Removing a Concrete Post Clothes Line-need help

Jordy3738 · May 25, 2009

How do you remove them?

I am posting this here because I'm re-doing many things in my yard. It's an older house in Florida and years ago they put concrete clothes line poles in the ground.

I started digging around them the other day and discovered that after going about 3 1/2 feet deep that they even poured extra concrete in the holes.

I still have not found the bottom of the pole. Even if I dig all the way down, I am not sure if I will have to hire a crane operator for removing them or what.

Forgot to mention, these things are like 8" to 10" in diameter. They must weigh like 300 lbs each.

Any suggestions?

BobsLandscaping · May 25, 2009

I just removed concrete footings for a sun room, but they were only sunk 32 inches into the ground.

Sounds like yours may be sunk deeper because you have loose or sandy soil. Best way to remove these is with equipment. Anything with a bucket will work. Since I had to squeeze through a 36 inch gate I used a Bobcat MT55 from my local equipment rental yard.

I used the bucket to dig down to the footing, almost like a trench, as wide as the bucket. Once I had one side of the footing exposed I wrapped a chain around it, hooked the other end to the bucket and then pulled it out of the ground. I had to work the bucket up and down, move the machne back and forth, but eventually they popped out.

I spent around $145 to rent the machine overnight, w/ trailer, and 2 tie down chains. Pretty easy job actually.

If you have access to a skid steer or tractor with a bucket that would work better. Those machines are heavier. The ass end of the MT55 was up in the air when I was working the footing out of the ground. A heavier machine would stay planted better. However I only had a small gate opening to get through.

If you can find a mini-ex narrow enough to get in your back yard thats really the best. You can precisely dig it out and then use the thumb to pluck it right out of the ground.

If you want to do it cheaper rent a jack hammer and wheelbarrow it out in pieces. It'll be a ton more work though.

Remember to call before you dig. You don't want to take out any utilities.

knucklehead · May 25, 2009

Can you get some dynamite?

cleveman · May 26, 2009

Careful, man.

I see you are in Florida.

These are launching pads you are dealing with. They were used to fire rockets off into space and what not.

You mentioned something that leads me to believe there are several of them.

Go with the heavy equipment as suggested. If you don't like that idea, then knock some off the top of them as good as possible, and cover them with dirt.

Get your hard drive erased when the job is done so you won't have to disclose the presence of launching pads on your property when you go to sell it to the next sucker.

JonM · May 26, 2009

Dig down a foot or so...grab a sledge hammer and knock the top off...bury the rest...:thumbsup:

Railman · May 26, 2009

Exactly!
Whats the purpose of removing all the way down?
To me, if I can't see it, it would be no more than a burried rock, with even less chance to surface.

If it's necesary to totally remove, it would be a good excuse to rent an electric jack hammer, but any more seems like over kill.

Joe

dakzaag · May 26, 2009

I used the bucket to dig down to the footing, almost like a trench, as wide as the bucket. Once I had one side of the footing exposed I wrapped a chain around it, hooked the other end to the bucket and then pulled it out of the ground. I had to work the bucket up and down, move the machne back and forth, but eventually they popped out.

The ass end of the MT55 was up in the air when I was working the footing out of the ground. If you can find a mini-ex narrow enough to get in your back yard thats really the best. You can precisely dig it out and then use the thumb to pluck it right out of the ground.

And thanks to Bob the Builder, we all enjoy more expensive rental rates on anything we might need. :furious:

I'm sorry, but has anyone heard of a shovel and a sledge. Last month I had to replace a mail box post. They had augered into the ground about 4.5 feet and dumped two bags of sackrete in. I just kept digging and busting away and in about a half hour it was done.

Working hard used to be a virtue, now it seems to be avoided like the plague.:w00t: I usually look at the time and expense to rent something that will make the job easier versus the amount I will get paid to do it the old fashioned way.

Nothing personal against Bob but if he only had a few to do he could have paid himself the $145 and saved the time running to get the machine. Now if he had 25 of the "footers" and he saved three days of labor then thats another story, but don't abuse the equipment.:thumbup:

tgeb · May 26, 2009

I agree.

