Lift them out.
An old style car bumper jack and some chain to grab the post with often works.
If they are large or very heavy a bobcat and some chain can usually pull them out, especially if you soak the ground around them thoroughly.

If the concrete is smooth you may need to place some eye bolts to get something to grab.

I've eased this task by soaking the ground around the concrete first. 5 gallons or so allowed to soak in for an hour or two does the trick.

If you can't get a vehicle back there, and I assume this also means a bobcat, how are you going to move them once you have them out? You're talking about a lot of weight and bulk to try to move.

If you're able to break the posts off, can the concrete base be left in the ground and covered?

I think the only 'jack' that may work is a jack hammer for total removal or at least partial removal of the base, if you can't get a tractor or bobcat to the area.

Thanks for the replies!

We can get a bobcat down there, but not a car because the yard narrows from the pool back. I wanted to clarify that we couldn't pull the things out with a car or truck.

When using a car jack, what do you do, get a heavy person to stand on it?

I'd actually thought of renting something like an engine hoist.

We've soaked one, and it's now a lot looser. And we've bought a 6' crowbar to try to pry it out tomorrow.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

A floor jack is not going to work very well, you need an old style bumper jack, the kind with about a 4 foot post.

The jack has enough mechanical advantage (it is designed to lift a car).
Each stroke of the jack only raises the load about 1/4 inch or so.

You do need to spread out the load from the jack, especially if you have softened the earth with water.
A couple pieces of 2x10 about 4-5 feet long usually works well.

I use brickeyee's method above to pull a lot of wood posts that are set in concrete. The jack is known as a "high lift jack" or "farm jack"; Just a heavy duty, overgrown bumper jack.

Soaking works!

Soaking works here as well!!! Thanks for sharing!!

We had to do this. It was worth paying to have it done for the rest of the posts. They used a car jack somehow. You might google this and see how other people handle it. I've always set my posts in gravel and dirt... bought this one and they were in cement. ugh.

Its just this simple? Dig in front or side of the post- the old footing will fall right in. By the time you drill a hole to bolt a chain....trust me it takes minutes.

Central Valley, I think the people seeking alternatives are not able to dig and lift the post.

I used two ladders a beam and a come a long, vs a jack

I understand Jim but it is easier than it sounds. The other easiest alternate method would be to just pay someone. Im 54 years old and I would challenge any machine, jack , come a long against my digging bar and a set of clams (post Hole Diggers) for time. I am not trying to be arrogant but just that easy. The footing falls into the hole, actually dig down 10"s put the bar behind the footing and pry it and almost pushes up and out. If someone is going to use a come along and beams they can dig the hole and get help to lift the plug into a wheel barrel if need be. Also there is no need to dig as far around in the picture. Just on front. Imagine pulling out a screw in a wall, the threads keep in locked in. If you were to drill on one side a bit bigger diameter than screw, directly next to it, the screw would slide over. It is the same principle.

This method sounds great. The problem for me though is that I need to replace the post in the hole, and now I have 2 holes to fill with concrete.

Properly set fence posts should go below the frost line--4'-6' in most spots here north of the 48th. When I've tried jacking up four feet of concrete-encased post, something usually breaks and you end up digging. Watching some North Carolinian You Tuber panting as he jacks up a whole foot of concrete post is to laugh.

When I tried to remove posts from an old clothesline I found that they were set into about 36" (vertically) of concrete that was about 16-18" in diameter. They really wanted that clothesline to stay up.

After I dug out around one side of the "plug" of concrete I found that it was too heavy to pull straight up and too tall/odd-shaped for one person to push it over and drag it out horizontally by hand. I put a metal clamp around the pole as an attachment point and then used an 8 foot 2x4 as a lever to pull the pipe and plug straight up. I still could not get enough vertical lift from the lever to lift it completely clear of the hole, so I kept lifting it up and gradually filling dirt under the plug until I could drag it out to the side. Not elegant, but it worked.

Bruce

I am with worthy, have to go pretty deep in the north. I use a footer of some kind, set the post with some dirt so it stays level, then fill with concrete. Before all of that I encase the entire part of the post going below ground to about 2" above ground with foundation coating (tar).

I experimented one post with just dirt (tamped well) but was not happy with the amount of wiggle I got with it. After using concrete it was good. So people that say no concrete I dont particularly agree with that. If I can get a post to wiggle due to tamped dirt and the post is 5 feet deep in the ground, then how can you recommend dirt only. I dont get it. Maybe with clay soil you can use just dirt, but if your dirt has any sand to it dont try dirt only.

As far as removing a broken post with concrete, technique depends on how deep it is. CFV's technique works fine if its not deep. For something deep you for sure will have to use a farm jack and possibly have to back fill the bottom till its out. I knew what I have have set would be a royal PITA to remove in the future, that's why I went the extra step with the tar. Make sure you get the end grain too if you do this because it sucks up water to the rest of the post like the elementary science project celery in colored water.

Forgive me for the late input into this topic, i'm not expecting any reply.

Everybody always want to completely remove the post. Timber posts can be cut off at ground level. Concrete posts can be broken off at ground level, hopefully depending on your set concrete level, just below then covered up.
After this new holes dug and a new fence line set. Worst case scenario is it will be the first and last posts that will have to be completely removed. There is usually no mess left from this and don't forget that it is under your fence line.
New holes are dug with an auger, nice and quick and are stronger as they have no loose ground around them.
I work solo and have found this method to be the easiest, cleanest and most efficient for me, but that doesn't mean it will be for you. I always check with my customers that they are happy with this method before hand, leaving post stumps in the ground. Due to efficiency every time the answer is yes.

https://www.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/Post-Puller/MP-3/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFR-S3FUKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJYJ36VUWvQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw1Ya1C24RU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCjyTegKeH0

Yea that post puller is pretty much a farm jack with chain and bolt. I did like the cable idea around the concrete, had not thought of that. It would work great for broken posts that you have nothing to grab onto with the jack. Good links

Here is how I did it in minutes.

https://youtu.be/m4e9mqHkMds

What worked for me was to dig down to the depth of the concrete on 1 side of the post, then push the post over. If the post is broken off at ground level, I had dig on one side as mentioned, then jack hammer the concrete. Was not easy, but none of the other you tube ideas worked.

I tried that too with the first one but it took too much time and sweat. Went to Princess Auto and finished it in couple of hours.

I'd never dig one out again after using the jack/cable or chain method.