The previous home owner hammered L and T- fence posts deep into the ground to support a make-shift retaining wall. They seem to be 6-feet in length and hammered within 6-inches of ground level. I have a farm jack and T-post puller, but I can’t figure out a method to attach anything to the pictured L-shaped posts. They have a series of holes which are about 3/16-inch diameter. Is there a commercial tool to facilitate removal of these posts?
Use the holes to bolt short t-post to the angle iron and then use your post puller on that.
Else a post puller with a c shaped claw might work for you.
First, assume that these stakes are just driven into the ground. That means they have to back out the same path.
put a stout bolt through the lowest hole you can access, then use a crowbar to lever that bolt straight out. You'll need some blocking to spread the load and stop the crowbar/pinchbar from digging in. If you don't have a bar, then a length of timber may work as a lever.
The ideal tool here is a high-lift jack but they're not common.
bolt a chain to the top, with a shackle if you have one. Use a stout garden fork or a spade as a pivot arm, and run the chain through the handle such that it is in-line with the stake. Then run chain horizontally to a winch or fixed anchor point. I'd use a hand-winch like a tirfor with a wire rope ideally, or a vehicle/trailer winch.
Last resort is to use a spanish windlass which is two long stakes in a cross such that rotating them hauls on the rope/wire/chain.
It may be possible to use a vehicle to pull the chain, but ultra-slowly because this stuff gets dangerous.
If someone has used extra reinforcing (like a footer of concrete, or horizontal bolts below ground level) then your best option is to dig out the first one with a shovel and spade and then reevaluate.
The worst option is to dig down a handsbredth and cut off the top with a cutoff wheel or hacksaw. That leaves a sharp edge just below ground level, and someone, sometime in the future will find it risking injury. Don't leave it there. Same goes for hammering it flat or pounding it fully into the ground - this is poor stewardship of the site.
