Over the weekend, FM and I put up another corner post (aka: railroad tie). I've decided these railroad ties are closer to 200 lbs because even with two of us lifting one end, it takes everything you've got to get them off the ground. But before we could lift the new one into place, we had to remove the old wobbly one that was already there. No problem, right? After all, if it's too wobbly to hold the fence tight and it's considerably smaller than the railroad ties, it should pull right out of the ground. How hard could it be? First lesson in fence deconstruction: Everything is harder than it looks.
We dug and chiseled and dug some more all the way around it and drove spikes into the sides and could not lift this thing an inch. Then I devised a brilliant plan (or so I thought) to engage Bad Boy. Oh yeah baby, 4-wheel drive and a tow chain. I would hook that sucker up and rip it out by brute force (or so I thought).
We dug and chiseled and dug some more all the way around it and drove spikes into the sides and could not lift this thing an inch. Then I devised a brilliant plan (or so I thought) to engage Bad Boy. Oh yeah baby, 4-wheel drive and a tow chain. I would hook that sucker up and rip it out by brute force (or so I thought).
I backed the truck up and hooked up the chain to the fence post.
Then with Fearless Mom standing safely behind the garage with the camera, I put Bad Boy into Four-Low and gassed it. This was as far as it would budge, no matter how much I hit the gas.
Refusing to be conquered by a stinking piece of wood, I persisted. All I did was cause a nasty burning smell and carve four big tire trenches in the middle of the front yard.
I finally resorted to gripping the damn thing in an extreme bear hug and FM and I pulled it out of the ground with our bare hands (and a lot of sweat and frustration).
Buttons was even impressed.
The good news is that it left a gaping hole so we didn't have to dig that much to place the considerably larger railroad tie.
Buttons was even impressed.
The good news is that it left a gaping hole so we didn't have to dig that much to place the considerably larger railroad tie.
Which we then rolled all the way across the yard using what I call the "Egyptian builders method" - you would be surprised at how well this works.
And before you knew it, we had two of four corner posts set. I think we are getting pretty good at this.
By then it was about 150 degrees outside and we decided to move on to less sweaty pursuits like mowing or something.
By then it was about 150 degrees outside and we decided to move on to less sweaty pursuits like mowing or something.