How to Keep Gate Pin Straight?

[danieldd]

Every time we open the gate to our property, the upper pin will rotate, which causes the gate to sag. I've tightened the nuts (both on the front and the back) on the pin through the 6x6 post, but it does little good. How can I keep the gate pin perfectly vertical?

 

[DennisK]

Your hinge bolt diameter looks too small.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Not really a great design either way, but aint that upside down?

 

[strutaeng]

Looks like a tru-bolt? Weld a big plate across the wood post and put some lag scews in the plate.

 

[BillK]

First of all like Dennis said the pin looks way too small. If it was the correct size it would not tend to twist as much. And it does look upside down which would probably help too. If you still had problems you could probably weld a 3 or 4 inch long piece of strap to it so you could bolt it in two places and keep it from twisting.

But I bet the correct size pin mounted in the correct direction would solve most of the problems.

 

[zmotorsports]

You could make a receptacle welded to a plate that slides up and engages the pivot point underneath, then screw the plate into the wood to keep the hinge from rotating.

 

[strutaeng]

Maybe another option is to remove the pin and reinstall with some epoxy in the hole, that way the rotation force is resolved by distributing along a much larger area? And get some large plate washers as well.

 

[larry_g]

The hinge pin is facing down to prevent the gate from being lifted off the hinges by man or beast, common installation technique. I agree that the pin is to small for the female side.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Cryptic1911]

Ahhh makes sense. I know nothing about gates lol

 

[jdsac]

Looks like a 1/2" j bolt. Gate is made for a 5/8 "

 

[Bert_]

It's a cheap bracket on the gate. A piece of pipe that fit the pin would work better

 

[danieldd]

Hmmm. I thought all the J bolts were the same.. Yes, it does look too small for the clamp and yes, the J bolt is not upside down, as someone could easily lift the gate off the pins if it was the other way.

This ***** either way. If I have to get larger pins, I will have to disassemble the whole thing and drill larger holes in the posts. Not a big deal, but something I may have to do.

 

[BillK]

Maybe you could find some bushings to fit in the gate and take up the difference in the sizes ?

 

[toolin' around]

It's only rotating because there's slack between the two components... if they were a proper fit, it wouldn't do that.
Best option would be to use a larger J bolt that fits the gate fitting.
Otherwise, if you can find a piece of steel tubing close enough the the correct size with an ID that fits your existing J bolt and an OD that fits snug inside the gate fitting, you could insert it as a shim. (may need to drill and pin it or find a way to keep it from falling out, since the J bolt is pointing down.)

 

[38Chevy454]

You could make a receptacle welded to a plate that slides up and engages the pivot point underneath, then screw the plate into the wood to keep the hinge from rotating.

Taking off on Mike's idea, and even simpler with no welding needed, just get a piece of angle. Drill a hole to engage the pin and then drill one or two holes in the post to mount the angle. Keeps the J-bolt/hinge pin from rotating. Hard to tell how far out from the post, you might need to make a piece instead of angle if the distance is too far. Principle is the same, lock in the lower end so it can't move.

 

[madpogue]

@danieldd Old post, I know, but did you ever resolve this? I'm encountering exactly the same thing. Only difference is, the pin is not as small relative to the gate-mounted part of the hinge. And in my case, it's "garden gate" mounted, that is, pin pointed up. but the rotation is causing the same issue. The pin is machine threaded, with nuts/washers on each side of the post. However much I tighten the nuts, it still rotates. There's some rot in the post there, and the more I tighten the nuts, they just bury themselves more in the post. So I'm contemplating either plates (say, 2" square) instead of the washers, or perhaps tooth washers. I also kinda like the above-mentioned epoxy idea, just painting on the part of the pin that goes through the post. I would just dread having to adjust it later if needed.

 

[DGersic]

@danieldd Old post, I know, but did you ever resolve this? I'm encountering exactly the same thing. Only difference is, the pin is not as small relative to the gate-mounted part of the hinge. And in my case, it's "garden gate" mounted, that is, pin pointed up. but the rotation is causing the same issue. The pin is machine threaded, with nuts/washers on each side of the post. However much I tighten the nuts, it still rotates. There's some rot in the post there, and the more I tighten the nuts, they just bury themselves more in the post. So I'm contemplating either plates (say, 2" square) instead of the washers, or perhaps tooth washers. I also kinda like the above-mentioned epoxy idea, just painting on the part of the pin that goes through the post. I would just dread having to adjust it later if needed.

If you’re crushing the wood, you’re not going to be able to tighten the nuts down enough to stop rotation.

Simplest would be adding something like an eye bolt to support the upper end of the pivot pin. More complicated, if you have a welder, would be building a steel bracket to better fit the post and support the pin to prevent twisting under load.

If the wood is soft, you might also need to replace the post.

 

[Youngandfree]

.

 

[SteveCh]

You can either keep chasing the problem or replace the post. The latter will likely be faster and permanent. Even if you were to be able to "fix" it with rotten wood, won't last very long til you need to try again.

 

[Bert_]

If your bracket on the gate is anything like the one in the original question then get rid of it.

No amount of tightening or washers on the post is going to fix the problem of that junk gate bracket.

Good ones have a short piece of pipe that the pin fits into.

 

[STClurker]

put a caster on the other end of the gate to take some of the weight

 

[Cruzan80]

I would also check the fit and weight-bearing of the other part of the hinge. Maybe flip them (upper installed up, lower pointed down), so the CoG moves?

 

[walta]

Drill hole insert long wood screw into post

I agree wrong hardware combo.

Walta