Entry Gate advice appreciated.

[jmc]

The only problem with my swinging gate is my impatience. It has to swing about 60 of its 90 degree travel until it's open wide enough for a passenger car. Even though it's a fair sized motor and a light (chain link panel) gate, it takes about 8 seconds. I never tried a faster sprocket diameter though.

 

[dragoneggs]

Put a drive system on your gate so you can open remotely. And yep might as well go big with 20ft metal sticks!

 

[Tompet]

14 feet does sound small to me. I'm rethinking that and wondering if I go with a slider, why not just make it the full length of the steel and go 20 feet? The weight is going to be considerable, but if it's on concrete and a track, weight wont matter. If I go with a swing, then that's just too much weight. Double gates really don't appeal to me.

As mentioned, I can see where a sliding gate might be more secure. In a big storm, or strong wind, or just somebody trying to push the gate open, I think a swing gate would be easier to move then a slider when in the closed position.

I've been looking at tracks and wheels.

Wider than 14 does sound better. As a lot of things that are possible, would it be practical to have two 8 or 10 foot sliders meet in middle like a swing gate? Would it have some of aesthetics of a swing gate w/o some of weight etc. concerns?

 

[flyerdan]

Eddie, if you went with a cantilever, you wouldn't need any track across the road, they roll on 4 rolls like a drawer slide. A rough estimate is the gate opening plus 1/3 for the tail. Two posts need to be set that the gate will roll on, and an opener that runs a chain drive is fairly common. Based on your wanting to keep deer in, I'd like to see what fencing you're going to match to get an idea of what type of gate would be best. They don't need to be heavy if they are engineered correctly.

 

[aczlan]

Eddie, if you went with a cantilever, you wouldn't need any track across the road, they roll on 4 rolls like a drawer slide. A rough estimate is the gate opening plus 1/3 for the tail. Two posts need to be set that the gate will roll on, and an opener that runs a chain drive is fairly common. Based on your wanting to keep deer in, I'd like to see what fencing you're going to match to get an idea of what type of gate would be best. They don't need to be heavy if they are engineered correctly.

Yep, around here, they commonly do a 8' fence made of 2" galvanized pipe that is the width of the opening + 1/3 and put chainlink on the part across the opening.
Then they have 4 rollers (two on top, two on bottom) for it to ride on.

Aaron Z

 

[txdon]

The underground opening wand on the inside of the gate is a must for you and guest. One thing I did not understand when Harvey was installing it - he wanted to put the wand far away from the gate. Now I understand. The farther from the gate the greater chance the gate will be in the open position when you are at it. You will not have to come to a stop and wait for it to cycle open. If I would have understood the concept I would have doubled the distance, it is about 80' from the gate now.

On the outside the owners remotes, one for each vehicle in the family and one for frequent guest, and the code box that can accept multiple codes and can change codes are a must. When we have a gathering of friends or relatives we just leave the gate open that day. My gate is on a cattle guard so the gate does not have to be closed to keep the cattle in.

 

[PILOON]

Another consideration has to be wind.
Strong gusts can play **** on a gate.
While I admit sliding can be kinda industrial looking I think that they are the most stable and rugged by design.
If sliding opens parallel to an existing fence section the 'industrial' look would be minimized.

Friend has a slider and it uses remote codes to open for entry but vehicle proximity is detected for automatic exit.
I presume entry could also be detection operated.

 

[txdon]

Friend has a slider and it uses remote codes to open for entry but vehicle proximity is detected for automatic exit.
I presume entry could also be detection operated.

Then you loose all security and an opening gate invites whoever pulls into the drive. Why have a gate?

 

[Looking4new]

If all you are trying to do is keep animals in, then why not go with a cattle guard/texas gate?

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie, if you went with a cantilever, you wouldn't need any track across the road, they roll on 4 rolls like a drawer slide. A rough estimate is the gate opening plus 1/3 for the tail. Two posts need to be set that the gate will roll on, and an opener that runs a chain drive is fairly common. Based on your wanting to keep deer in, I'd like to see what fencing you're going to match to get an idea of what type of gate would be best. They don't need to be heavy if they are engineered correctly.

I've seen some pictures of this while searching for ideas and they all seem pretty high off of the ground. Whatever I end up doing, it has to be coyote proof. I like the idea of the sliding gate being on wheels and just an inch or two up from the track. If I go with a swing gate, it will also have to be close to the ground, but I do that on my other gates by pouring concrete after the gate is installed and building the concrete up to the bottom of the gate. So either way works for me and keeping out coyotes. I just don't see how I could do this with a cantilever gate.