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Need Gate help from the fence experts

Deadsquiggles

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2014
Messages
769
Location
Chesapeake, VA
So after my neighbors were extremely courteous put up fences around 2 sides of my yard, my wife and I decided to finish off the other long side and then across the front. Now this brings me to my dilemma. How to build the gate that will span 11 feet to allow us to drive through it, but also not sag over time. I had some forethought and used 6x6x10s for posts on either side of the driveway, 3’ in the ground with 250 lbs of concrete on each post. Years ago I did home improvement full time but when we built fences, I never had to build more than a gate for a person, nothing to span a driveway.

Of course I plan on this being to halves that swing out towards the street away from the back yard. Not exactly sure what size materials to use, or how to build it whether on the ground and raise it or build it in place and then cut it down the middle. What size hardware, how to secure it to the posts on either side. I know I’ll need some sort of bracing to help prevent sagging, both wood cross bracing and some sort of all thread bracing that can be tightened. Any help would be appreciated, and pictures of what y’all have done and how y’all did it would be awesome too. Thanks in advance.
 

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tarmy

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Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
4,670
Location
Nor Cal
All about design, material and how you move the gate...

Here is over 800lbs that is cantilevered 26’ with no sag nor wobble when sliding.
F2A9F7E0-67C5-4DA3-BF1F-C64D232386DF.jpg

And using wood for posts is not going to work over the long haul. Unless the gate is on wheels...the torque and movement of the gate(s) will likely cause the wood to move and cause alignment issues as it settle and weathers.
 

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HotrodHR

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Messages
445
Location
North Alabama
Go to to Lowes and pick up a couple of Adjust-A-Gate frame kits. Adjustable up to 72" wide and allows you to attach the necessary wood pieces to construct your gate. Includes hinges and adjustable cable ties to remove sag.

I used these kits to two gates about 5 feet wide each with 2x4s and shadow box pickets. Added a wheel on one gate and they work fine.

I'll try to upload some pics tomorrow.
 

redmondjp

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
2,318
Location
Redmond, WA
If it's any type of wood gate, the diagonal cable from the upper hinged corner to the lower swinging corner is key. You can make one yourself with parts from the hardware store, using a turnbuckle to tension it after installation. I've done this to some really flimsy existing all-wood gates, and it's really amazing how much it helps.
 
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KEH

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
5,142
HotrodHR'S suggestion about Lowes adjust a gate kit sounds good, but i have never seen one. My suggestion then would be to weld frames of light 2 inch square tubing, attaching hinges of your choice, and hanging gates on hinge supports that require drilling holes in the posts and running the threaded rod parts through the posts. I have used these with great success. Bolt wood matching the fence lumber to the frames with 1/4 inch machine bolts. You may want to include a matching cross piece of the square tubing to prevent warpage of the boards.

KEH
 

nadogail

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
31,935
Location
Coronado, CA
For a gate that large, I lean towards tall heavy steel posts like 6" pipe deeply set in massive concrete anchors.
 

Dboy11

New member
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
1
Go to a local fabrication shop and have them make you a 2” square metal frames and choose your hardware after that. 6x6 will be fine for that opening. If you can, always use metal post for the gate post.

I just installed 22k feet of 4 board horse fence with about 30 gates.
 

kjdhawkhill

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
822
Location
Flyover state #4
So after my neighbors were extremely courteous put up fences around 2 sides of my yard, my wife and I decided to finish off the other long side and then across the front. Now this brings me to my dilemma. How to build the gate that will span 11 feet to allow us to drive through it, but also not sag over time. I had some forethought and used 6x6x10s for posts on either side of the driveway, 3’ in the ground with 250 lbs of concrete on each post. Years ago I did home improvement full time but when we built fences, I never had to build more than a gate for a person, nothing to span a driveway.

Of course I plan on this being to halves that swing out towards the street away from the back yard. Not exactly sure what size materials to use, or how to build it whether on the ground and raise it or build it in place and then cut it down the middle. What size hardware, how to secure it to the posts on either side. I know I’ll need some sort of bracing to help prevent sagging, both wood cross bracing and some sort of all thread bracing that can be tightened. Any help would be appreciated, and pictures of what y’all have done and how y’all did it would be awesome too. Thanks in advance.

No actual knowledge, just a reference point:
I've got a 9'8" span that is going to be single swing powered, installed by pros. They were out today and sunk a 6x6 steel tube/hollow post, they cut the concrete driveway, dug out 42" or more, and used a trailer concrete mixer to fill in. The swing gate comes next week. Mrs. KJD will be happy when she can get in and out of the driveway without arguing with the current gate.

Using your own points of reference, a half a driveway span is always going to be several pounds heavier than a man-gate from your past, particularly if everything you had before was pre-fab vinyl product or chain link.

You might cheat the stress- tolerances by finding a dolly/caster wheel for the end of each gate to take the extended weight. I've seen it done, but that doesn't make it right.

Good luck.
 

4miller1

Active member
Joined
Dec 30, 2019
Messages
32
Location
Oklahoma
Ive set a few gates. I like to think of gates as a teeter totter, there needs to be an equal amount of weight at an equal distance from the hinge for the brace or more weight if the distance is closer. Or a support can be used on the latch side. The same applies in the open direction if it will be open for long periods. One way to do this is to hinge the gate so that it opens 180deg so that it will be supported by the brace. Also a method to adjust the gate at the hinge is helpfull.
Jeff
 

SundayFunday

Active member
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
44
Location
Mn
Nothing more annoying than a sagging/falling down gate.
I did mine out of 2 x 2 steel tube with cedar fence boards attached.
A bit over 14ft wide and solid as a rock.
Might be overkill for your situation, but you can see the basic framework in the pics. For your gate, you could probably duplicate with wood.
There have been a few recent gate threads, but I can't find them now... I'll keep looking.
Good Luck!
 

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