Removing Fence Posts

[RhallVA]

I am considering a B2410 w/ FEL and one job I know I need to do is to remove some fence posts from the ground due to a new building project and moving a gate to a new location in the fence. These posts were driven (not dug and set) and are 3/4 round posts. They were power driven into the ground about two years ago so they are strong and tight.
With a compact tractor with a FEL what is the best and safest way to pull out these posts?

Thanks!
Roy

 

[Thomas]

Roy,
If it was I removing the post I would carefully bump the bucket against the post and try an loosen.
If your on flat ground and have a hook on you bucket,I would wrap a chain around the post than lower or rise your bucket half way of the post than hook up.
Slowly raise your fel and watch,if the post hardly moves bump the post w/ the bucket again..works for me.
Trying to remove a post on uneven ground or loose surface can be tricky..be extra careful.

 

[Bird]

Roy, I've pulled lots of posts of all sizes and types with both the B7100 and the B2710. I don't know about the best way, but can tell you how I do it. I have chain hooks on each end of my loader bucket and I maneuver the tractor to have the post right in the center of the bucket, loop a chain around the post; equal length of chain from the post to each of the two hooks. With a lot of posts, I can simply lift them out of the ground that way with the FEL. If they're too heavy and tight for that, I lift enough to put some tension on the chain and rock back and forth (or forward and backward) just a tiny bit with the hydro pedal to "wiggle" the post a bit and loosen it. So far, I've only encountered one single post that I couldn't pull. It was a steel t-post set many years ago next to a tree and a big root had grown completely around it. No way it was coming out of there.

 

[Steve_in_Ont]

Generally, I use the 3 point hitch (with a lower link draw bar) to remove posts... Just wrap a chain around the post a few times, then to the draw bar.

Based on a few of the FEL & 3pt. specs that I have seen, it looks like the lifting capacity of the 3pt is significantly greater than a FEL. This should help with getting those difficult posts out.

Lift slowly, as you need to watch where the post is going. By backing up slowly, generally the top of the post will fall away from you.

Good luck!

 

[Bird]

I'm sure you're right, Steve. You'd have more lift with the 3-point hitch, but less lifting range. I've just used the front end loader (with the box blade on the back for ballast at the time) because I intended to then use the FEL to haul off the posts after pulling them, and because the posts are frequently long enough that you couldn't lift them completely out of the ground with the 3-point. A good point, though. If you don't have the power with the FEL, change to the 3-point.

 

[Egon]

Roy:

Strangely enough, a couple of whacks driving them into the ground before you try and pull them might help.

Egon

 

[Bayrat]

I use the "curl" function on the loader. Not only does that seem to have more power, but by doing so you do not significantly change the center of gravity on your machine as raising the loader would do. Also, be careful to watch for the whiplash that could occur if those are tight in the ground. The chain will provide less than a lifting strap, but it will still occur due to compression/expansion of components as the pull is made.

 

[MikePA]

Would cutting them off at ground level be an option?

 

[beenthere]

Not for me, as I don't want to risk one of those steel posts or rods poking through a tire sometime in the future. It wouldn't take much for a spinning rear wheel to remove the surrounding dirt, exposing the steel post and ripping a good opening in an espensive tire. Some sharp rocks are bad enough if spinning a tire on them, but the steel might be worse. Not to mention the work of sawing one off. The FEL or 3pt is a 'no work' situation as I see it.

 

[Bayrat]

I wouldn't want them left in the ground either. The only time I have not been able to remove something like that is the same experience as Bird relayed. When I first started in the construction field, the foreman I was with at the time drove a 1" steel bar through a tree root system /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif, he wasn't very bright, and even a truck mounted backhoe could not pull it out. The front end of the f6oo was in the air.