Getting concrete out of a hole?

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
dig concrete all up.

go buy an 8foot long piece of 8 inch I beam

put 3 foot in the ground with concrete.

put mailbox on top.

next time the car will stop.

 

[AgentZap]

It worked out pretty well. The concrete pour I did the last time was so good that it was completely solid so when I went to lever at it half fof it came out in one peice leaving a perfect impression of the rest of the 90 degree angle that made up the sign post (take a square and draw a diagonal from corner to corner and remove half the slice and thats what I am left with).

So pretty much all I have to do is drop in another sign post and pour in the other side of the concrete. I don't have to mess with leveling the post again. I just need to paint the new post.

The mailman came by as I was mid-dig and I told him the story and he is like ya you should use steel reinforcement for the next time

 

[AgentZap]

Hmmm I wonder how I'd be at making a brick one...

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/dp_brick/article/0,2037,DIY_13788_2269537,00.html

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
That only works for small blocks. With the weight of the block he mentioned, the bar might bend before it ever lifted.

You have never touched a cheater bar and don't have any idea how much concrete he used do you? As posted above he used one sack of concrete, they come in 50lb and 80lb bags. At the most he has an 90lb block of concrete in there (and that's if he mixed a 10inch slump). And 90lbs isn't going to provide enough weight to bend a cheater bar.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: AgentZap
Hmmm I wonder how I'd be at making a brick one...

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/dp_brick/article/0,2037,DIY_13788_2269537,00.html

If you use that method use a couple sacks of mud to fill the cinder blocks.

 

[ChefJoe]

I hate to state something that may be obvious, but you might want to check with your locality re: mailbox regulations. In the central ohio area erecting a non-breakaway mailbox could get you in trouble with the Post Office and local authorities. They have regulations on mailbox height, etc, and the fact that things so close to the public roads have to be break-away. I guess fines, non-delivery of mail, or getting sued by someone who hits the mailbox are all possible outcomes.

<=== did some research after my parents' mailbox had been killed by snowplows travelling 40-50 mph down the road they live on.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Brick mailbox :shocked:

 

[samgau]

Originally posted by: Ornery
You've already got a of wood inside the concrete. I assume it's 4"x4". Drill that with a big auger bit, and replace the wood post with a pipe of the same diameter of the drilled hole. Wrap that with wood, if you want it to look like a 4"x4" again.

WINNER...

 

[yokomo]

Find a friend with a bobcat or a back hoe and just yank it out all at once... that is what I would do.. then replace it with the strongest peice of iron or steel post you can find so it damages thier car and not your pole next time.. mabey when they have $2000 in damages to "thier" property they will pat attention better...

Just my thiughts..

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: AgentZap
It worked out pretty well. The concrete pour I did the last time was so good that it was completely solid so when I went to lever at it half fof it came out in one peice leaving a perfect impression of the rest of the 90 degree angle that made up the sign post (take a square and draw a diagonal from corner to corner and remove half the slice and thats what I am left with).

Gee, how about that. I wonder why no one came up with that idea.

 

[shilala]

A couple ideas...
(being senseless to destroy your concrete base)
1.) Use a 1" auger bit in your 1/2" drill and bore a series of holes down through the existing broken off post. You'll be able to work and chisel enough of the post out to drop a new one in. You may need to rip down the new post 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch to get it to drop down in the concrete. (this would be my choice)
2.) Get a bolt down sleeve for a 4X4 post. You can tapcon it (or use another of 100 types of concrete anchors) to faten it down. Drop the new post in it and blow a few screws in. It'll be a lot simpler fix the next time the idiots run it over.

 

[Jeff7181]

Drill a hole in it... pack some gun powder down in it with a fuse... then fill the rest of the hole with some cement mix, let it dry... and light the fuse.

Seriously though... sledge hammer and possibly a chisel would probably work great.

To prevent it from happening again... pour new concrete and build a brick mailbox.

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: istallion

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
This is so simple but you need two people and two shovels (digging bars if you have them).
Dig around 2 sides of the concrete. 8" or so will do it. Place the tips of the shovels tight against the concrete with the shovel handle up at 75 degrees or so. While pushing the tip against the concrete and with the base of the shovel on the dirt, push down on the shovel handle. Two people doing this in a rocking motion with have the concrete out in a minute or so.
You are basically just leveraging the concrete out of the hole. Kind of like popping a pimple. (If you had asked advice about that here you would have gotten much better answers)
I have done it this way by myself but it's much easier with two people.

