How do you remove poultry staples?

[Ernie]

Sounds like a dumb question, but I need to remove a couple of staples that I drove in where it turns out I don't want them. It seems that once a poultry staple has been driven into the wood, it's really hard to remove without destroying the hardware cloth or the wood. Any tips? Thanks!

 

[wing it]

use a pair of cut off pilers sometimes called nippers

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Drive a large nail under the center to pry it out.
Sometimes a screwdriver will work.
They can be hard to get out no matter what you do

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I tap one edge of the needle nose pliers under it with a hammer and work it up.

 

[LynneP]

If you have a fencing tool you can use that, too. And there are special pliers with hook-like tips made especially for staples. If you have an office staple remover it *might* be strng enough...

 

[patandchickens]

Honestly, anything you do will tend to cr*p up the wood and/or the mesh. Your best bet is to leave the staples there if at all possible. If not, you will preserve the mesh best if you get something sharp and poke it under the staple to try to lever it out enough to grab with vise-grip pliers or similar; you will preserve the wood best if you sacrifice adjacent meshes to pull them out of shape enough to get the claw of a hammer in there, with one half under wire on each side of the staple (so staple is under, parallel to, the cleft in the claws) and pry it out that way by the wire.

Good luck, "have fun"

Pat

 

[Ernie]

Thanks for the help everybody! I tried the cut off pliers and they worked perfectly!

 

[fiberart57]

When I had to remove a bunch of them I used this tool I got at the hardware store for removing nails. It's like a double screwdriver tip with a "v" in the middle and is bent like a spoon. I used a hammer to work the tip under the fencing nail (called grampas sometimes here in the Southwest) and then used the bend in the tool to torque them out. I had to remove over 100 of them and it worked really well.

Mary

 

[xke4]

Oh my goodness! I swear my pen is being held up with staples and I fear, if I was to remove them, the whole thing would come crashing down. After numerous applications and removals of thick plastic to keep the bad weather out, there must be thousands of them!

 

[tigerbarbd]

Quote:
Good Morning........I am glad you were able to remove the staples. For future use, there is a tool made just for the large staples. They are called "fence pliers" and Northern Tool sells them for under $10.00. They are used for installing and removing staples, very handy. Hope this helps..Don