Rent an acetylene welder/cutter from United...

Cuttin' shit with fire. That's the way!

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There's concrete in them, at least a little. It flows up the open ended tube or a little was added to the top.

Buy an angle grinder, face shield, and cutting disks. Some grinding wheels too but the disks will do the bulk of the work. A gas powered demo saw would be even better if you can rent one and handle it (they're heavy and dangerous, will cut flesh like a chainsaw).

Metal cutting abrasive disks don't mind cutting some masonry.

Sawzall blade teeth dull immediately in masonry.

I used a stand up car jack with a piece of chain wrapped around the pole. It pulled them out clean and I was able to use the same hole. I did this after heavy rain, so the hole was completely flooded. Poured a bag of concrete and mixed with a heavy duty drill and set my posts for an 8 foot fence.

What blades are you using? In my experience Diablo blades are worth the extra cost.

Invest in a respirator. Zinc oxide is bad stuff

I just replaced my chain link with wooden fence and I just reused the poles instead of sinking 4x4s. The extenders and hardware weren't overly expensive.

This is what I was thinking. OP, if your posts are in good shape still, check this out before you cut them all out: https://www.hooverfence.com/fence-accessories/fence-brackets

Fencer here - I would agree.

The pipe looks like it's a heavier wall, you can either sleeve the entire post or buy brackets to mount board fence to pipe, with larger diameter pipe you can actually run self tappers in through the pipe.

Save yourself a bunch of work and talk to a fence pro about building on the existing structure.

Fencer Here -

Stop cutting now and save yourself some work.

You can buy pipe post adapters, for 1 7/8 or 2 3/8 pipe. Even if you need to sleeve the existing to make it work you'll be better off.

Lowes advertises that they have the adapters. Call a local fence contractor to get them to cut sleeves if you need them, don't bother with the light wall stuff at the home stores.

I bought an acetylene kit years ago and I actually didn't need one at the time, I just wanted one. Now I'm one torch cutting m'fer...😅

Probably an ideal solution. I am considering this but will need to test it on a section first. Part of my concern is that the concrete foundation they are sitting in right now isn’t in great shape. Enough force and sections of it might fail.

Lmfao. This is above my pay grade and I’m too much of a sissy to do this.

I have considered this option but wasn’t sold on it. Someone below mentioned a sleeve - I need to look into that. The bracket option is probably the easiest, but I’m also trying to appease a really great next door neighbor and my wife, who wants it done right (read: looks great all around) if we aren’t going to hire a fence company and I do it myself lol

Thanks man

We’ve had people out to look - 3 companies here in Seattle. All of them wanted to do the work, but we never got past the initial quote and pipe replacement/removal options because the lowest bid was $9,600 for 88 linear feet 😳

I have been using Diablo, but potentially not rigid enough. It was a 25 pack of metal cutting blades from Amazon (don’t yell at me!)

Alright, you are the second person to mention sleeves. I need to look at this. I wonder if I can buy them pre-cut or if I need to have them done as a one-off by a fencing pro?

I can understand that, a legit contractor wouldn't want to reuse old posts. I'll shoot you a message of the brackets I'm talking about. I'm glad to walk you through it.

Damn this subreddit has been outstanding. Keep the comments coming, I am genuinely thrilled with everyone’s help!!

That's normal. First couple of times I used mine I was freaked out about starting a fire... even when there wasn't anything flammable around! 😅

Btw, are you seeing any kind of dust material flying out of the sawzall cutting? If so, it's probably filled with concrete...

This is the answer, and a decent angle grinder is the best multi tool ever made!

if you are building wooden fence on the same line, why don't you incorporated the post into the wood fence, seems like it is sturdy enough

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I’ve pulled a lot of posts of all sorts with a chain and jackall. (High lift jack, like what you see Jeep drivers strap to their vehicle). It will even pull a steel post out of concrete, unless there is something protruding from the pipe to hold it. Sometimes I cut the pipe at about 3 feet from the ground and hit it a couple times hard straight down with a sledge hammer to break it free. Then pull with jack.

It'll make you feel sick - but nothing long-term. Been there done that (someone next to me was welding on some zinc before I had a chance to notice.

Home depot has the brackets too. What will matter is the spacing of those existing posts. If you are buying premade sections the spacing will probably be too big. If too small you can of course cut the section down. If its longer you can build the sections custom sized with 2x4s and pickets. You could also rent a core drill and add extra metal posts in between. Good luck!

If most of the posts are solid, just use them as others have said. You can come back and stain the fence boards, and paint the posts themselves.

Consider attaching rolled bamboo to it on either side. Will last much longer than a new wood fence in Seattle and can be quite pretty. Wood anything in Seattle turns to rot so quickly. See:

https://www.topbambooproducts.com/how-to-install-bamboo-fence-on-chain-link/

There’s a hgtv builder Nicole someone and she used the metal posts in her wooden fence build. You couldn’t even see them and the reasons you struggle made it a great choice to support the new wood. I wish I could link things and add pics like the cool kids but the idea and Google is plenty for a doer as yourself. Hope it helps but it was genius promise.

Chain or strap, choke loop, pull with vehicle.

Landscape contractor here. They're super easy to remove with a farm jack. All you need is some transport chain and a farm jack (Harbor Freight). You can pop a post out that's been mounted in concrete in about 2 minutes.

Take the farm jack, put it on a smooth surface, then wrap the chain around the post a few times and around the jack. When you lift the jack up, the chain will tighten and bite into the post. It'll rip it out of the ground with the concrete.

I did this recently to about 20 posts with the links, and then replaced it with a new fence with aluminum 4x4s and wooden slants. Worked perfectly. Removing the old fence was actually the fastest part of the process.

