Using Leverage

I had to move a grounding rod this weekend from one gate to another. Tia’s new building blocked a lot of sun from the fence charger we have for the track and I was a bit worried about it. I’ve been planning to move it, but weather was not cooperating. It wasn’t great on Saturday, a little windy, but I needed to do it, so I went out there.

I started digging with the spade, thinking if I went down a foot or so I’d be able to pull it out. It’s a straight copper rod, about 4 ft long. I’d cut an 8ft one in half, using one part for each track. I dug and dug, getting down a foot, but it wouldn’t budge.

I also hit some clay, so I grabbed the post hold digger and worked the hole deeper. It was hard work, and I poured some water in, letting it sit for a bit between digging down.

Digging is hard work, so I took a little break, walking out to the other fence, fixing a couple of the electrical strings. I spliced in new part, and re-buried part of the cable under one gate. It felt like a productive day, even though I was working slowly.

I got back to the grounding rod a few times, getting the hole down to 2-2.5ft, but the rod wouldn’t budget. I didn’t think it could be much deeper, but my little strains didn’t move anything. Sat night a friend said I should use the tractor and a chain, so Sun am I went out and tried that. I put a chain wrapped around it and wrapped the other end around the forks. Just a slight tap on the controls tilted the forks up and pulled the rod right out.

A minor facepalm for not trying that Sat, but I walked it over to the other gate post, pounded it in the ground and then moved the charger over.

One part of the fencing I needed to do done. More to do, and I’ll try to fix a couple more things before I leave for the UK Saturday.