One of the morning regulars at the coffee shop said he had an old utilities pole in his backyard that he wanted gone. Would I come over with a chainsaw and cut it off for him? Well, it just happened that I was looking for a complete pole for my backyard project. I had a look and said I'd take it but that I'd dig it out. Hey, not as big a job as you'd think. Dig a trench down one side of the pole 6 feet to the base and it just pulls out. 1/2 hour tops.

Well it seems that over the years that extra fill had been placed in the area surrounding the pole. I dug down 6 ft. then to 7 ft, then 8. Still pole and no end in sight. Now I can't dig the trench any deeper so I start another hole to work from and dig it down 3 ft. Go back and dig the trench down another 3 ft. and still the pole goes further down. I'm now at 11 ft and at the water level. Time to change tactics.

At ground level I decide to use a jack to raise the pole. 2 ft then another foot before the butt finally rises to where I quit digging. An easy pull on the rope and the pole falls over.

What the picture shows is a 5 ft shovel where the pole was. It's another 5 feet down to where the debris is that's floating on top of the 3 feet of water. In the foreground is the second hole used as the work area to extend the trench depth. At the top is one of the 4x4 that was under the jack, pushed down nearly a foot into the dirt.

1/2 hour times 14.