These are set in concrete. The posts themselves are short (less than 2 feet tall) but they are set in a rather large amount of concrete below ground. Any easy way to get these out or should I just dig around and cut off wooden posts at top of concrete and cover with dirt? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

How big around is the concrete base? I've used 1" bolts and floor/bottle jacks to get fence posts out. Used 4x4 post sections bolted to fence post to get Jack far enough back to clear the concrete.

2 ways I've done it:

1. Took 18 out when I demoed my deck. Exposed the concrete some ( many were partially exposed). Hit the concrete ball 2-5 five times with a sledge hammer- concrete would break into 3 or 4 pieces, sometimes more. Pulled the post and concrete chunks out. Did all 18, including clean up, in an afternoon. Just got into a rhythm & kept going. Did another one later and had my sons-in-law competing and arguing.

2. Wrap a fairly stout chain twice or 3 times around the post and jack out with bumper jack under chain. Make sure jack base isn't on top of concrete ball! This works well but takes more time and work than the sledge hammer method.

Don't ever bend over the lever like the guy in the video and never have your head above the lever using one of those jacks. Stay to the side of it.

Thanks for all the advice but the post finally won! There is an inordinate amount of concrete in the ground, jack no workie. I finally dug out around the posts deep enough to get my chainsaw in and chopped them off right above the concrete but still below ground. I plan to fill in area with dirt so the remaining concrete will not be visible. Whoever made this deck must have owned stock in ready mix cause it looked like a nuclear bunker was planned but decided to build a deck instead! BTW, the now demolished deck was covering a perfectly good slab, no idea why it was built in the first place. Thanks again everyone.

Helped a friend repair a fence once which involved tearing out some old posts. Shortly into the job we were getting our butts handed to us by the concrete so his dad ran off and rented an electric jackhammer from Home Depot or Lowes. It made quick work of those posts afterwards.

Doing a fence at my parent's first house, my dad made an A frame with 2 4x4's and used a come-a-long to pull the old posts out. I think they were 8 foot tall.

~egon

KellerAg98 said:

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Don't ever bend over the lever like the guy in the video and never have your head above the lever using one of those jacks. Stay to the side of it.

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Found this out the hard way when I was 12 or 13 on the farm. Jacking up an old Servis shredder to change a flat tire. Combination of sweat and grime led to lever slipping out of my hand and catching me in the jaw, just missing my windpipe. Luckily only a few chipped teeth.

KellerAg98 said:

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Don't ever bend over the lever like the guy in the video and never have your head above the lever using one of those jacks. Stay to the side of it.

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Called it the widow maker on the farm. Jack slap is scary as hell.