I doubt this procedure. I replaced a fence last year and the posts had concrete at least a foot deep. We had to dig those out at least 75% to extract them.

How do professional fence builders dig out concrete? Those guys can tear down a fence and pull all the concrete in a day.

I have been in one type of construction (or destruction) all my life. I am 47 and I guarantee you that this works. BUT, there is a big difference between the competencies of my generation and the present one. I have no doubt that YOU were unable to do it. If it takes more than 4.2 seconds you are off to something else.

Disclaimer:
By "you" I mean present and last generation.

So you just diagnosed a whole generation with ADD? :roll:

 

[Injury]

Not yet introduced idea:

Pay some neighborhood teens $40 to get it out of there. Let them pound the hell out of it for an hour and not get done... tell them you aren't paying them because they didn't finish the job. Half the work is done and you get to keep your $40.

Downfalls: Kids may egg your house.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Indolent

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: istallion

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
This is so simple but you need two people and two shovels (digging bars if you have them).
Dig around 2 sides of the concrete. 8" or so will do it. Place the tips of the shovels tight against the concrete with the shovel handle up at 75 degrees or so. While pushing the tip against the concrete and with the base of the shovel on the dirt, push down on the shovel handle. Two people doing this in a rocking motion with have the concrete out in a minute or so.
You are basically just leveraging the concrete out of the hole. Kind of like popping a pimple. (If you had asked advice about that here you would have gotten much better answers)
I have done it this way by myself but it's much easier with two people.

I doubt this procedure. I replaced a fence last year and the posts had concrete at least a foot deep. We had to dig those out at least 75% to extract them.

How do professional fence builders dig out concrete? Those guys can tear down a fence and pull all the concrete in a day.

I have been in one type of construction (or destruction) all my life. I am 47 and I guarantee you that this works. BUT, there is a big difference between the competencies of my generation and the present one. I have no doubt that YOU were unable to do it. If it takes more than 4.2 seconds you are off to something else.

Disclaimer:
By "you" I mean present and last generation.

So you just diagnosed a whole generation with ADD? :roll:

Laziness

 

[IAteYourMother]

Titanium mailpost with sharp spikes coming out of it so that it'll rape the next car that hits it

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: Indolent

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: istallion

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
This is so simple but you need two people and two shovels (digging bars if you have them).
Dig around 2 sides of the concrete. 8" or so will do it. Place the tips of the shovels tight against the concrete with the shovel handle up at 75 degrees or so. While pushing the tip against the concrete and with the base of the shovel on the dirt, push down on the shovel handle. Two people doing this in a rocking motion with have the concrete out in a minute or so.
You are basically just leveraging the concrete out of the hole. Kind of like popping a pimple. (If you had asked advice about that here you would have gotten much better answers)
I have done it this way by myself but it's much easier with two people.

I doubt this procedure. I replaced a fence last year and the posts had concrete at least a foot deep. We had to dig those out at least 75% to extract them.

How do professional fence builders dig out concrete? Those guys can tear down a fence and pull all the concrete in a day.

I have been in one type of construction (or destruction) all my life. I am 47 and I guarantee you that this works. BUT, there is a big difference between the competencies of my generation and the present one. I have no doubt that YOU were unable to do it. If it takes more than 4.2 seconds you are off to something else.

Disclaimer:
By "you" I mean present and last generation.

So you just diagnosed a whole generation with ADD? :roll:

Laziness

Laziness would be not starting the job at all.

 

[everman]

Take your neighbor's mailbox and stick it in there.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: ChefJoe
I hate to state something that may be obvious, but you might want to check with your locality re: mailbox regulations. In the central ohio area erecting a non-breakaway mailbox could get you in trouble with the Post Office and local authorities. They have regulations on mailbox height, etc, and the fact that things so close to the public roads have to be break-away. I guess fines, non-delivery of mail, or getting sued by someone who hits the mailbox are all possible outcomes.

<=== did some research after my parents' mailbox had been killed by snowplows travelling 40-50 mph down the road they live on.

I'm also in central Ohio, but I've been told by the local Postmaster (who is a friend of mine) that the breakaway laws are federal, not local or state. That doesn't mean that a lot of mailboxes around here are inconspicuously guarded from breakaway... I have a neighbor that filled their mailbox, except for a very small part in the center, with concrete. Good luck to the person that's trying to smash that one in with a baseball bat...

