Castor wheel for holding up gate?

[wroughtn_harv]

I've got two thoughts for you to consider Soundguy.

1. If you noticed I mentioned the footing of the hinge post and not the hinge post itself. For every hinge post I see give way I see twenty footings.

Think of it like holding a pen between two fingers and exerting pressure on the end. Now take the same pen and grasp it firmly in the palm and exert the same pressure on the end again.

Most people think of a three foot hole for a hinge post as being adequate. For gates that aren't very long and don't weigh very much that works. A good rule of thumb is a foot of footing depth for every foot of post height for a hinge post if the gate isn't really heavy or really long.

2. The angle brace strengthens the gate. What it is doing is picking up the weight from the fartherest corner and attaching it directly to the high hinge pin.

I often see the angle brace from the lower hinge pin to the high corner of the gate. It throws the brace in compression and therefore needs considerable more strength than it does my way where it's in tension.

A couple of times a year I'll get to go out on a gate repair where sag is an issue. If it isn't the footing giving way and just the gate sagging I'll jack up the end and weld a half inch rod from top hinge to the bottom corner. It works.

If the hinge would be a visual distraction I'll use eye bolts, a turnbuckle, and stainless cable to accomplish the same thing. Everynow and then there'll be a gate where one either can't weld on it or really doesn't want to. Then some stainless hardware sprayed a matching color blends in without the worry of rust or being a visual distraction.

 

[Rgillard]

Soundguy,

The 28' gate is very heavy. I think it is a home made gate made out of 1.5" tube with a fairly heavy wall. The post for holding this gate up will be a girder which is at the corner of a shed and buried in a concrete wall so it will take a fair load i hope.

 

[Donman]

I don't know how much headroom you need thru the gate, but I would look into high posts on each side with a pulley system to raise the gate straight up rather than rolling a wheel thru cattle @*%!. You could use a crank and pulley system.

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you noticed I mentioned the footing of the hinge post and not the hinge post itself )</font>

I did notice.. and I should have clarified.. but I was also considering that when I was talking about the hinge post.. as ther eis no need for a brute of a hinge post. if you are setting it into a material that won't support the weight ( soft ground.. etc ). So yes.. I was considering 'good' footing as just as important a factor as the strength of the post itself.


</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Think of it like holding a pen between two fingers and exerting pressure on the end. Now take the same pen and grasp it firmly in the palm and exert the same pressure on the end again.
)</font>

Yeah.. that's that 3' gate post example you mentioned ( I'm with you on that.... 1'st year engineering stuff.. )

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The angle brace strengthens the gate. What it is doing is picking up the weight from )</font>

I got that to.. it's just that not every gate design can handle a welded brace, as you clearly point out later on.. many setups use the turbuckle and eye bolt idea.. especially the tube gates.

The guy wire idea is generally for even heavier situations where you need the mechanical advantage of a point higher than the top hinge on the gate. Sometimes a foot higer makes a huge difference. I like the cable or guy wire idea. You can make some nice setups using eyebolts that give the gate full range of motion without changing wire tension.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I often see the angle brace from the lower hinge pin to the high corner of the gate )</font>

That's just serving to load that bottom hinge more anyway.

One main problem I see is people not setting ther gat hinges correctly, and when they get the gate at 90' from the fence, they either have it wedged into the ground, swinging inthe air, or tilted top to bottom.

( I think we are saying the same thing.. )

Soundguy