Pulling Posts 101

Thankyou to Jamie and Sarah for lending me their jack alls for pulling posts at the farm with my mom. I have to admit, it was an adventure. Here's how it played out.

1. Ask friends for a heavy duty jack.

2. Discover there are a number of different types of jacks.

3. Explain to friends my intensions with the jack.

4. Discover there are multiple ways to pull out a post.

5. Make back up plans and buy supplies for plan one.

6. Drive to farm, wake up, ask mom why she has a taxidermied mouse on the wall, decipher it is actually a bat that has been in the house for a week, trap bat and carry it to tree outside, hope it is still alive.

7. Execute plan 1: Use tow strap and truck to loosen post #1 in ground, hit cement skirt with pick axe because the sledge hammer is lost, attach 2x4 to post using 1/4 inch bolt-style screws, set up jacks on paving stones, jack up post #1 still in cement; bust 2x4.

8. Execute plan 2: Use tow strap and truck to rip post #2 out of cement, go to store to buy 1/2 inch bolts, drill hole in post #2 and 4x4 for bolt, jack up post #2 ripped out of cement = SUCCESS!!! I should have taken a picture... sigh. Move 4x4/bolt setup to post #1, jack up #1 and hear strain of wood, stop jack and pull post with truck again, rip post #1 out of cement, jack up post #1 = SUCCESS!!!

9. Stare at post #3, which is more solidly poured and did not crack under pick axe duress, decide to use tow belt and truck to pull post and hopefully crack cement, cement does not crack, but post and cement come out together, stare at situation, pull post again, watch mother's eyes widen as she reminds me that she does not want the post to fall on her truck, raise tow strap to avoid hood collision, pull post and cement from ground, post misses truck = SUCCESS!!!

10. Decide tow strap can pull other blocks of cement from ground, pull cement from ground = SUCCESS!!!

11. Have a nap.

12. Clean up, roll and carry cement to pile for dump, store posts for potential future use... somewhere, plant saskatoon berry shrub in hole # 1, cover holes #2 and #3.

13. Have a nap.

14. Contemplate how to break cement into manageable pieces, decide to ask friends... advice welcome, sledge hammer lending welcome, hilti lending more welcome. =)