Posthole Digger post hole digger model/tips for replacing posts

[BWBrown]

We replace a couple dozen wooden fence posts a year. Ours are soaked in preservative posts, last - 10 years and rot off just a few inches below ground level. The horses love to lean on 'em for the coup de gras.

We dig down about 8 - 10 inches, work a digging bar around the post to loosen it, (they're NOT i n concrete!).
Take the claw of a hammer, drive it into the broken stub and pull out the post.

Next we take a hatchet and slightly sharpen, take the square edges off, the new post, and drive it into the old hole with a sledge hammer. Replace the dirt, pack it with the flat end of the digging bar.

We can do 4 or 5 an hour.
Bob

 

[bill333]

My tractor is a Kutoba 3540 (about 33 HP) with a LA724 Loader and L2239 bucket. I don't have the middle hook on the bucket but I'm sure I could loop the chain.

Bob, regarding your approach; we tried something like that once but the ground here is basically rock and clay. So after a while the clay is so hard it is almost like concrete; even if you dig down a good foot around the post (which can easily take an hour by hand, since the ground is so hard) the post still will not budge.

 

[MarkV]

If the remaining post is solid enough it would seem that you could screw the biggest eye bolt you can find in the top to pull from and the bolt would be reusable.

MarkV

 

[newbury]

If the remaining post is solid enough it would seem that you could screw the biggest eye bolt you can find in the top to pull from and the bolt would be reusable.

MarkV

That's kind of what I was thinking with the auger, basically need a BIG corkscrew.

 

[SPYDERLK]

If the remaining post is solid enough it would seem that you could screw the biggest eye bolt you can find in the top to pull from and the bolt would be reusable.

MarkV

Screws do not hold well in end grain. A cork screw would, but I dont think you would be able to screw it in.
larry

 

[LBrown59]

Now and again I have to replace posts on my old cedar split rail fence. Because it is split rail the posts have to pretty much go in the same holes as the existing posts.
1* The ones needing replacing tend to be where the post has rotted at ground level -- so even though the top of the post can be broken off, there is still some (somewhat rotted) post in the ground.
Digging these out by hand is very difficult, compounded by clay and rock.

1*I have the same problem with my mail box post.
I would just Dig it out with my BH if it wasn't for the traffic factor.
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In my 30 years of fencing, I've never been able to drill a post hole on top of an existing post stump. The digger/auger won't grind out the old part. You can however. drill one right along side every existing post and live with the offset end points of the fence. What you ought to consider (if you have a front end loader or 3pt reach hook, is to shovel out around the old post just enough to slip a tight chain loop around it. Then tug it out with the tractor. You will find that the old hole is just about perfect for the new post. Maybe have to clear out the hole a bit with a hand auger, but it goes really fast once you get the hang of it. Having a helper to snag the chain onto the old post stump or operate the tractor is a big plus. Hope that helps. I only use a PHD for drilling new holes, not for resurrecting old ones. For the hand digger, I prefer the type that you turn instead of the ones you chop with. The interlocking shovels at the end if it gets the loose soil out. And the hole will be round and straight down.

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[CurlyDave]

I would just Dig it out with my BH if it wasn't for the traffic factor.

Park your car, with flashers on, in the traffic lane, maybe 50-75 feet "upstream".

Northern Tool carries an assortment of traffic cones.