Gates and adverse possession

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Charlie,

It's my own fault, I couldn't contain the rant that started forming as soon
as I started writing the post.

How do you constuct an 8' wooden gate? I mean, isn't the weight too
much for it to be hung from a conventional post and hinge? And if its
a double gate, then the gates won't even be resting on the ground when
they are closed. I've seen wheels at the bottom of gate edges, but this
is a gravel surface. What do you do?

Thanks
Don

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Don:
For an 8' gate, we use a high gatepost, and run a cable from the top of the post to the end of the gate to help support it. Then, we tie the top of the gatepost, also with a cable, back to the base of the next fencepost, to keep the gatepost from tilting. The cables are tightened with turnbuckles. We use sections of old telephone poles for gateposts often. With light gates, they don't need wires. With a wood gate, they generally do.
If the gate is only going to be opened on rare occasions, you can support the weight with the latch, and not put on the suspention wires. You do, however, need good hinges and a hefty gatepost to make that work well for the times you do open it.
We've never had a smooth enough area to use the wheels.

 

[TerryinMD]

Don,

Charlie describes the exact gate that I built. I will post a photo of it this weekend for you to see. Not that hard to do. I will also post the materials I used to construct it.

Terry

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks, that sounds like the way to go. My power company won't give
out telephone poles any more because of creosote liability. Any thoughts
on what other type of timber might be suitable? My auger goes down 6',
so I guess I should try to find something about 16' long -- 6' underground,
6' for fencing, and 4' protruding up to hold the cable. Does this sound
about right? Also, where would I find that galvanized metal sheeting that
you mentioned as an alternative to wood?

Thanks
Don

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Don:
The galvanized gates we use are available at out local farm store. I've forgotten the brand, but I suspect you can find them at TSC or other farm supplier. They are merely light hat sections riveted together. The best we have had, and still have are Wearever aluminum gates. They are super light, and we have some that are 50 years old with no deterioration. (Of course, we also have had a number that had to be replaced after losing arguments with machinery.)
I haven't seen Wearever available for a number of years.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Don, I used a removable post in the center of my double wooden gate to support the ends of both gates. I use one side or the other daily, but open both sides together to get big things through several times a year. To support the removable 4x4 pressure treated center post, I made a concrete socket by filling a hole several times the diameter of the post with concrete. Before pouring the concrete, I wrapped the base of the post with several layers of roofing felt and then plastic and then placed the post at the correct location. After the concrete hardened, I pulled the post out and removed the roofing felt. The roofing felt made the hole just a little larger than the post and allows it to slide in and out easily once the felt was removed. I also reinforced the concrete with some old wire fencing before pouring and put 3/4" rock in the bottom of the hole before the concrete was added so the post socket will drain and not fill up with water. It's been working great for 4 years so far.

Andy

 

[mdbarb]

once he said " why should he pay anything
for it when he has the use of it anyway." I would have had a six foot solid fence up along everything that wasn't his easement by yesterday. Then let him throw money at lawyers to try to take your land away.

 

[MossRoad]

I did something similar to that. I went to a scrap yard and found some 3.5 inch ID square tubing with .25 inch walls. It made a perfet socket. Sunk it in a hole and surrounded it with concrete. I could lift the fence section out next to the gate if I needed a larger path. Just be sure to leave the bottom open for drainage if you want to get it out in the winter. Gravel works well, as you can add or remove to level the section of fence.

 

[TerryinMD]

Don,

Here is a picture of the gate to our garden. I used 1"x6" pressure treated decking boards. The decking boards are held together with carridge bolts. Bolts hold up much better than nails. The gate width is 12' between the uprights. As you can see, I used 6"x6" pressure treated posts. The post on the right is 12' and buried about 3.5 feet in the ground with concrete at the base for stability. A chain extends from the right post to the end of the gate to take pressure off of the hinges. The hinges are standand gate hinges. It cost me about $100 for all of the materials excluding the end posts.

Hope it helps.

Terry

 

[TerryinMD]

Ack.... picture didn't make it... so here it is.

Terry

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks Terry. I think I will build something pretty much just like that. It
looks as though yours has lasted some time now.

Nice looking place you have, by the way. My timber and brush looks a lot
like yours, incidentally, though my pastures aren't as tidy I'm afraid. I'm
in Western Washington. Those leaning, gray trees aren't cottonwoods,
are they? We have them all over the place here, with the brush being
primarily salmonberry.

 

[TerryinMD]

Don,

The gate is about six years old now and is basically maintenance free. I've only had to tighten the nuts on the carrige bolts once.

What you see behind the gate is my yard not pasture. I took the picture with sun behind me.

Most of the trees you see in the back ground are Hackberry trees. They provide good shade and thats about it. There are also some Elm, Black Walnut, Oak, Pignut Hickory, and Box Edler trees.

Good luck.

Terry

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I recently purchased some land and the survey discovered that it had some minor encroachments from the neighbors property - a driveway, some landscaping, and a basketball pole 3' across the line. My real-estate lawyer recommended that to avoid any adverse posession situation that I:

1. Notify them in writing of the encroachment and that I have every intention of maintaining use and posession of those portions of my land.

2. However, in the same letter, also grant them an indefinite "license" to leave their encroaching stuff where it was, subject to cancellation with 30 days notice.

#1 Potects the property now and as another poster mentioned restarts the clock.

#2 Keeps the neighbor from getting all pissed off. Being nice to my neighbors always seems like a good idea to me. It also keeps the clock from ever starting - the adverse posession laws don't apply if there is already an amicable arrangement in place. Only if I cancel the license and tell them to vacate the encroachments and I don't enforce it for 15 years would they have a claim.

#2 also gives me provisions to pull the plug if we do get mad at each other or I change my mind and want to use that part of the land myself.

Maybe you could offer to buy the easement back for the reduced value the other guy thinks its worth - maybe he needs the cash worse than he needs a driveway?

- Rick

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A lot of that is similar to what my lawyer told me. He sent a certified
letter on my behalf stating that the neighbor should remove his gate
and satellite dish, and went on to say that we'd be forced to go to court
if he didn't abide by that. I also instructed the lawyer that I wanted to
stay on good terms, so he basically just repeated that in the letter.
Howerver he never suggested giving the neighbor the indefinite license
you metioned.

It seems to me that even if you go to courst, you lose even if you win.
Even if you get attorney's fees reimbursed, you're still out a lot
of time and worry.

My relations with the neighbor have improved somewhat, although he
did blow his stack at first. I just explained to him that I'm not going to
sit around and worry about losing the land, so this is what I have to do.
I think he understands that now.

Thanks for the information, and for the buyback idea. However, his
house would be almost worthless if he sold me back the easement.
His property is 300' feet from the nearest road.