Hot water poured on it? Done that to dig a hole before. Portable heater of some sort maybe? Loosen the dirt around it and jack it out with a high lift jack and chain…
Fun little problem for the new year, eh?
Not quite the answer you are looking for, but I have pounded steel posts right along side broken wood posts and cable tied them together until spring.
Even with very frozen ground I was able to pound a steel post. No way was I going to be able to dig out the broken wood posts.
I too would drive a temp metal stake(s) ( on outside of use area) and add a solid panel rather than break a lot of soil to pull an old post like using a backhoe etc.
You can try a Mattox, ( a fire fighting pick ax which is great for grubbing roots ) They can be more targeted in the right hands
overall I would wait for thaw. Remember you have to reset the post and the less disturbed the soil around it, the better. You will then be able to rest the post and rails and paint without so much for the weather.
Thanks, all! Yes, I like the steel post- wait for thaw idea best…
The hot water can be used for steel post installation too, if that helps! :lol:
Charcoal briquets, lit and then left under an upturned foil roasting pan with a brick or something on top to hold it down, will thaw the area as well.
Done the fire trick too, also a good idea!
[QUOTE=Brigitte;8464262]
Not quite the answer you are looking for, but I have pounded steel posts right along side broken wood posts and cable tied them together until spring.
Even with very frozen ground I was able to pound a steel post. No way was I going to be able to dig out the broken wood posts.[/QUOTE]
Yup, just rig something up temporarily until spring.
Done the fire trick too, also a good idea!
might be able to screw an eye bolt into the wooden post and pull it straight up
Sounds like you are going to wait until warmer weather, but I imagine that a jack would do the job, though it would take some time.
After many years dealing with this situation there is really only one way that keep the paddock secure without spending a lot of money (hiring/renting a backhoe) and time. Trying to thaw the ground deep enough with hot water is going to take a lot of hot water.
So, that leaves what others have suggest. Pound a metal stake and lash the old post to it or just the fence boards.
If the ground is really frozen solid as a rock. I take a long 1 inch masonry bit and my cordless drill and bore a starter hole. Depending on your frost depth the ground gets softer the farther you go down. Still requires a fair bit of manual labor.
I just use the FEL on my tractor as a “pounder”. Makes short work of it.
Gumtree I think they call it “brothering” the post. It’s something they’ve had to do here sometimes. If you keep the “brother” shorter than the post, horses don’t get in trouble with them.
[QUOTE=Brigitte;8464262]
Not quite the answer you are looking for, but I have pounded steel posts right along side broken wood posts and cable tied them together until spring.
Even with very frozen ground I was able to pound a steel post. No way was I going to be able to dig out the broken wood posts.[/QUOTE]
I second this. I’ve done it before too.
[QUOTE=Carol O;8464230]
So, a tree took out a wooden corner fence post in my arena. The arena is used as turnout in the winter when it is frozen ground under snow. Any suggestions for getting the broken piece out of frozen ground?[/QUOTE]
We have several corner posts taken out close to ground line by snow plow and other heavy equipment last winter. They were setback up and then brothered with two stakes pounded in on the outside and then wired to the broken fence post. All have held really well. I suppose they will rot sooner but the repair was so much easier than replacing the post.
I had two break last winter at the gate -what a pain! I feel for you
What I did was drill a hole in the broken post to loop a chain through it, attached the tractor bucket and it pulled out easy. I poured a huge pot of boiling water down the hole enough to dig it out for the new post. The new post had “feet” like a jump standard to add some stability and I pounded two T posts beside it secured by U bolts . It worked ok for me but still a huge pain in the butt
The job is done. The post is “brothered” to two T posts. Being a corner post I used two T posts, set behind the post at the two points of pull from the fence, which is electric tape. Worked like a charm! The surprise was finding the ground was not frozen. Weird here in far NE Wisconsin, but it has been a weird year. I probably could have dug out the post pretty easily, but it was pretty cold yesterday, and there is about 9 inches of snow. The final repair can wait for a warmer day.
Thanks!
[QUOTE=merrygoround;8464648]
Gumtree I think they call it “brothering” the post. It’s something they’ve had to do here sometimes. If you keep the “brother” shorter than the post, horses don’t get in trouble with them.[/QUOTE]
In construction, we call that “sistering”, as in “sistering a joist”. But brothering sounds cute, too!
If you have a bit of trouble getting the steel post into the ground, you can get a long drill bit and drill a few holes to help break up the dirt. I’ve done that before. Drill bit will go through the frozen ground.
I always keep several metal stock panels on hand-- the kind that connect together with pins (round-pen type panels). When a post or rail gets broken I just set the panels up to horse proof/secure the paddock/pasture (a really quick, sturdy fix) and then repair when weather allows. I just tie the panel to the nearest good post with plastic baling twine (top, bottom and middle)–plastic baling twine is really strong and holds up! It looks crappy but it works.