Even if sections fail, they'll be very easy to remove. Once you get part of it out. The hole will have voids and pieces will just fall in.

If you are trying to cut at grade then a band saw.

If you want to yank it out buy a pull jack and get a post puller. Attack pull jack to post puller and crank. It’ll come out.

If the footer is deep or adhered to concrete sidewalk etc you may have to jack hammer it.

Also you can attach it to a truck hitch with a chain and pull.

I worked in the fence industry for a few years mostly doing repairs. We’ve pulled up 6” steel posts with 300 lbs slugs with a pullback and a post puller before.

Using a sawzall is probably your best bet, certainly the fastest way to knock it out. If you want to actually remove the posts you need to get a hose and soak the area around the post (water the post like a thirsty plant). once it gets really wet use a post puller (you can pick one up for $30-40) and a lot of muscle. Honestly I removed the chain link fence at my building and my neighbors and I pilled out probably a dozen posts with the concrete and then I just flush cut the posts and a few years later you can't really tell the difference.

This is accurate. Metal fume fever will make you feel like you have the worst flu and make you feel like you're going to die. Some guys say drinking a lot of milk helps but there's really no studies that back that up. The Doc is going to do nothing but tell you to avoid breathing zinc and you'll recover on your own, usually within 24 hours.

Lung damage could occur, but most guys build up a resistance throughout the week, then show sensitivity on Mondays after being a few days away. That's why it's also known as "Monday Fever". It goes away again with most guys within a day or two.

When it all shakes out, the zinc doesn't remain in your body and you'll be up and feeling better in 24 hours. It also hasn't shown to be cumulative or any worse with future incidents. You should definitely avoid it, but it's not on the same level as breathing other metal particulates or bad stuff like hexavalent chromium. I deal with this issue all the time and the guys down voting don't know what they're talking about.

It's not great and you should always wear a particulate filter like an N95 or better when removing the zinc before welding. Use a flap wheel, sander, or grinder. Keep the wind at your back or side where it can blow particulates away from you. Don't spray cold process zinc galvanizing spray on it either until the welds have fully cooled down.

The grinder doesn't care what it cuts and the wheel doesn't get dull. Buy a couple packs of discs and wear a mask for concrete dust. If you really want to go fast, you probably only need to cut the pipes a little over half way then bend back and forth to break them. You can clean up with a grinding wheel. Don't use a demo saw unless you're used to it... It's a lot of power to handle.

This is the way. Those are obviously really good posts so I'd just use them for the new fence. Plus cutting them off and leaving the stump with that concrete pad is going to look way worse than mixing the metal post and wood fence...

just attach your wood fence to the steel poles. otherwise you gotta rip out all that concrete

Can you send me a message too? I have a chain link surrounding and would love for it to be a privacy fence.

Use a chain and a high lift jack

Just buy square tube that slides tightly over the existing circular tubes and use them as uprights.

Then railings and pailings as usual

No expert, but I wonder if he took an angle grinder to the metal tube, then used like a tile saw attach (diamond blade?) and cut the concrete out of the tube? (If there is indeed concrete inside?

I too would love this information, happy if you just copy/paste what you've already sent!

Does this work if the pipes are short? I have a ~3ft chain link, but would like a taller wooden one someday.

Man, you're giving me flashbacks.

My method for removal was to cut them off about 2' from the ground, then use a BAH to loosen them up a bit, then use a floor jack and chains as some have mentioned to pull them up. Of course that only worked for about 2/3 of them. For the rest I ended up having to rent a jackhammer from Home Depot to break up the concrete poured around the posts along with a pick and shovel to dig down until I got far enough to remove them. In my case, I was adamant that I wasn't just going to cut them off flush with the ground and call it good enough.

But it looks like you have a bit of a wall there that you probably don't want to destroy, and from the sounds of it, there's good advice to simply reuse the posts for your wood fence. That's exactly how the fence was in my yard; I only removed it because I wanted to open up more area. But the metal posts were extremely solid, and it doesn't look bad at all as a finished product.

I sent a link to a random pintrest that has the brackets.

Its important that your existing posts are stable and free of rust ( as the OP's posts are) and a relatively heavy wall pipe. Sometimes you can add an interior sleeve to add rigidity if it's light wall. Typically you'd have 2 horizontal stringers for 3/4/5' tall fence meaning you'd need two of these brackets per post. 6/7' need 3 horizontals, thus 3 brackets per post.

If your posts aren't tall enough sometimes you can add an exterior sleeve to extend them. Chainlink pipe comes in funky sizes, to measure take a tape across the top of the post and go to the 1/8"

1 3/8 is common for dog kennels and residential toprail. 1 5/8 is a common line post size for residential line posts and commercial toprail. 1 7/8 is a common size for residential terminal (corners and ends) posts or light commercial line posts

2 3/8 and 2 7/8 are typically commercial applications.

Typically the smaller pipe sizes nest well, depending on wall thickness so you can figure out what length and diameter sleeve you need based on what you currently have.

It was also mentioned above to watch post spacing, I would agree that's its not ideal to go over 8' centers, you can get a post on a base plate to set as an intermediate if you are going on concrete / on a wall as the OP is. For a standard DIY project install I'd just dig and set a post in between the existing. Granted this is not how I would do it in my business but it works for a homeowner project to cut the labor.

I hope that helps, hit me with any other questions.

If you really want to properly remove the old cemented in posts, rent a jackhammer for an afternoon from your local tool rental business and break up the concrete around the post, it will all come out relatively easily once broken up and there won't be any place for kids, dogs or wildlife to hurt themselves on a cut off pipe mounted into cement.

That helps a lot thank you!!

Wear eye glasses and face shield! All it takes is one piece to change your life

Try a large angle grinder “7