Pull Posts into Position
If you don't have clamps on hand, use a turnbuckle to pull posts together.
This simple, old-school turnbuckle is useful for pulling two stubborn things together, be they posts, walls, or whatever you have on the job site that needs straightening. It’s especially handy if you don’t have clamps on hand or if the two objects are a long distance apart.
First, take a rope and wrap it around both posts. Then put a scrap board in the middle of the loop. You don’t want the board centered in the loop; one end should stick farther out, as shown in the drawing. Rotating the board shortens the loop, pulling the ends together. When everything is in position, brace the long end of the board against something stable, in this case the deck.
— Gerret Wikoff; Los Angeles, CA
From Fine Homebuilding #307
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View Comments
Now we need an equally simple way to push posts apart, one that is as adaptable to differing lengths and that allows fine adjustment of the amount of push.
@BobboMax:
Simple enough - Cut a 2x4 to the exact desired distance between the posts. Angling the 2x4 enough to fit between the posts, then pull/push it to purely horizontal. It'll spread the posts as desired.
ct- good point, but you can go through a lot of 2x4s that way. As in the tip, I'd like a solution that uses "any rope and any crank that's long enough and strong enough." Maybe a farmer jack? https://www.harborfreight.com/60-in-farm-jack-58448.html
Thinking about the original tip, you don't have any control over which post moves- a strong one will stay cock-eyed and a weak one will go cock-eyed. Perhaps if the rope was attached to the top of the un-plumb post and the bottom of the anchor post?