Heavy brush and getting Tposts

[dun]

Those Harbor Freight post pullers work great. If you only save 10 or 15 posts you just paid for it..

Besides, they run it on sale for 17.99 all the time.

I just pulled 1/4 mile of posts up using one of them last week.
I used to use the tractor and bent most of them. and it took too much time getting on and off the tractor.

You must ne in northern MO

Ok I'll ask, Why???
But I'm in SE missouri....

You must have real soil in that area. Here, the Ozarks, we have limestone. If a tractor can;t budge it I doubt if a jack devise would get them out.

 

[danl]

I do have real dirt, I live in the hills right before it flattens out for miles. I don't have hardly any rocks on my place at all.
I'm not griping....
But I was raised about 30 miles west of here and it was real rocky. We only had wood posts then so I never tried pulling any.
Actually didn't even think about it being hard to get them back out too.

 

[hillrancher]

We take a loader with a 4 in 1 bucket and clamp the top of the post and pull. If we are going to put the fence back cut or take the clips off. Take a backhoe or track hoe pull away from the post clean up bush and ect and reuse the post that is left or reset.

We have been buying used steel post from Nebraska the past 2 years In fact we have 350+ that is going to be here tuesday. They are heavier than the new post we can buy.

 

[Txwalt]

Its a lot easier to pull t-posts right after a good rain. I pulled what I could the first time around and left the stubborn ones. After a couple of days of rain I went back and managed to pull the rest.

Walt

 

[Calman]

I pulled up posts on a fence row so thick with trees and brush ya couldnt hardly walk through it. Used pruning sheers,double bitted choping axe a chainsaw, my 4wheeler and a high lift jack.
Was able to save most the posts but after all that next time i'll just buy new posts. once I start a job one way or another i always finish it. But on the other hand i sure did call myself some names i wouldnt repeat.

Calman

 

[Fly-guy]

Was able to save most the posts but after all that next time i'll just buy new posts. once I start a job one way or another i always finish it. But on the other hand i sure did call myself some names i wouldnt repeat.

Calman

Calman, sounds like we may be related! There is nothing worse than a bad case of tunnel vision is there?

 

[dun]

Was able to save most the posts but after all that next time i'll just buy new posts. once I start a job one way or another i always finish it. But on the other hand i sure did call myself some names i wouldnt repeat.

Calman

Calman, sounds like we may be related! There is nothing worse than a bad case of tunnel vision is there?

I always thought that was way things are supposed to be done

 

[Calman]

Was able to save most the posts but after all that next time i'll just buy new posts. once I start a job one way or another i always finish it. But on the other hand i sure did call myself some names i wouldnt repeat.

Calman

Calman, sounds like we may be related! There is nothing worse than a bad case of tunnel vision is there?

I always thought that was way things are supposed to be done

Fly-Guy you got that right.

Dunn thats when you're young and dumb, not supposed to that way when ya get 65. A feller should have knowed better by then.

Cal

 

[dun]

Dunn thats when you're young and dumb, not supposed to that way when ya get 65. A feller should have knowed better by then.

Cal

I'm past that point but still don;t know better. Just takes me a lot longer to get finished then it used to

 

[Calman]

Dunn thats when you're young and dumb, not supposed to that way when ya get 65. A feller should have knowed better by then.

Cal

I'm past that point but still don;t know better. Just takes me a lot longer to get finished then it used to

And a lot more time to rest after finishing.

Cal

 

[novatech]

Pull the posts that are easy to get to. Front end loader is best. 3 point may work with crane attachment. I don't remove wire until I have it out of the brush. After removing the T post that you can get to, doze brush wire and all. After burning wire will rust and decompose faster. I would not burn brush line first. Burning can burn off to much of the top growth and the dozer is not able to pull the roots out. Also burning previous to removal will make the T posts rust faster. An application of herbicide previous to dozing is a good idea.

 

[Dusty Britches]

Wow, there sure is a lot of discussion on this.

I have no problem pulling t-posts - some of them are so close together we use the tractor to pull 2 or 3 at a time. If I'm by myself, I use a Preifert puller that looks like that harbor freight one. I like Dun's collar and I forgot all about it. I'll have to make one.

The problem is getting to the tposts. There is 3-4 feet of greenbriars to get through. Greenbriars are thin vines covered in thorns, grow a foot a day from the ground up to the trees and weave into the trees. If we pull the briars, we will burn the stack, but they burn very hot and very fast.

Some of these Tposts are old, but still very usable. They are heavy duty and most modern electric fence clips will not fit them.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Dusty you can also loop a chain and dangle it long from the tractor bucket. Pull the front bucket over the post and let the chain loop slide down onto the post a way. Roll the tractor just a little back and pick up on the post. You still have to get off of the tractor to unhook the post but you can do that on clear ground. Another option that works better it to cut about a 2 inch square hole in a piece of iron plate. Chain the plate to the front bucket and let it loop over the post.

 

[Medic24]

I really like Dun's collar.

But what I made some time ago seems to work well for me, and can be placed anywhere on the post even when it still has wire on it, or is knee deep in brush and briars........

I wish I could take a pic,,,but to best describe it:

I cut out a small piece of 1/2 plate steel into a U shape and welded a length of chain on it in the proper corner. to better describe it...I would say it looks alot like the commercial pullers you see that work like a jack to leverage posts out, but this in fact is just the piece that actually attaches to the post on a larger scale, and you can dangle the chain down from a bucket or 3 point hitch maybe a boom poll. works like a charm, and it's super cheap. I just paint all my fencing tools red or bright orange so when i drop them I might even be able to find them again...... :cboy:

 

[MissouriExile]

You know, Sid, I've thought about that. I would love to do a controlled burn, but I'm not sure how I'd keep from setting the neighbor's place on fire. Who would I talk to?

Are the old T posts reuable? My other neighbor thought not and we should go with all new ones. But with the price....

Did your other neighbor offer to take the old "useless" ones off your hands?
I need a lot more T posts, at $3.00++ each new ones are pricey. I go to a lot of farm auctions and someone always bids up used ones to remarkable heights. I have seen old 6 ft posts sell for as $2.60 each at auctions. Some weren't even straight!!

Don't scrap them.

Jon