Monday, after the pigs had left for the butcher, Daddy got a call from Papa to let us know they were heading down to return the shoes Seppi left at their house.
“Oh, by the way, do you have an upright jack I could borrow to pull out some posts?”
Papa always has the tools. He told me once his rule is, “If it’s a job you are only going to have to do once, rent or hire. If it’s a job you are going to have to do more than once, buy the tool, and learn how to do it yourself.” Which is excellent advice for most things, and explains why he always has the tools.
40 minutes later Deedee and Papa arrived at the farm and Papa had the upright jack.
The posts were installed by the previous owner, actually before the barn was built, as we discovered by the fact that the cement holding in the upright pole for the barn was overlying part of the cement holding in the railroad tie. They were probably a part of a paddock for his horses, but now they are in the way, especially with the large mow of hay. It is difficult for Daddy to squeeze through by himself, and impossible to get a wheelbarrow through.
Up until now we have dug out the railroad ties by hand, digging until we reached the cement collar, and then chipping through that until it broke, then hauling the post out by hand. It’s a several hour ordeal, usually.
The jack method is much simpler. The jack is chained to the base of the post, and the opposite side of the post is braced to prevent the whole thing from leaning away from the post.
Then simply lever the thing out of the ground. One came out with the cement collar intact, which we broke up with the pickaxe. The other broke the cement, leaving it in the ground.
Should be able to get a wheelbarrow through that now, once we have filled in the holes.
Victory!
Took about 30 minutes to pull both posts, saved a full day of work. Thank you Papa!
Little Farm in the Big City 