Willl
Elite Member
Sledge hammer, cutting torch and a lot of sweat.
Cutting concrete posts
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OP
flusher
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raykos said:
Right now there are 6 old concrete posts in the way and are positioned 8ft apart. My baler is about 9 ft wide, side delivery rake is 10 ft wide and the grain drill is about 11.5 ft wide. So these old concrete posts definitely have to go.
I could arrange the new shed design to use 4 of the 6 old post holes that are now in the way. I may do that if I can get those old posts pulled out cleanly without a lot of extra digging that just results in bigger holes to fill.
Here's a layout of the shed. It's a 3-sided pole frame structure open to the left. The 6x6 posts are on 16ft centers; the 4x4 posts are on 8ft centers. The old concrete posts are also on 8 ft centers so I could arrange to use 4 of these old holes for the new 6x6 posts. If I do this I'll have to pull one additional concrete post to make this approach work. No big deal. If I can figure out how to pull 6, I can pull 7.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Flusher, with that machine shown and a good chain or sling it shouldn't even break into a sweat.
J_J
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flusher said:
OP
flusher
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Willl said:
You're right about the sweat. When I whack one of those concrete posts with a sledge, those metal attachment plates imbedded in the post ring like a tuning fork. That ancient concrete is hard, hard, hard.
AlanB
Elite Member
If you want to cut them, as Dargo said, Partner type saw and get on it.
That is going to very closely resemble work, and you will feel it at the end of the day, but with the right blade (bring money) you can be through them pretty well.
The saws rent for about $50 a day here, have no idea what they are in your area, but plan on probably $125 for the Good blade. I buy the $45 HF ones and deal with it. We tend to tear them up more from stupid stuff (setting in the truck and someone steps on them) then actually wearing them out.
You could also do it with the abrasive blade, but if it gets wobbling (and you will be having a hard time holding the saw at 90 like that and it will, and you build up heat when it wobbles, and it explodes, it is a bad moment in life.
I bought our saw at HF and it has done the job for us. Not the quality of a Partner / Husky / Makita, but about 1/3 the price as well.
That is going to very closely resemble work, and you will feel it at the end of the day, but with the right blade (bring money) you can be through them pretty well.
The saws rent for about $50 a day here, have no idea what they are in your area, but plan on probably $125 for the Good blade. I buy the $45 HF ones and deal with it. We tend to tear them up more from stupid stuff (setting in the truck and someone steps on them) then actually wearing them out.
You could also do it with the abrasive blade, but if it gets wobbling (and you will be having a hard time holding the saw at 90 like that and it will, and you build up heat when it wobbles, and it explodes, it is a bad moment in life.
I bought our saw at HF and it has done the job for us. Not the quality of a Partner / Husky / Makita, but about 1/3 the price as well.
AlanB
Elite Member
I was thinking about this last night (man, something is wrong with me) and the additional thought came to me that I would probably get a real heavy peice of canvas, maybe 6' X 6', and cut a square hole in the center and put it down over the post prior to laying down there and cutting it. Kind of like a surgeon does when they operate
I would probably also dig around the things a bit so I was cutting an inch or two below grade.
Realize that you can only cut about 4" deep with this type saw, maybe 5 or so, angle etc. are going to come into play, anyway, you will probably have to slice then hammer, then slice then hammer etc, and work your way around in circles.
Just some additional thoughts, I usually find though on this type project that I think and worry too much about it, if I would just jump in and start working, the actual bad part will get over pretty quick.
I would probably also dig around the things a bit so I was cutting an inch or two below grade.
Realize that you can only cut about 4" deep with this type saw, maybe 5 or so, angle etc. are going to come into play, anyway, you will probably have to slice then hammer, then slice then hammer etc, and work your way around in circles.
Just some additional thoughts, I usually find though on this type project that I think and worry too much about it, if I would just jump in and start working, the actual bad part will get over pretty quick.
ampsucker
Platinum Member
i don't know. i'm thinking cutting is going to be a LOT more work. do you know for sure how deep that i-beam is set? cutting through that plus 11" of concrete plus rebar and doing it all sideways is going to be hard work. IF you have to do it thatway, maybe you could rig up a bracket on your FEL bucket to hold the saw in place. at least that would take some operator strain out of the equation.
i just last week pulled a very large wooden totem type pole sunk in concrete that was about 18" square under ground. just dug around two sides with the back hoe, went around to the other side and pushed with the bucket. it fell right over and i pulled it out the rest of the way with a strap. if i can do that with my little bx in about two hours (had to work around some tight places, landscaping, a close fence, etc.) i think you could easily pull all those out with a larger machine in a single day.
it's too bad you can't use them to build on. they look solid - would be just as good as any foundation you'll be pouring today. our county building dept has no authority and doesn't even do inspections. i went down once to ask for a permit and find out what the local official frost depth was for building foundations. they guy told me i could build my deck out of corn cobs if i wanted to (he literally said that). he was clueless about frost depth, too. in our area, if you're outside the city limits, anything goes!
good luck! post up some picks if you do decide to cut them off.
i just last week pulled a very large wooden totem type pole sunk in concrete that was about 18" square under ground. just dug around two sides with the back hoe, went around to the other side and pushed with the bucket. it fell right over and i pulled it out the rest of the way with a strap. if i can do that with my little bx in about two hours (had to work around some tight places, landscaping, a close fence, etc.) i think you could easily pull all those out with a larger machine in a single day.
it's too bad you can't use them to build on. they look solid - would be just as good as any foundation you'll be pouring today. our county building dept has no authority and doesn't even do inspections. i went down once to ask for a permit and find out what the local official frost depth was for building foundations. they guy told me i could build my deck out of corn cobs if i wanted to (he literally said that). he was clueless about frost depth, too. in our area, if you're outside the city limits, anything goes!
good luck! post up some picks if you do decide to cut them off.
4720 OWNER
Gold Member
I would really have to agree to the thought of reaaranging the plans a bit and use the resource you have been provided with instead of trying to get rid of it. IMO
Yeah, the chickens get some strange food sometimes in the name of feed $ reduction, but they are laying thru their molting period as well and 90+ temps!!
Yeah, the chickens get some strange food sometimes in the name of feed $ reduction, but they are laying thru their molting period as well and 90+ temps!!
MarkV
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I kind of wonder if the building department would reconsider the use of the existing piers if you had them tested by an engineering firm. Equipment sheds are not exactly heavy structures and there are a lot of building sitting on 60 year old concrete. The test might be pricey but it would be cheaper than removing the old to replace with new.
MarkV
MarkV