In amount of time wasted going to get and return the equipment, you could probably have the thing dug out by hand. A nice sledge hammer and shovel can make quick work of a job like this.

I wouldn't move one of my own machines to do a little job like that, let alone rent one.

SelfContract · May 26, 2009

Save time & money, loves Mother Nature, Green Peace, and leave Earth Spirits undisturbed (under ground) that way! :thumbsup:

mhillc · May 26, 2009

cut a 3 foot piece of 2x6 or 2x10 .
put the chain around the bottom of the post and the other end to your truck. put the 2x6 or 10 about a foot in front of the post standing 3 foot high run the chain over the 2x . Have someone hold the 2x until you put tention on it with the truck. Then pull forward slow and steady it will pop up and out. Works every time. Its a fulcrum:thumbup:

naptown CR · May 26, 2009

this works well and is an old farmers trick for pulling fence posts.

BobsLandscaping · May 26, 2009

I charged $500 to remove the posts, fill, grade, and seed. With the MT55 it took 2.5 hours and then I took the machine across town to build a planter out of pavers for $1200.

The machine made me more productive and I got more jobs done than if I had used a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

What am I doing wrong exactly? I thought renting equipment to be more productive was ok? Am I supposed to do all my landscaping jobs by hand with no machine assistance? I don't get it. I thought by getting 2 jobs done in one day I was coming out ahead rather than doing the removal one day and the planter the next. Is that wrong?

Also I never exceeded the machines operating limits or tore up the tracks.

strathd · May 26, 2009

It's his own yard............

Treeandland · May 27, 2009

Sounds like a good trick to know, tried looking that up on youtube but only found a guy that made a contraption with a wheel on the top edge that seemed similar. And a bunch of other weird devices or ******** just yanking them straight out with a truck......

Can't win sometimes, get beat up for using rental eqpt.? What next we're not allowed to dog the hell out of rental cars?

dakzaag · May 27, 2009

What am I doing wrong exactly? I thought renting equipment to be more productive was ok? Am I supposed to do all my landscaping jobs by hand with no machine assistance? I don't get it. I thought by getting 2 jobs done in one day I was coming out ahead rather than doing the removal one day and the planter the next. Is that wrong?

I wasn't saying you shouldn't rent something to be more productive. Just a different perspective. I always think about the total invoice when I consider renting. Customer pays more for job, I get less in my pocket. If it allows me to get the job done a lot faster, then I rent.

You have to figure the total time spent running to pick up and return the rental and cost for rental vs doing it the slow or hard way. If you saved 4 hours renting then you could have paid yourself approximately $35/ hr to do the job the slow way and save the running. Just another way of looking at it.

Also I never exceeded the machines operating limits or tore up the tracks.

As for how hard on the equipment, if your lifting up the back end and moving back and forth to get the footer out, your exceeding the limits of the machine. I have done this so many times it is not funny. The one difference is I owned the machine. In the long run it is a loosing game, blown cylinders, bent buckets or frames. Over heated motors and hyd. drives. Sure it's a rental, but how do you think they cover the repair costs? We all pay for the abuse some guys put on the machines.

I rent often enough that I take care of their stuff so they will take care of me. When you hear all the experiences those guys have ,with trashed machines and one renter blowing the motor on a $25,000 unit because they didn't have sense to stop when smoke started rolling like coal from a freight train, you get a sense of what those guys go through.

sparehair · May 27, 2009

I dug a post out buy hand once that took about eight man hours. One post - eight hours. I was younger and dumber. I'd cut it off if it wasn't in the way.

Every other post since that one b)(*& has come out in no more than 20 minutes.

jiangye · Jun 21, 2009

try this , go to rentyard and rent a auger. drill three holes around the post. connect these holes by a pick or prybar. pry the post to the hole.
put a chain around the post, attach the chain to a long 2x4 and left it.

mdshunk · Jun 21, 2009

If you've already dug down three feet, just wiggle the thing back and fourth and pull straight up. Can't be too much depeer than you've already dug. If it is, Sawzall that ***** off, bust the top off the concrete, and bury the rest.

Removing a Concrete Post Clothes Line-need help

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