MOTHER'S FENCEPOST PULLER
Making a simple tool to pull out steel fence posts.
As anyone who's done it before can tell you, yanking steel fenceposts out of the ground is backbreaking work. But this job doesn't have to be all that unpleasant . . . and it won't be, if you build yourself one of these astonishingly easy-to-make fencepost pullers.
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The handy tool isn't difficult to use, either: You merely set the stand upright next to the offending pole (with the handle up), slip the puller's "jaw" around the post so it catches on a wire stud, and push down on the handle . . . that pesky post'll come out quicker'n 1—2—3!
Best of all, you don't have to have three degrees in engineering to figure this project out. And you won't need a hardware store full of material, either. Just gather together 5 feet of 1” Schedule 40 black pipe, a 1/8" X 6” steel plate (round or square), two 1/2" bolts (1— 1/2" and 2-1/2" long respectively), a 3/8" X 3" X 4” piece of steel stock, a 1/2" X 1-1/2" X 3" piece of flat stock, and a scrap of 3/16" X 2-3/4" X 3-3/4" plate steel. A welding torch (or access to one) would also a great help.
To start off, cut your 5-foot length of pipe right in half, producing two; 30-inch sections. And, while you're in the cutting mood, divide the piece of 3/16" X 2-3/4" X 3-3/4" steel into two sections . . . 3/16" X 1-3/8" X 3-3/4” each. With that done cut a 2" X 2” square hunk out of the side of the 3/8" X 3" X 4" plate . . and you might as well slice the corner of the 1/2' X 1-1/2" X 3" piece of stock (cut this at a 45° angle) while you're at it, too.
For the next step, drill a slightly oversized 1/2" hole half an inch from the square edge of the stock that you just cut the corner off of, and then drill two more "full" 1/2" holes . . . three-quarters of an inch from the end of each 3/16" X 1-3/8" X 3-3/4" piece of steel. Now, weld these two chunks of metal—holes upward—to the end of one of the pieces of pipe. Fasten one on either side and be sure that they're both canted out one inch from the pipe (or at a 15° angle to it). You can also take a few minutes to weld the 1/2" X 1-1/2" X 3” piece of stock to the center of the now C shaped "jaw” so that the 45° angle is flat against the jaw's upper mandible. While you’re at it, the 1/8" X 6 plate should, of course, be fastened to the other end of the pipe.
