Tarter 16' Wide Steel Gate - Install

[Pettrix]

Looking to get a Tarter 16' wide 16 gauge steel gate to use on my driveway. Uses 2 inch tubing. These gates are around 150lbs and sell at Tractor Supply stores for around $230.

What kind of post should I attach this to?

I was thinking maybe an 8 feet tall (2 feet underground) and 8" round. Using concrete to anchor the post in the ground.
HD sells a 4x6 square post that is 12 feet long but is round better than a square post?

Other option is a steel tube post but attaching the hinges might prove difficult on a steel post.

I will eventually install a solar powered battery opener on it.

 

[Doofy]

8-10' chunks of railroad track cemented in.

 

[Diggin It]

A 6x6 square post or a piece of utility pole if you can find one. A 'new' post will look better on a driveway if appearance is important to you. Any post will require an angled stabilizer of some kind to pull the top of the post away from the gate load/weight. That can be another post or a steel cable anchored 10 or more feet back.

 

[JerryK]

Here is how I put in an access road gate back in 2015. The gates are mounted on 3" rigid conduit cemented into the ground, with the pipes filled with cement after final install. Cables going out a ways on each side and anchored with ' screw in ' earth anchors like the utility companies use for electric pole guy wires. Cable adjusters to re-level up the posts if needed. And split PVC pipe slip'd over the cables so so idiot does not kill himself trying to drive around the gates and ' not see ' the cables. Main problem with this type gate is you can bend them by just snowblowing snow on them, and I have to keep a center brace underneath the center ends of both gates to keep them looking good.

 

[Diggin It]

One other thing is that I put a wheel on mine that rolls along the paved surface to handle part of the alignment issues. I home brewed my gate though from chain link fence rail. Much lighter over all, but still gets the point across.

 

[RNeumann]

I don’t think 2’ into the ground is very much for a 16’ gate. I’d be 3-4’ in. The type of steel is almost as important as size. “Off the shelf” steel will rot fast. You will want something designed for ground contact like well casing.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Anything between 4-10 feet deep for a gate post is about right, 10' might be overkill but you would never complain it is too deep once it is set. If only setting 4' deep you will either need a well stabilized H brace or a guy wire like used on utility pole construction.

 

[FredH]

I attached My 16' metal gate to a Very Good condition railroad tie , that was better than 9' long . Sunk the tie into a hole that was 5' long perpendicular to the gate when closed and 4' long parallel to the gate when closed . Hole was a little over 4 foot deep . Dumped a 2 contractor wheelbarrow load of cement into hole , set post , and filled hole up with cement .
Not quite 3 yards in the hole . No Braces , No guy wires , Gate has only been adjusted once and that was after a neighbors friend backed her horse trailer into it , ( Wanted me to pay for a new tail light on her trailer :confused3: ) .

This is for a gate going into lower field thus although you pass it going up driveway , it is not a entrance to property or house type gate .

Fred H.

 

[flyerdan]

For a gate that light, a piece of 2.875 struc or shed 40 about three feet down should not need any bracing. Hinges are readily available for round gates and posts from 1.375 to 6"

 

[TractorGuy]

My wife wanted double gates so that's what we have.

I installed two of the 10' Tarter gates on my entrance. I used the 6 in./7 in. x 8 ft. round posts from TS and just tamped dry concrete around them. I think I left about 52" above ground and buried the rest of the 8'. I assume the concrete set with rain and ground moisture but not digging it up to find out. Pretty sure we used a 9" auger so there wasn't a lot of room around the posts for concrete. They have been rock solid and the gates are perfectly level after several years.

I used the Mighty Mule openers on them. One side is intermittently slower than the other but they have not failed to open so I live with them.