Gate building

[boner58]

I am about to set out and build a pipe and cable fence around my house, in order to keep my bison inside or the rest of the world outside depend on which side of the fence you are on. but I am wanting to build 3 16 ft and 2 5ft gates out of 1.5 3/16 wall square tubing and would appreciate any tips and pointers. For hinges I was going to use 1 in solid rod and 1 inch sch 40. the gate post will either be 3.5 od .300 wall or 2 3/8 .190 wall. would one make a better gate post them another?

Here is a question for wroughtnharv if he is around

I have been reading several of your post and have looked at probably a 1000 of your pics, from this site and many others, and on your website. One thing that I have noticed are your gates can you tell me why you stagger the supports in the middle of the gates? is there a science to where you place them and how many there needs to be on each row?

 

[Shield Arc]

My local welding supply sells weldable, and greaseable hinges. If I ever build another gate I'll be sure to use them.

 

[boner58]

Why would you do that instead of using the 1 inch rod adn 1 inch sch 40 pipe?

 

[Shield Arc]

Oh your idea is fine, I was just suggesting to use a grease fitting is all.
I built the gate in the picture about 27 years ago, it was built with just sandwiched plate, (went cheap) no real good way to grease it.

 

[boner58]

Ok your gate looks very nice, hopefully someday I will be able to do things like that.

 

[cmyoung2]

The 1" rod and pipe might be strong enough for the 16' gates, maybe. Those willbe heavy gates. I would use 4" pipe for the gate post, set at least 4' deep, 10' above ground. Weld a 4 1/2" collar for a 4 1'2" pipe to slide over the 4" pipe, weld the gate to the 4 1/2" pipe, add grease fittings and a cable from top of post to the end of the gate and the gate should not sag. It will also have almost 360 degrees of swing, something you can't get with a regualr hinge. Take a look at Mid West Planning Services (MWPS) beef equipment and housing. MWPS: MidWest Plan Service, A Foundation of Knowledge for Agriculture Lots of good, extension based ideas. You are right, bison and everything else needs to stay on the right side of the fence.

 

[Shield Arc]

Ok your gate looks very nice, hopefully someday I will be able to do things like that.

Thank you! That gate is 12-feet wide, and without grease fittings, or bearings in the hinges it just kills those Mighty Mule gate openers!

Yeah Harv is the master when it comes to building gates! Haven't seen him around in quite some time.

 

[Car Doc]

Thank you! That gate is 12-feet wide, and without grease fittings, or bearings in the hinges it just kills those Mighty Mule gate openers!

Yeah Harv is the master when it comes to building gates! Haven't seen him around in quite some time.

Nice gate! May I suggest you could drill and bottom tap a 1/4 20 hole in any area you wish to grease and put a zerk in?

Just a suggestion I have done things that way before with success there is always a way once the idea is thrown out on the table. :thumbsup:

 

[Shield Arc]

Nice gate! May I suggest you could drill and bottom tap a 1/4 20 hole in any area you wish to grease and put a zerk in?

Just a suggestion I have done things that way before with success there is always a way once the idea is thrown out on the table. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the suggestion, I already looked at that idea. I put radius on the male plates, so left very little surface bearing. If I was energetic I'd remove the gate cut the hinges off and do it right!
But hey, it's been there all these years, why rush into anything now?:laughing:

 

[grsthegreat]

i second the suggestion about the greasable hinges. I did mine with the standard welding hinges with the brass washer. And while it works ok, i did have to lift it off 1 time in 4 years to grease it to stop squealing.

a set of welding hinges is real cheap.

heres my last gate i made.

 

[flyerdan]

I used to work in a shop where we built all kinds of gates and these hinges were the ones we'd use for the heavy swingers. If you decide to go that route see if you can source them locally through a local fence company or OI supplier as King tends to roger you pretty harshly on shipping.
Before you build the gate, make the hinge end first and match it to the post; it's much easier to get everything lined up and make sure it swings free without binding when it's on the table as opposed to in the ground.
As for the material, .188" seems a bit much, we'd use .095" for the default on most gates, sometimes mixing it up by using the heavy wall on the hinge and bottom and lighter on the top that might have to get rolled for an arch. The five foot gates could easily be made out of .065", unless they will be subjected to some serious abuse. The hinges for them could be considerably lighter as well, I'd probably modify some 1.625" chain link hardware for them. Way cheaper and will be more than able to handle the load.

 

[cmyoung2]

Flyerdan, if he is trying to keep bison in, I would always go heavy, or maybe even heavier. A small gate you might get by, but you get a ton of buffalo (one) rubbing against a light gate or any kind of weak spot, they will be on the wrong side very soon. Cattle are rough on gates, fences, and equipment, but they cannot compare with bison.

 

[tlbuser]

If i'm remembering correctly, wroughtnharv liked using 3 point lift arm ends (or balls) and pins for gate hinges. That's what I used on the last one i built. Cheap and oilable, works great, IMO.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I haven't installed barrel hinges in years. Almost all of them I see installed are installed wrong and the ones that are installed right fail way too soon.

I just did a repair on one gate of 12 at a gated community. I'm sure in no time at all I will get a request to replace all of the existing barrel hinges.

Here's what I used. All Steel Bodied Sealed Roller Bearing Hinge. 2000 lb. Weight Capacity,

 

[wroughtn_harv]

If i'm remembering correctly, wroughtnharv liked using 3 point lift arm ends (or balls) and pins for gate hinges. That's what I used on the last one i built. Cheap and oilable, works great, IMO.

I've found those to be great for non-motorized gates. They allow for misalignment which can happen. They life forever if the gate is used often and they are cheap to make. You just have to use a little imagination when it comes to design.

 

[grsthegreat]

I've found those to be great for non-motorized gates. They allow for misalignment which can happen. They life forever if the gate is used often and they are cheap to make. You just have to use a little imagination when it comes to design.

those look like nice hinges. Do you see many of the weldable hinges like in this picture fail??? seems like there just a drilled out chunk of steel. what fails on them?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I've been away, I check the site every day, because of current interests, the housing for the poor using recycled plastics.

In July I broke my right hand, stupid move on my part. Then about five weeks ago I busted up my left shoulder in a fall on a plow. Tuesday I go in for surgery. I have a complete tear of one tendon from the rotator cuff and a large tear of another. They won't know until they get in there whether they're going to reattach it too.

My options are to have about thirty percent use of my left arm above my ribs and a lot of pain or surgery. I'm going with surgery. Some might see 63 as too old to plan on doing what I do but then others will see 63 as too young to quit.

The good things is I'm in good health, no heart problems, diabetes, etc. I take no medicines, no alcohol or drug use, and I get a fair amount of exercise. The surgery is supposed to be its own kind of hades but the good thing is this is only the second surgery of my life. The first was for tonsils removal about thirty years ago.

I take some satisfaction in my only visits to the docs involves injuries, still being stupid after all of these years.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

those look like nice hinges. Do you see many of the weldable hinges like in this picture fail??? seems like there just a drilled out chunk of steel. what fails on them?

Even with a lot of grease you have poor grade steel wearing against poor grade steel. They get water in them and then they freeze up with rust. I see a lot of them break the pins at the joint. That says to me poor tempering or too much slop which creates shock which causes metal fatigue and failure.

You see them all the time where the bottom male is welded to the post pin up, that's right. But then the top is welded male to the post pin down. That's wrong.

They do that so that the gate can't be lifted off the hinges. There are many ways to stop that besides welding a hinge upside down. A stop can be welded to the post above the bottom hinge or better yet, weld the male hinge to the gate instead of the post, pin up.

 

[grsthegreat]

Even with a lot of grease you have poor grade steel wearing against poor grade steel. They get water in them and then they freeze up with rust. I see a lot of them break the pins at the joint. That says to me poor tempering or too much slop which creates shock which causes metal fatigue and failure.

You see them all the time where the bottom male is welded to the post pin up, that's right. But then the top is welded male to the post pin down. That's wrong.

They do that so that the gate can't be lifted off the hinges. There are many ways to stop that besides welding a hinge upside down. A stop can be welded to the post above the bottom hinge or better yet, weld the male hinge to the gate instead of the post, pin up.

ok, i can see if there welded upside down causing an issue.

 

[rjmack]

i built this gate last summer. 3/16x3" hss, 21' center to center on 6" sch40 posts. hinges are wheel bearings out of a 93 cummins 3/4 ton 4x4. it was a pita to build, but i would do it again. the bearings are protected from water by the design and the gate can be lifted to grease the bearings with a needle fitting. so far i have not had to regrease.

the gate will swing the full 180* either direction with a gentle nudge, and stay wherever you stop it anywhere in between (unless there is a wind blowing). so far, it works fine to -25c. i'll get a video of that sometime soon.