OK be serious, you really think the polar ice caps are melting because of clothes driers? I don’t drive an SUV, I use compact florescent lights, I recycle, etc. etc. If I am opening myself up to abuse because I don’t want to hang my clothes on a line I guess I will take my chances. 3K does seem a little steep to me though so maybe I will just keep it there.

Posted by: adelmams at March 19, 2008 3:29 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

If the pole was built right, the foundation should go down to the frost line (3.5 to 4 feet). You may not really need to remove the full depth -- if you just want to re-pave the area or plant grass you only need to take out the top 8-12". It shouldn't be a very big job; in fact, it's probably too small a job to interest most contractors, which might explain the crazy pricing above ($3k?!?).

The fully DIY method of dealing with this is to rent a small jackhammer from HD or Lowes and break up the concrete yourself, bag it up in small, light loads in contractor bags and put it out with your household trash, a few bags at a time until it's all gone. Substitute craigslist person, day laborer, rubbish removal person, or full-service contractor for any/all of the above steps and you'll pay more, accordingly.

If I were in your shoes, I would choose DIY or wait until I had a more substantial scope of work for a contrator to price -- maybe there are other things you would like to have demolished, built, or re-done around the yard/house?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:37 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

I removed one of these myself. I started with a sawzall but halfway through I started to rock it back and forth for some reason. I found that the metal was very soft, I think it may have been lead and by by rocking it I was able to weaken the bottom and it actually just snapped off. After that I dug a hole around the base and was able to break it up a bit with a sledgehammer. It was actually a bunch of bricks and other debris held together with some cement so it wasn't that hard a job. I was then able to dig the larger pieces out and fill in the hole.

Kind of a hack job but the whole thing only took me an hour or so and it wasn't too difficult. If you're not up for it I'm sure you could find a handyman who can do it for you.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:50 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

10:51 here again- the crazy $3K lady. I spoke to my husband and I misspoke about our price. We had an iron worker take down the clothes line & the rickety fire escapes on the back of our house for $3K. Still, this seems high and I've been told the price of scrap metal has increased. Anyway, we still probably got ripped off but maybe not as badly as I thought.
Good luck OP!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:30 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

if your back yard is long enough for it to fall straight back. just get a saw and have someone tie a rope and pull in the direction of the long yard.

i did it with my brother for my back yard.

i forget what that type of saw is called. it uses those cut off wheel things.

anyway its not that hard. just becareful. i think they shouldn't charge more than like a few hundred bucks for it. cause people take away the metal for free.

Posted by: armchairwarrior at March 20, 2008 12:56 AM in response to Clothesline Pole

A lot is going to depend on the clothesline itself. If it's one of those gigantic clothline towers that reach three stories like many of the houses in my neighborhood have, it's a risky business and you should expect to pay a premium. A large part of the cost is going to be the fact that they have to really take their time and cut if off in sections making sure that it doesn't hit any of the myriad of wires that you'll find in most Brooklyn backyards. So the contractor is going to give you a worst case scenario cost. If you're just talking about an 8 or 10 foot pole in the backyard, hire a day laborer. $150.00 and your done.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 6:25 AM in response to Clothesline Pole

We had one in our backyard -- standard type, it was about 6 feet tall, but big and heavy. I thought it would be a major pain to get rid of, but it wasn't -- like an earlier poster, we started to dig a little around the cement, and then after a very short time it was possible to rock back and forth. Eventually the whole darn thing just toppled and came out, including the cement plug.

Granted, that sounds like it probably wasn't installed very professionally (this was a couple years ago, but my recollection is that the cement plug itself was only a couple feet deep (definitely not 3.5), but still, that may be the case for you too.

Posted by: saturdayrenogirl at March 20, 2008 10:53 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

We have one we need to remove too and because I'm going to have a raised vegetable bed built over its present location I'm going to just have our handyman saw the pole off at the base then saw it in half to carry it out through the house. I don't care if the cement plug stays in the ground underneath the vegetable bed.

Posted by: guest at March 21, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

this conversation is amazing.

Posted by: guest at March 21, 2008 8:53 PM in response to Clothesline Pole

We were having work done in our backyard, and there was a crew of three guys.

My elderly neighbor popped his head over the fence, and asked the crew if they could remove his three-story tall clothesline pole if they had the time.

The guys jumped over to his yard and cut down the pole in about 15 minutes.

Total Cost = Free.

Well, not really free - my neighbor then bought the guys a pizza lunch in gratitude.

Anyone with a sledge hammer and a metal grinder should be able to do the job for next to nothing.

Sorry if you paid 3 grand -- you got ripped off.

Posted by: guest at March 23, 2008 10:26 AM in response to Clothesline Pole

I am currently doing mine, pain in the azz....im down to clay so 4ft deep and still wont move. I used jeep thinking I cud jst topple it over only to find out the concrete didnt move...just the pole bent. Im thinking a sawzall and then just leave concrete in ground

Posted by: guest at April 3, 2008 11:52 AM in response to Clothesline Pole