gate hinge ideas

[Tx_Firefighter]

Hello all, this is my first post here.

I've been reading all of the posts here for awhile and have gotten lots of good ideas for projects around my place.

Right now, I'm building a 14 foot metal gate for my entry way. I'm trying to figure out a good method of hinging this gate. It's going to be made out of square tubing with a torch cut center piece that weighs about 30 lbs by itself. I don't have it built yet, so I don't know the weight of the completed gate. It will be hinging off of a pipe post about 6 inches in diameter, sunk 4 feet into concrete "a la Harv".

I'd sure appreciate any ideas or pictures you fellows could offer up.

Kevin

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Welcome Kevin,

BTW that's Oooh La La Harv. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

www.nortonmetals.com has a great selection of weld on pin hinges.

www.kingmetals.com has the widest selection. I'm using their roller bearing ones on the gate I've got going down in "photos".

If it's not going to have an operator then simple pipe and pin hinges work fine. If it's going to have an operator then after the post your hinges are the most critical thing for having a trouble free relationship with your gate.

Do keep in mind how much it's going to drop initially. Especially if you're using pipe and pin and or don't have a truss rod that's adjustable. King in Dallas and Norton just off 35W on 820 (blue mound rd) adjustable pin and ball bearing gate hinges that will work fine and give you some options if things don't hit it perfect on the get go.

The other thing to keep in mind is gate travel. A common mistake is to install the gate where it can open into traffic, not good. Another is not having enough travel for the gate to open more than ninety degrees without going into a bind.

Look for pinch points that can hurt a kid or even a vehicle. Consider what will happen if the wind catches the gate. Take into consideration grade variation. It's embarrassing to have a great piece of art for a gate and some dumb son of sheep chaser didn't notice that the gate can only open sixty degrees because the drive angles up.

Yeah, I know, an offset hinge will take care of that. But it shouldn't have to. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If it's an operated gate keep in mind the first law of failure. It will happen at the worst possible time. You can't stop the missus having those monthly mood swings. You have no control over the weather. But what you can do is go out of your way to make sure those two things never ever ever find themselves aligned with you have taken a short cut in your gate installation. The fury of a woman scorned is peanuts compared to one stuck in the driveway in a storm and on edge. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Tx_Firefighter]

Harv, I really appreciate your response on this post. I found some very nice greasable hinges at Norton after clicking on the link you provided.

I work at Hurst, so I drive right by Norton every third day.

 

[EddieWalker]

Just to add to what Havey just mentioned.

When I bought my land, there was a gate already installed. It opened fine towards the highway, but would bind up on the ground if swung into the land.

A friend was bringing some wood to burn in my burn pile and had a trailer overloaded with branches. He tried to swing the gate in and got it wedged into the ground. He thought it was open wide enough to get through and got his truck through, but not the trailer.

It turned into a huge mess unloading the trailer, unhooking it and dragging it through the gate, reconecting the trailer and loading it up again, just because he didn't realize the gate only swung out.

The gate is history, burried in a deep hole!

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[sawmill]

Allow me to offer a different solution: Assume a 14' x 4' gate.
Make the top, bottom and latch end from 1.5" square tubing. Use 1" square tubing for the intermediate horizontals. The hinge end should be made from a section of 1.5" Sch 40 pipe 6.5' long. Allow 6" protrusion above the gate and 24" below. Take a separate piece of 2" pipe 18" long and weld a 4" square plate on one end. Embed this foot along side the gate post in concrete. The gate will sit in this foot. Take a separate 6" piece of 2" pipe and weld two straps (2" x 3/16" flat bar) so as to wrap around the gate post. After the concrete has set up, stand the gate in the foot, and support level. Then drop the top strap over the end, and nail or lag screw to the post. Remove the support. The gate can be chained or a slide bar of 1" and 3/4" tubing can be made as a latch. This gate design puts the static load of the gate's weight on the ground and only a partial moment load on the top of the post. Recommend using at least an 8" gate post.

I have been using this design for many years.