Overthinking posts for gate?

[Richard]

We've got a dog run outside. Used welded wire and T-Posts. For the current "door" we just overlap the welded wire and use some hooks to close it.

We did this maybe 10 years ago and this part is starting to deform a bit. Having a Pyrenese jumping around in there might be a small reason for that. She's figured out that she can shimmy under the fence a bit because it flexes more than it should.

Enter idea for a genuine door. I'm thinking, drop maybe two 6x6 posts and use one for the hinge side and the other for the latch side. I've got a backhoe so digging hole isn't an issue.

Got to thinking.... just dig hole, drop post in and backfill? How about concrete? (light goes off and this is what I'm really asking about)

What if I dig hole, take a 5-gallon bucket, fill it with concrete. Affix to it one of those "receivers" that the post would fit in and bury that. Now, I have an anchor that will hold the post, if the post ever needs replaced, I'm not digging/chipping it out of concrete. I can just detach it from the receiver, slap another in and I'm back in business.

If I/someone ever wants to remove all of this, then again, remove post.... dig down a bit, grab bucket/remove and no traces of anything after you fill it back up with dirt.

It's possible (ahem) that I over-think things at times....

Thoughts on using a bucket under the post with (I have no idea what they're called) a "post holder" mounted to bucket to hold post? (this would be 2-3 feet underground so the ground would help hold things).

 

[Eagle1]

You managed to fence a GP successfully on the first try? