Pound 'em down (say 4-6" below surface, then backfill the hole) and buy
new
ones.

They're cheap and if they've been in the ground any time they'll 1)
probably
be hard as hell to pull and 2) probably have corroded to the point where
new
ones would be well worth the $.

73,
Carl - wk3c

Agreed. If the idea is to pound in the old rod somewhere else, and is
intended for radio ground purposes only, then it is much better left where
it is. A single ground rod is practically useless for radio purposes.
Unless immersed in salt sea water it is equivalent to a single shallow
buried radial wire of slightly greater length. Just measure the resistance
of one in average sort of soil at about 2 MHz. Use a hand-held antenna
analyser on the impedance range and a bottom-loaded resonant vertical
antenna. Or mess about with a pair of rods spaced apart 3 times their
depth. You can crudely estimate local soil resistivity (or conductivity) by
such means. Kneeling down, however, to read the meter in cold damp stoney
soil can result in house-maid's knees. If you are short-sighted, as I am,
then you have to lie on your belly. Keep all test leads short. The
arithmetic is fairly simple. I can't understand why so many of you have
never done it.
===
Reg, G4FGQ