How to Dig Up a Flagpole

Removing a flagpole to either replace, repair or relocate it can either be a simple job or one involving use of a lifting machine. Short one-piece poles can be removed with the aid of a helper and no machinery. Taller poles and multipiece poles will require the use of a lifting machine and some skill in guiding the pole with a rope when it is in the air. Never use a chain to lift a pole as it will slide out of the loop and never dissemble multipiece poles before lifting them out of place. Leave the pole in one piece.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• Nylon sling
• Lifting machine
• Rope
• Socket set (if needed)
• Shovel
• Sledgehammer (if needed)

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Instructions

• 1

  Cut or untie the rope that is used to raise and lower flags and pull it out of the pulley and off the pole.

• 2

  Attach a nylon sling to the pole at least halfway up the pole and no more then three-quarters of the way up. Use a double wrap or double wrap choker style hitch to wrap the sling along the pole.

• 3

  Connect the free end of the sling to the rigging hook on the lifting machine. The operator of the machine should raise the lifting boom just enough to take up the slack in the sling but not enough to begin lifting the pole.

• 4

  Tie a rope around the pole about 1 foot from the bottom. Make sure to wrap the rope several times around the pole before knotting it and pull the rest of the rope away from the pole. This will be used to control the pole when it is lifted in the air so it does not begin swinging.

• 5

  Disconnect the base collar from the pole by removing any attaching lynch pins by hand or bolts using a socket wrench. Spin the collar around the pole once to loosen any rust or debris that may cause it to stick to the pole when the pole is lifted.

• 6

  Lift the pole slowly with the lifting machine making sure to hold the guide rope at the bottom so it has a constant tension to the pole. When the pole lifts free from the anchor sleeve in the ground it will want to swing, so control the pole with the rope.

• 7

  "Walk" the pole to where it will be laid down by guiding the bottom with the rope as the lifting machine moves the pole. Lay the pole down and disconnect the sling from the lifting machine.

• 8

  Dig out the anchor sleeve that is buried in the ground and remove it. The anchor sleeve may be set in concrete. If this is the case, dig around the concrete and break the concrete off the sleeve with a sledgehammer.