I'm not kidding - it really is easy, not just "easier." You can pull an 18" stake in one minute flat, without bending the stake, with no hammer, no vice grips, no rebar puller, just a nylon strap. Just tie a knot, adjust the strap, squat, and stand.
The last couple of years I've gone around on the last day pulling dozens of stakes just to show people how to do this. I can pull 100 stakes in a day and not even get tired. Get a loading strap or other reasonably wide nylon webbing. It should be about 5 feet long. Tie one end of the webbing to the stake. A lark's head knot works well. You want the knot to be self-tightening so the webbing doesn't slip on the rebar. Stand over the stake. Wrap the webbing from the stake, around your thigh, around your butt (not your hips - the padded part of your butt - you'll get a better pull) and grab the free end. So the webbing would go from the stake, to the inside of your right upper leg, around the front of your right leg to the outside, around behind your butt from right to left, and the free end is held in your left hand. Squat down about a foot, and pull on the free end to tighten the webbing. Shuffle around until the webbing is EXACTLY in line with the stake. A couple inches off, a very slight angle, makes a huge difference. If the stake is in the ground at an angle, the webbing should be at the same angle. Stand up. The stake will come with you. If it's not all the way out, squat again, pull the webbing tight again, and stand up again. One place I went to, they had a 30 foot dome that they'd held down with 3 foot 1/4" rebar. The rebar had twisted in the ground as they pounded it in. A team of three people were trying to get it out with power tools. One other guy and I used the strap, and vice grips to twist... we pulled five of those twisted 3 foot rebars in about 5 minutes each, before the power-tool team could pull one. If you use those big smooth construction stakes, the strap may slip; stick a nail through one of the holes to hold it on. If the rebar is bent over or eye'd at the top, attach the webbing to the shaft of the rebar, not the bent part. Even that much of an angle off-center makes a difference. If you get the strap lined up right, you'll barely feel it as you stand up; the rebar will just simply come out. Chris -- Chris Phoenix [email protected] 650-776-5195 Founder, http://OnePercentGlobal.org Executive Coach Director of Research, Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, http://CRNano.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en.
