored into the ground. Of course, whether the post is anchored in just soil, a piece of concrete, or a whole concrete slab is going to make a difference too.