3 Labor-Simplification Tips To Help You Tear Out And Replace An Old Fence
Chain link fences are great for keeping your kids and pets inside the safety of your yard, but they don't provide any privacy for you and your family. Also, when chain link fencing becomes bent, sagging, and loose, it becomes an eyesore to your yard so you may want to replace it with a different type of fencing. Here are three recommendations to help simplify the demolition and replacement of your chain link fence with a new fence.
Skid Steer with Post Puller Attachment
Anytime you are doing a demolition of heavy materials or digging cement from the ground, you should rent a bobcat or another type of heavy machinery. Rent a machine to do the labor for you and it will save you time and your back. You can rent a bobcat, skid steer, and other types of heavy machinery from most rental companies by the day and sometimes the hour. And, they can usually deliver the equipment to you.
Once you have clipped off and removed the fencing material from your chain link fence, remove the top bars and caps from the fence so only the poles remain cemented in the ground. Rather than digging around each cemented fence post and loosening by hand, the skid steer has a post puller attachment that will grip the post and pull it from the earth in one pull. Most post pullers will grip a post with a diameter of 1 inch to 8.5 inches and one model has 17,000 pounds of breakout pulling force.
You can quickly pull out the chain link fence posts, which line the perimeter of your yard with rented skid steer. Then, you can get on to preparing the ground for the new fence posts.
Post Hole Digger Attachment
After the chain link fence posts and cement have been pulled from the ground, you will need to dig appropriate holes for your new fence posts. You may want to place your new fence posts at shorter or longer distances from each other and not follow the old chain link post hole positioning.
For new pre-made fence panels, measure between the posts according to the width of each panel. For wooden fences you can measure the distance between each post according to how long you want them to span. The average length of horizontal 2 by 4's for a fence is eight feet, so dig your post holes no wider than this. It is a good idea to run a length of string from one end of your fence line to the other so you can line up each post hole evenly.
With the same rented skid steer, use a post hole digger attachment to dig your post holes down to the desired depth for your fence posts. Dig down into the ground one to two feet to stabilize your fence posts. To make room for pouring concrete around each 4 by 4 fence post, dig the holes each 12 inches wide.
Pouring Dry Cement into the Post Holes
When the post holes have been dug out with the right dimensions, place a fence post in each hole. Instead of mixing the cement in a bucket or wheel barrow, you can pour the dry cement into the hole around the fence post, then add water after.
For each post hole, you will need a little more than a 50 pound bag of concrete to fill to the top of each post hole. As soon as the dry cement has been poured into a post hole, use your leveler to make sure the fence post stands straight. Then, add water to the cement in the post hole, soaking the entire soil-encased section. Make sure you allow time for the cement to set up according to the manufacturer's instructions before you hang your fence.
Using these three simplifying tools and techniques, your fence replacement job will be much easier.
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