Some wooden fence posts can be set 24″ into the ground. Of course, there’s a concrete footer that helps to hold the post in place and they usually weigh around 60-80 pounds. When these posts were first put into the ground, it was probably assumed they’d be staying for a long time. But there comes a time when you want to take them out. Maybe when you removed the pickets, you did it with ease along with the runners, but getting the posts out is a different story. Hint: an aluminum jack would come in handy here. You wonder if there happens to be an simpler way to remove the posts without having to get down and dirty and dig.
As you can figure out, yes, there is a better way of doing things. You just need a drill, an aluminum jack, a 2.5″ paddle bit, and a four feet piece of a deck board. An aluminum jack, typically used for jacking up cars to help in changing tires, is useful in this situation. The aluminum jack was made for going underneath the bumper to lift the car. If you look back in history, you’ll see that bumpers were made from out of steel and many times could be the same weight as the car. Now, with the cars of today, it wouldn’t go well. However, you can still get bumper jacks in many tractor supply stores and agricultural stores as well. These jacks can do lifting work up through 5,000 pounds. And if you get a farm jack, it can go up through 7,000 pounds. The best part is that while these jacks lift different amounts, both cost around $75.
You’ll want the aluminum jack to do the work to help you remove fence posts you want to get rid of. You won’t be reusing these posts. What you’ll do is match up the bit with your drill. Then you’re going to drill a hole about half-way into the fence post, one foot away from the ground. If you can, don’t drill completely through the post. You want the hole at the size to fit the lifting part of the jack. You don’t want the post to break before even coming out yet. Put your piece of board flat on the ground to the front of your post. This board is here to help transfer some stress and weight so your jack doesn’t go into the ground. Now the aluminum jack goes on the board. The lifting part of your jack goes into the hole. You can start pumping at this point. If you happen to see the jack wanting to move forward, put a guard on the post. You’ll keep this going until you get the post completely out. It’s possible you’ll have to use your hands to pull your fence post out for the last few inches.
This is the way to do it! Be careful to avoid getting pinched between the post and the top of your jack.