Blown Concrete Fence Post

[daleyd]

When you're in a hole, stop digging.

Probably best he starts digging, I think

 

[mike os]

Repair is almost pointless… just replace

 

[roofman]

if you don't want the hardship of digging the old post out then just snap if off with a sledge hammer and grinder and sink 2 new posts either side and cut and make the lattice to suit

 

[8ob]

Made this gadget for lifting out posts complete with the concrete ball, just wrap the chain around the post,push down the bar and the post/concrete pops out of the ground. Its as quick as talking about it, hole ends up a tad bigger but thats no hardship.

Bob

 

[roofman]

Made this gadget for lifting out posts complete with the concrete ball, just wrap the chain around the post,push down the bar and the post/concrete pops out of the ground. Its as quick as talking about it, hole ends up a tad bigger but thats no hardship.

Bob
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Clever

 

[Onoff]

Made this gadget for lifting out posts complete with the concrete ball, just wrap the chain around the post,push down the bar and the post/concrete pops out of the ground.

Bob
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I'd have a go with it but on some had to overdo the concrete. So many big flints here they will sometimes knock the 12" auger off centre and you end up with a hole a foot or more off where you want. Means a bit of hand enlarging the hole and more concrete.

 

[8ob]

I'd have a go with it but on some had to overdo the concrete. So many big flints here they will sometimes knock the 12" auger off centre and you end up with a hole a foot or more off where you want. Means a bit of hand enlarging the hole and more concrete.

Still worth changing the posts Mr Off , if you value your time £20 a post and a shovel or two of concrete is the cheap fix.

Bob

 

[MattF]

Still worth changing the posts Mr Off , if you value your time £20 a post and a shovel or two of concrete is the cheap fix.

Bob

This's rich coming from the bloke who started the tightwad thread.

Get a length of scrap wood, wider than the post, & silicon it onto the post. Nice bit of ornamental trim, & he can't see the damage any more. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[Pete.]

No rebar in the wings of those posts usually the damage is probably cracks from poor handling or shoddy manufacture opened up by either hot/cold cycles or water getting in and freezing. They are made of a brittle concrete and the are long and heavy with a narrow section.

 

[Barking Mat]

So they've cracked a bit.

They're still vertical and holding your wooden fence in place.

I mean if it worries you that much, change them.

But honestly, I wouldn't bother.

I agree with @MattF

 

[bricol]

Based on what I saw when I was a pupil at my old school, and a recent trip past, you've got about 35-40 yrs before even thinking about post replacement . . .

 

[Barking Mat]

Having read this post I'm definitely not inspecting the 30 odd 2.4 m concrete posts I put in 5 years ago.

Oh no.

 

[brightspark]

theres a row of 35 concrete posts that are blown on the main road outside my house probs been there before the war and after 35 years of me living there they havent got any worse id just leave them

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Do what the highways people do....stick a strain gauge on it and come back every year to monitor if it's getting worse ....don't forget to update the forum too!

Seriously though...provided you stick something on it to prevent water getting in it should be fine I would think. I'd just leave it until there was a functional need for a new post. If I was really bored I might stick some epoxy paint on it...but only if I had it mixed for something else anyway!

 

[reb78]

100% what @MattF and what @brightspark say... leave em alone. In 50 years time the fence will be fine and you won't be worried about them.

 

[Kram]

Our front gate post split hotizontally about half way up. We think it was from when I dropped it in the hole without considering its fragilility, or sds drilling the holes.
We did buy another and planned to redo it but far too much effort. The bits of wood securing the gate are keeping the post intact. Its survived 2 years ok..
The plan would have been smash it off level with sledge then diamond core drill the post. I bought a 6" drill for it.

Made this gadget for lifting out posts complete with the concrete ball, just wrap the chain around the post,push down the bar and the post/concrete pops out of the ground. Its as quick as talking about it, hole ends up a tad bigger but thats no hardship.

Bob
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I tried something similar made of 40mm² SHS tube, to remove a met post from clay ground, the tube bent!

We have noticed our posrs are leaning where we had oversize holes and tried to fill with stones before postcrete. Some of the panels have bowed out a lot.

 

[James1979]

Made this gadget for lifting out posts complete with the concrete ball, just wrap the chain around the post,push down the bar and the post/concrete pops out of the ground. Its as quick as talking about it, hole ends up a tad bigger but thats no hardship.

Bob
View attachment 353959

I use a hi lift jack but same idea. The whole lot comes out, concrete and all.

There is something like yours available commercially- post popper or something. Yours seems to have more leverage though. Theirs works on a ratchet

 

[addjunkie]

100% what @MattF and what @brightspark say... leave em alone. In 50 years time the fence will be fine and you won't be worried about them.

Concur, if it aint broke, dont fix it.

 

[8ob]

I use a hi lift jack but same idea. The whole lot comes out, concrete and all.

There is something like yours available commercially- post popper or something. Yours seems to have more leverage though. Theirs works on a ratchet

That one is about twenty years old now and done its share of post removals, it took a while and a lot of messing about to get the geometry right but it works really well and there isn't anything I would change on it. The foot is far enough away from the post to allow its extraction complete with concrete, all the others I have seen are too close and the foot sits on the hidden concrete and stops the post coming out.

Bob

 

[James1979]

That one is about twenty years old now and done its share of post removals, it took a while and a lot of messing about to get the geometry right but it works really well and there isn't anything I would change on it. The foot is far enough away from the post to allow its extraction complete with concrete, all the others I have seen are too close and the foot sits on the hidden concrete and stops the post coming out.

Bob

That’s the only snag with a hi lift. You need to slant it and rest the top against the post to miss the concrete base.