Fun with gates

[wroughtn_harv]

Here's one of my favorite gates of all time. Not because it's so pretty or ornate or anything like that. It is just because it's so appropriate.

He's a Dallas cop. She's a Dallas second grade school teacher. They'd bought ten acres and a home in the country. I was recommended to do the fence.

He was scared to death that country folks were gonna stick it to him cause he was a total novice city slicker. Everything had to be explained twice and then he'd check on things and always seemed to be surprised when it was done just like I said it would.

He'd paid for a straight gate but he'd continually hammered me for something unique. So in a weak moment I'd volunteered that I would do something.

He was like a wife or a kid where a maybe is a promise if you know what I mean.

I put a drill stem and cable fence around his ten acres. I was almost done and hadn't come up with anything yet. And every time we talked he was pumping me for what his gate was gonna look like.

Then on a Monday I showed up at the job and he'd done a dog run for his rotteweilers. As I checked it out with all the empty sacks from sacrete here and there and the slab uneven and not sloped for drainage I just shook my head, rookies.

Then I noticed a little scribbling over in one corner like kids do if they find fresh concrete and no mean adults around. It said "Marlon loves Maria".

I instantly knew what the gate was gonna look like.

I played the hard [censored] and kept mumbling about how I'd come up with something on the gate even after I had it made and painted. Then after the fence was all done I delivered it early on a Saturday morning. As I was unloading it off the trailer he came out in his robe and slippers. He had a grin you couldn't remove with a jackhammer.

"Maria says you did good" was all he said and then walked back inside.

That was worth more than the bucks.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

This is another view of the brand fence. This customer had a section at the back of the house that he needed to keep his dogs from and he wanted it more than just a vinyl chainlink fence. He entertained there and wanted something unique. I uniqued. He liked it so much we uniqued up the drive and across the front.

I'd mentioned that it would be a kewl thing to do something in the corner just to accent the fence and treatment. He told me he loved west Texas. So I came up with the fence in a fence idea and then ignored the west Texas thing and put in some trees. (grin)

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Not all of my country gates are appropriate for animals.

 

[wasabi]

Man, you do some great work. All we have is three heavy duty schedule 80 forest service like pipe gates, but I sure admire your artistry.

Thing I don't like about our gates is getting them unlocked. There is a small cutout opening in the 6" capped pipe that houses the lock and keeps someone from just blowing the padlock off. I have to get real close to it with my glasses on to read the four digit combo and unlock it. If it is snowing, raining or just cold and blowing, it can be a pain. I'm thinking about eventually autoimating them. Have you done that? What is easiest way to do that, if such a term applies?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Afternoon Doug,

I've motorized barrier gates before. If you're where electricity is a pain to get then you can go low voltage and a screw drive. You find enough space so the solar panel can get some daylight to trickle charge a deep cycle twelve volt and you're in business.

It doesn't matter the weight of the gate below eight hundred pounds or so. What matters is the quality of the hinge post and the hinges. I've got gates out there that weigh fifteen hundred pounds on operators and they do fine. But the hinges cost me about a hundred and twenty dollars a pair and worth every dime.

The low voltage operators are screw drives. The motor turns on and spins a screw that extends or retracts the arm. All the motor knows to do is to turn off and on. You push the button and it turns on spinning the shaft in one direction. It spins that shaft until the limit switch is activated and turns the motor off. Then you push the button again and it turns the motor on again but in the opposite direction. It stays on until it hits the other limit switch which turns it off.

Nothing complicated at all about it.

But the glitch is all that's holding that gate closed is that screw and the bracketry at the hinge post where the operator is anchored.

What I've done when customers have wanted to have an additional bit of security is to have where the operator is attached to the gate to have it attached instead of a rod. The rod has a spring that is strong enough to hold the rod in place while the operator is moving it closed.

When the gate hits home the spring is overcome and the rod goes an additional three inches. This three inches is the part of the rod that goes beyond the end of the gate into a receiver. Sorta like a deadbolt.

When the gate is opened of course the first three inches of travel involve pulling the deadbolt section of the rod free. Then the gate itself starts moving.

I know there's tons of folks who have operated gates and they're like stunned that this can happen cause no one ever told them it could. I had to figure it out myself. So I'm sure other folks have too.

If you have electricity available to the gate then there are other options that are available.

BTW I just installed a low voltage one operator on this gate. What is neat is they have a free exit feature. I've got it adjusted to he can exit free riding his lawn tractor even.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Here's another view of that gate. This is one of those crazy hairs gone wild. This customer told me to do what I wanted as long as someway somehow I integrated that map of Texas with their name in it his wife had purchased at a craft fair.

About that time I'd had a dream about a customer calling me out to do an entryway made to looke like tinker toys. You know the sticks with the wheels with the holes.

So as an experiment I did the overhead like this just for grins.

It didn't turn out as well as I liked but it did fit in my criteria of being one of a kind, character flaw, first to admit it.

 

[cowboydoc]

No problem Harv. You do nice work though.

 

[rf33]

What brand of hinges do you use Harv? I got a recomendation from a friend to use Antec Guardian hinges, they use roller bearings, have a grease zerk, and run about $55 each, but I am not sure if these are the best way to go or not. Their web address is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.antech.com>www.antech.com</A> if you are not familiar with this particular brand. Do you think these are a decent hinge? I kinda liked them because of the roller bearings having a larger surface area than ball bearings, and because they make models for many combinations of flat / round posts and or gates. Thanks for your great answers to all of my silly questions.

 

[8NTX]

I remember the sign going through Wylie (also on our way to Lake Lavon, before Hubbard was built) - "Livin' the Life of Riley in Wide Awake Wylie". Nice looking work, Harv. That eccentric artist could be the wife of one of my best friends who live in Mesquite. She also is pretty good with a welder.

 

[mbsil]

Nice work! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif