My first driveway gate - any tips ?

[450EXC]

I just need a basic tube gate for the drive to a landing where I do firewood and have a small sawmill. It is about 500' down the road from the house. I have not had any problems yet but there are a couple big piles of split wood there, and with the price of oil they look pretty inviting for any thieves going by. Also some tools, lumber, etc around the mill.

If I put the gate up close to the road I would need 2 - 16' gates as the drive flares out quite a bit at the road. If I moved back a ways I could get away with 1 - 16' or 2 - 10'. That would leave room for someone to pull in and park and raise heck.

Is there a big advantage to 1 gate as opposed to 2 ?

I was looking at the light duty TSC blue tube gates, I think they are 1 5/8" tubing. Anyone use these ?

Thanks for your gate tips.

 

[AlanB]

Build the pivot poles heavy.

Make sure you leave enough room to get in with whatever trailer you or someone that you want to come by, has, IE do not have the gate to where when they have to stop, the tail of their vehicle is in the road.

Locks keep honest folks out, but they also make basicly lazy theives go look for easier pickings. Determined theives find a way, so I would not worry about them, just deter the average one, and hope the determined ones don't get your place in their sights.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have two 12 foot gates at my place on PT wood poles. These are temporary gates, so I just bought the smallest poles that I could find, which I think are around 8 inches. Then I put wheels on the gates to make life easier and take off the preasure on the wood posts.

I have four locks on the gate. Two belong to the Utility Companies, and two are mine. I like the key lock for speed of getting in and out. Especially when it's dark out. The combination lock is so for people that I want to come in, but don't have a way or desire to give a key to.

On another piece of land that I used to own, I put 16ft gates up. One was between some oak trees and was the perfect location. Nothing could drive around it when closed, but there was a nice 3ft opening to walk around the gate to get the mail. On that gate, I didn't consider how much room I would need with a trailer, so it when I had it on my truck, I stuck out into the road quite a bit.

Another gate that I put up on the back of that property didn't have any big trees around it, and tresspassers just drove around the gate. One time, they even shot off the lock with a pistol or rifle. That took a little more effort, but with more posts, I was able to keep them out. The time the lock was shot off, I followed the tire tracks across the property to a neiboring property. They drove straight there, then walked across the creek for some reason. I thik it was harvest time and they wanted their drugs, so nothing was gonna keep them out. It never happened again, so I also think they found a new place to do what they were doing.

If they want in, it's not that hard. I was shocked that my lock was shot off because bolt cutters would have done it just as easily without the noise. For really tough locks or chains, then a small cutting torch will get through anything in about a minute.

Eddie

 

[MarkV]

Pervious posters have you pretty well covered so I’ll just add my vote for using real heavy pivot posts set deeper than you think needed. Even light weight gates will sag in time if your posts are not over built.

MarkV

 

[WTA]

I have to build a new gate too. Right now there is only a 12 footer and coming off a 1 lane road it's not wide enough to swing trucks into anymore. Back when my family put in that gate it was mostly horse and model A ford traffic. It's been a while.

My problem is to put in steel posts there last time I know they blasted out the holes. It's solid rock! This is not going to be fun! I've already got the gates made and welded to the poles which are 8 inch heavy steel pipe. I just have to dig the holes somehow, plant the pipes and weld on the cross piece over the top. Easy huh?

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with alan.. make it where they can get off the road and pull in, AND clear the gate(s). If you want 1 gat.. and have extra space to make up.. drop in a couple t-post and make a small 'fence' on each side with hiten wire.. or barb wire.. or drop in a couple peeler 2.5" posts and put up a 3-board fence.. real easy to do either.

I runt he TSC tube gates.. as well as lowes.. or whoever is cheaper / closer to where I'm working.

I use the wheel kit to take the strain of fthe hing a little. use oversized hinge post.. like the big 6-8 - 8' posts.. it is NOT overkill if you have a 16' or 20' gate on it.

Also.. gates and locks keep out honest people.. as was said.

If a theif wants in.. they will cut up a 79$ gate.. or a 150$ gate.. just as fast.. so ya might as well get the 79$ gate!


Soundguy

 

[jimg]

In regard to determined vandals: The old fellow I bought my place from had had trouble w/ gates going missing in the night. He wound up mounting the hinge pins in opposing directions (top pointed down and the bottom up). Then he really cranked down on the hinges making them very difficult to loosen and incur enough deformation so theyd not slide on the gate pipe w/o considerably prying. I removed several done this way and it was rather time consuming!

 

[dmccarty]

I have two 10 or 12 foot gates. Cheap tube gates from the local farm store. I used 6x6 PT to hold the gates with a 4x4 PT on the "end". The 4x4 and 6x6 are attached to each other with .5x6x8 boards. They have held up well since I put them in the winter of 2001. I did put in some concrete to hold the 6x6s but I consider it a temporary gate.

I put in a lag bolt above the gate hinges so the gate could not be lifted off.

Use nails if you are putting up boards and not screws. Over time I found a couple of the boards off the posts. At first I thought someone had knocked off the boards but there where no foot prints and the board where not marked.

The posts on one side can get very wet due to a near by ditch. With the wet and the sun the posts would warp and/or the boards would swell/freeze and break the screws. You could see where the screws had pulled apart. I took out the screws and put in nails. The boards have stayed in place.

The gates have kept people out for sure. We need to put in an operator though. It would be nice to not have to get out of the truck to open/lock the gate but its really not bad. Our only problems with tresspassers who came in through the gate where when the gate was open when one of us left the house. No point in locking the gate if I'm home... Right? NOT !

Later,
Dan

 

[zzvyb6]

I use 2 separate widths: An 8' gate gets me and the truck (barely) in. Then I have a 10' with it with a locked chain center stake to let my equipment in and out when necessary to open both gates. I have left 50' to park a truck & trailer in the drive if I need a place to idle. (Someday you might need to get a sawdust removal trucker or a legit customer in there). Get a driveway alert to broadcast a tone to the house if traffic shows up. Mine goes about 1000' with a new battery. Fire off your 50BMG occasionally to let the neighborhood know what your power levels are.

Use a Dog on Duty sign to "prevent your Fido from getting run over" but really to let them know that Killer ain't been fed this week. If people show up out of curiosity, because they are lost, or want boards, don't ever say "Hello". Say "what do you want?. Or better:

If you ever have the fortune of meeting up with someone in the midst of walking off with your stuff, approach them with a smile and ask them if they are the owners here because you need some custom made things. Then tell them to lay on their stomach and snatch their wallet to get id. Throw a towel over their head and mention to them that warning shots are not customary and that you'd rather the judge hear only one side of the story.

I've had this pleasure. My guys had a network. They broadcast to their "network" that a mental case lived there. In fact, he does...

 

[450EXC]

Thanks for the pointers,

Moving the gate back enough to allow a truck / trailer to pull in sounds like the right idea but I don't think it will work here. This is a small clearing cut out of the woods right next to the road. It's about 75' from the road to the back and about 150' wide. Move the gate back 40' and you are half way in the clearing. We will have to park on the shoulder, open the gate, then pull in.

TSC blue looks good - I need to keep spending money there to keep them in bussiness.

I was planning on 6" x 6" post about 4' deep - sound OK ?

Thanks again.