Pulling T-Posts

[D2Cat]

^^^^^

Hmmmmm.........hadn't thought about the rippers on my box blade. Might just do the trick digging the wire out of the grass and at least exposing it....so I can see what I am dealing with.

I have a feeling a lot of it is going to tear though.

If you're pulling "field fence" you can often slowly and gently pull on the top wire (which is heavier gage) and the bottom either come with it or breaks at a rusty joint. After the wire is removed the rippers would loosen what left and level the grade a bit.

 

[Flintknapper]

If you're pulling "field fence" you can often slowly and gently pull on the top wire (which is heavier gage) and the bottom either come with it or breaks at a rusty joint. After the wire is removed the rippers would loosen what left and level the grade a bit.

Looks to be all the same gauge wire and none too big, maybe 14-16 ga.

Definitely have to thread something through several squares of it....if trying to pull very much at a time.

 

[Russell King]

I imagine it is welded wire fence about a foot or two tall. Can you get the ends and kind of twist it into a bundle and the grab the bundle and pull it?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Looks to be all the same gauge wire and none too big, maybe 14-16 ga.

Definitely have to thread something through several squares of it....if trying to pull very much at a time.

View attachment 98735

I have hundreds of feet of that exact type of fence buried about a foot down, (anti dig wire for the wolves and pups).
I use a ripper to pull up when I have to remove it to move fences.
It's not a fun task but it's doable.

I had one section that was chain link buried, oh that was brutal to get out of the ground!

 

[Flintknapper]

I have hundreds of feet of that exact type of fence buried about a foot down, (anti dig wire for the wolves and pups).
I use a ripper to pull up when I have to remove it to move fences.
It's not a fun task but it's doable.

I had one section that was chain link buried, oh that was brutal to get out of the ground!

I pulled a small section about 20' long yesterday and it offered enough resistance to cause one tire to spin on the grass. Had to lock the diff to finish. So....yeah its really in there.

 

[Flintknapper]

I imagine it is welded wire fence about a foot or two tall. Can you get the ends and kind of twist it into a bundle and the grab the bundle and pull it?

That is as good an idea as any. Need to find easiest/fastest way to do it....because I have a lot of it.

I have a chain-link fence stretcher that has multiple 'hooks' on it that might work....I don't know.

Bundling it would make the pulling end very strong, but not sure yet how much effort would be involved in making that happen. Will keep that in mind.

 

[Russell King]

If it is welded wire I don’t think the vertical wire is very strongly attached to the horizontal wire and if you hook onto the vertical wire it will probably just pull off, but it may be stronger than I think.

If I was trying to bundle the end like I suggested I might just cut through the vertical wires on the first few and then twist a couple of the horizontal wires at the dirt level together and see if that works to get it out of the ground. How deep is it buried now? When going into service here they are usually about 6 inches deep but they get much deeper when they do the job they are supposed to do.

Another idea is to wrap the wire around a piece of metal or wood and then try to pull that instead of the wire.

i don’t see how using anything to pull it vertically would work but I guess you could try a farm jack to see if that works and then use the tractor FEL to pull it vertical by jamming the bucket teeth into the ground and then curling the bucket up to catch the wire. You might have to do a lot of short sections to get it out? Sounds tedious and a lot of back and forth but I think you have a HST that might help with that.

good luck with it, and I think you are too late to avoid the heat but not the real heat of the summer (which is what you you are really looking at avoiding).

I have trouble with 90 degrees when it comes the week after it was 30 for the low…but I will adjust over the spring, hopefully it will be a somewhat gradual increase now

 

[Flintknapper]

If I was trying to bundle the end like I suggested I might just cut through the vertical wires on the first few and then twist a couple of the horizontal wires at the dirt level together and see if that works to get it out of the ground. How deep is it buried now? When going into service here they are usually about 6 inches deep but they get much deeper when they do the job they are supposed to do.

i don’t see how using anything to pull it vertically would work but I guess you could try a farm jack to see if that works and then use the tractor FEL to pull it vertical by jamming the bucket teeth into the ground and then curling the bucket up to catch the wire.

Some places the wire is buried AND has soil washed up against it. Other places it is mostly 'grown into' with grass, vines, etc....

Pretty much all of it will need to be 'lifted' some before trying pull it lengthwise. There will be quite a few places where whatever is holding it will be stronger than the wire and it will tear. No getting around that.

 

[Flintknapper]

I had to walk the areas where the containment wire and posts are and mark them all. Otherwise you'd never see some of them.

They are at a height just right to tear the sidewall of a tractor tire, so each one of them need to come out. The wire...I will deal with as I have time and find the best way to do it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

yikes there's a LOT of tire destroyers !!
I'd have to tie yellow 'police line' tape on the fence at EACH post location to help SEE where they are. Heck you could pay a kid $1 a post to paint and tape and it'd be a LOT less than one new tire !

 

[Flintknapper]

yikes there's a LOT of tire destroyers !!
I'd have to tie yellow 'police line' tape on the fence at EACH post location to help SEE where they are. Heck you could pay a kid $1 a post to paint and tape and it'd be a LOT less than one new tire !

Yes, they gotta go! I have probably 150 of them marked out....that I need to pull.

Just put new rear tires on the tractor....so not wanting to damage those.

 

[Russell King]

Curiosity has overwhelmed me…

1) why do you have the fence and t posts? Why was it installed?

2) what is the wooden handled tool in the picture called? I can’t remember the name.

3) what is your use of same tool?

 

[Flintknapper]

@Russell King asked:

Curiosity has overwhelmed me…

1) why do you have the fence and t posts? Why was it installed?

It is containment/silt fencing. Used for erosion control and containment. It was placed (several sites) when we had some gas-well pads constructed on our property years ago.

2) what is the wooden handled tool in the picture called? I can’t remember the name.

It's a 'Pickaroon', normally used for manipulating logs....but handy for pulling brush, vines, grass, etc...from under/around fence-lines.

3) what is your use of same tool?

I have two of them. The one pictured has only the 'pick/hook' the other also has a small sharpened axe blade opposite the pick. I use them all the time to move logs, carry firewood 'rounds' pick up saplings I cut without having to bend over, clear vines from fence-lines.

Silt fencing looks like this:

 

[Russell King]

Thanks for the info. I have seen the tool before but never had the need for one.

Looking through the pictures again and came up with this idea now…

put a t post into the wire about half way down and then start twisting the t post like a propeller to get it twisted into a “bundle”.. Then pull the t post and wire.