Moving a stone gate pillar

[ZorgTheDestroyer]

Hi,

I've got a stone gate pillar which is in the middle of the driveway (there must have been a wall which was removed and kerb lowered before we got there). I want to move it to the left about 5 yards where the green bush is.

The thing itself is just under 2 metres tall and I reckon from the dimensions and density for sandstone must weigh about 2 tonnes (this is just the bit above ground)

What's the best way to move it over?

 

[Burnerman]

Just done one of mine and the weight of the stone was incredible.
I took plenty of photos and marked the facing stone blocks with chalk numbers before knocking it down, losing a fair bit of the rubble inside and set to clearing the old mortar away.
I prepared the new base from concrete before starting on the demolition - and let it dry for 3 days.
John

 

[ZorgTheDestroyer]

Interesting Burnerman, how deep were the foundations? I'm worried that these were hewn from a big lump of rock (more impressive by hand as well) similar to these up on ebay

 

[Burnerman]

Oh hell - I couldn’t see your images before but that beast is one lump of stone
Do you know anyone with a JCB? I’d be inclined to rope it and then rock it off its foundation, not letting it fall. It may have a steel peg locating it to the ground though! That one will extend well below the tarmac.
In my case my pillar was placed on the existing drive so all I had to do was to extend that around 400mm and make sure it was level.
John

 

[Tigercubrider]

With care you could excavate one side to check the depth. I am guessing 25% of the height is below the surface- or more. If you know the stone, and it's dimensions, you can calculate the weight.
There are A frame gantries available for hire that have wheels, so you could strap it, use a hoist to lift it just above ground level, and drop it into a Pre-dug hole. Don't lift it higher than needs be.

It may well be easier to scout around and find a builder using a jcb. When I was a kid, my dad cut down 17 trees in the garden by hand. (And he only had one hand!) then kept an eye open for a jcb working in the area and bunged the driver to come and pull the stumps. Probably harder with H&S these days?

 

[conny]

As above, you are never going to move it by hand, (probably why they have never been removed before now), so some form of mechanical aid is going to be needed.
Do you know anyone that drives a wagon with a HIAB crane on the back? If you could excavate all around so it is reasonably 'loose' then you fit some strops around it and lift straight up. Manoeuvre it to it's new position and gently lower down and secure into place.