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I'm also in central Ohio, but I've been told by the local Postmaster (who is a friend of mine) that the breakaway laws are federal, not local or state. That doesn't mean that a lot of mailboxes around here are inconspicuously guarded from breakaway... I have a neighbor that filled their mailbox, except for a very small part in the center, with concrete. Good luck to the person that's trying to smash that one in with a baseball bat...

Either you misunderstood him or he didn't know what he was talking about. There are postal rules governing the shape, size and other features of mailboxes but these rules only mean that if you violate them the postal service can refuse to deliver mail to your box.

What ChefJoe is talking about is municipal or other locality rules governing use of the ROW. The parkstrip that contains most mailboxes is owned by your local authority and that local authority may have rules governing the placement, size and crashworthy properties of the installation of the mailbox to protect passing motorists from being impaled on the mailbox post if they accidentally crash into it. In my state there are VERY specific requirements for mailbox installations on state highways and if you violate those rules state maintence forces will come remove the mailbox and replace it with the correct type then bill you for it.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: markgm
Growing up in rural PA, we were sick of the plows destroying our mailbox every winter and then saying it wasn't them. So the next summer we basically had a telephone poll put deeeeeep into the ground. They've never had an issue since!! The plow trucks on the other hand...

How would a poll help? Did you go around the neighborhood asking questions? I guess if it was a written poll and big enough, you could roll it up like a newspaper and use it. Never seen it done though.

He meaans a POLE

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I'm also in central Ohio, but I've been told by the local Postmaster (who is a friend of mine) that the breakaway laws are federal, not local or state. That doesn't mean that a lot of mailboxes around here are inconspicuously guarded from breakaway... I have a neighbor that filled their mailbox, except for a very small part in the center, with concrete. Good luck to the person that's trying to smash that one in with a baseball bat...

Either you misunderstood him or he didn't know what he was talking about. There are postal rules governing the shape, size and other features of mailboxes but these rules only mean that if you violate them the postal service can refuse to deliver mail to your box.

What ChefJoe is talking about is municipal or other locality rules governing use of the ROW. The parkstrip that contains most mailboxes is owned by your local authority and that local authority may have rules governing the placement, size and crashworthy properties of the installation of the mailbox to protect passing motorists from being impaled on the mailbox post if they accidentally crash into it. In my state there are VERY specific requirements for mailbox installations on state highways and if you violate those rules state maintence forces will come remove the mailbox and replace it with the correct type then bill you for it.

It's quite possible he didn't know what he was talking about - I thought it was probably a state law, but hey - he's the postmaster.

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
jackhammer or dig the entire thing out. Also, make sure your neighbors pay 100% of the costs.

Hire someone to do it, and force neighbors to pay.

~new

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: istallion
I doubt this procedure. I replaced a fence last year and the posts had concrete at least a foot deep. We had to dig those out at least 75% to extract them.

How do professional fence builders dig out concrete? Those guys can tear down a fence and pull all the concrete in a day.

I've installed fence, and we used the highly technical "dig it out a little bit then break it with a sledgehammer" method. The fact that there is a non-concrete pole in the footer makes it much much easier to break the concrete. If the pole is metal, it makes it very easy to break up the concrete. A spud bar is helpful, but not necessary. This method works quicker than most people would think, as long as you have enough muscle to handle the hammer correctly.

If I was looking only to really screw up their car on impact, I'd replace it with a concrete filled schedule 80 3" pipe with about 160lbs of concrete (ie, two real bags) as the footer. Sink it about 3.5-4.0 feet down, teardrop the hell out of the hole, and then fill it up. Since I wouldnt want to have to dig that out and replace it, however, I'd upsize the pole in both diameter and wall thickness, or go with the double post idea.

 

[Shame]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: AgentZap

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Some of these suggestions seem WAY over the top. How much concrete did you use? I bag?

Ya it was 1 bag, but I forget if it was a 25lb bag or more.

they are usuallly 50lb bags and you must be a wimp to ask about removing 50lbs of concrete. Use a sledge hammer & a long handle masonry chisel to break it up.
:roll:



Next time use TWO bags . . . . a smart person would use a short pipe as a "sleeve" into the concrete and a smaller diameter pipe [that actually holds the mbox - that's how street signs are installed] that can eeasily be removed & replaced for "next time",

Agreed, a 2' sleeve and some rebar should solve the problem. Concrete is cheap! I would use like 20 bags of concrete though and paint the new pole camoflage. Maybe even weld some metal spikes to the pole to "grab" the car on impact. Kinda like a bear trap for cars...