Will my tractor pull these up?

[LabLuvR]

Irma's wind blew down a stretch of wooden fencing. Apparently the 6" poles had rotted at ground level and the wind pushed her on over. The post were put in with cement, probably a bag per pole and I'm not sure if my 35hp with 4in1 bucket will pull them out. I already tried with a chain but it kept slipping off what little bit of post I could wrap around. If my tractor will pull it, I may try the Bush Grabber chains to see if they work. Any ideas? Thanks!!

 

[jeff9366]

You have more lift capacity at your Three Point Hitch than you do at your FEL.

Wrap chain around both Lower Links, to spread the load, and try lifting from there.

Better if you have a cross-drawbar fitted between the Lower Links to spread the load. You would still want the load at the two junctions of cross-drawbar with the Lower Links.


Generally speaking, wrapped lighter chain will grip small diameter objects more securely than heavier chain. Do you have a slip hook on your chain so it will cinch tight?

 

[/pine]

You might try using the edge of the fel bucket to nudge the posts from different sides a little before lifting on them...

 

[two_bit_score]

You might try using the edge of the fel bucket to nudge the posts from different sides a little before lifting on them...

Right. Once he gets under the edge of the concrete the 4in1 bucket should be able to get them right out of there.

TBS

 

[Dave M7040]

I hope my sketch will make sense to those looking at it.

It is a way to pull old posts straight up with a lot of force by applying the principals of a lever to multiply the force you can apply by pulling on the end of a chain.

The timber on an angle tilted towards the buried post is the trick. The chain goes over the top of the timber and will dig into it and pull it towards an upright position as the truck or tractor drives straight ahead..

As the timber approaches the vertical, the forces it exerts on the buried post will amaze those who have not seen this before. Don't use a light 2 x 4 or it will explode with the forces on it.

Sometimes it helps to dig a small pocket in the ground to locate the bottom of the timber.

Dave M7040

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Is there enough of the wood post left that you could drill a hole through it? If so, drill the hole, put a long 3/4" bolt through it, thread a nut on it (to keep the bolt from falling out, and then hook the chain to the bolt to lift it out of the hole?

 

[lennyzx11]

As a couple of guys said, pulling UP is the trick.
You may have to dig a bit and wrap chain around the concrete if none of the mentioned tips for attaching the chain will work.
I also use a strap and a wheel rim to do what Dave suggests frequently.

 

[kthompson]

Labluvr, is the concrete solid, might be easy broken but action to loosen it in the hole will help you. Ground should be wet now which will also help. If you need to dig around the concrete to get surface to gripe the post and concrete by. Should be easy work if dirt is wet.

Dave M7040 interesting idea. Labluvr if you do not mind my asking what kind of winds did you have in your part of the state? I am about 20 miles west of Myrtle Beach and we had low 40 mph winds, very little damage here.

 

[Egon]

How deep down do these posts go?
Have you tried popping them out with the bucket?

 

[CincyFlyer]

I just pulled about forty 4x4s that were three feet in the ground, two feet of that in concrete. I used my Mahindra 2540, which has about a ton of lift, with a Titan tree puller (giant pincers) to grab them. Half came right out (after a day or two of rain) but all of the others required a small bit of back-and-forth to loosen them. You need to get a good grip on them, to be sure! A stump bucket (if you don't have a backhoe) may end up being easier than pulling them, unless you can easily get a chain or strap around them.