Impermanent posts in the ground

I sometimes want to set a post in the ground and have it be stable, but not so stable that it's permanent, or at least moveable only with enormous effort. For instance, I could set a post in 2 feet of concrete, but then it's more or less there forever.

I'd like a way to set the post in something a bit more stable than the soil, but still have the flexibility to move things if I want to reconfigure.

Anyone know a good way to do this? Would something like styrocrete do the job?

Joshua Frank wrote:I sometimes want to set a post in the ground and have it be stable, but not so stable that it's permanent, or at least moveable only with enormous effort. For instance, I could set a post in 2 feet of concrete, but then it's more or less there forever.

I'd like a way to set the post in something a bit more stable than the soil, but still have the flexibility to move things if I want to reconfigure.

Anyone know a good way to do this? Would something like styrocrete do the job?

What about steel fence post ground spikes that you pound into the ground? Reasonably stable, and you can use a chain and jack to yoink them out.

T-post and pipes will both come out with much less effort than 2ft of concrete. T-post can get stuck in rocky ground and end up bending on removal, but usually it's fine. A jackall and a bit of chain or cable will be a great help pulling tposts..

Or, if you have a machine with a loader, drill a hole in the top so you can pull it with a cable on the loader.

Where I want a post long term but need to be able to remove it from time to time, I drive a couple feet of pipe into the ground, and use it as a socket for a post of slightly smaller pipe..

If the soil can be dug, I think the gold standard is dig and tamp. Driven posts (steel t-posts, galvanized pipe, round wood posts, etc)  also work pretty well. In either case the posts can be easily yanked out with a hi-lift jack and a few wraps of chain around the post.

If the soil is sand, fine gravel, or some other kind of soil that doesn't pack together no matter how much you tamp it, road base mix (clay/gravel) can be tamped to almost rock hardness and it works beautifully.

Wood posts set in concrete rot faster than posts set in soil, because the wood shrinks away from the concrete slightly and the capillary action of water keeps that small gap continuously wet. I've seen it happen over and over and over, where some well meaning person sinks some pressure treated posts in concrete, and they rot off in less than ten years. Given the prevalence of the practice, I think it's a dirty little trade secret of our local fence contractors. If I had a nickel for every time somebody hired me to replace rotten posts set in concrete by one of our top local fence contractors, I'd have about 35 cents.

Styrocrete takes all the downsides of concrete post setting, and adds to it the absurdity of putting friable plastic bits into the soil. It's like, "how could we take the worst option and make it even worse?" Truly it is worth of derision.

Greg Judy on his youtube channel has been using large diameter (1 inch plus) fiberglass posts driven into the ground, and they look pretty skookum.

And finally, in places where there is minimal depth to bedrock, rock jacks work great. They've been covered here pretty extensively in the threads about wheaton labs.

A bit more information will make your idea more understandable.
But here is a process I have used in Australia, the post may be removable with heaps of 'grunt' but the stay etc is easily removed.
strainer-assemblies/adjusta-stay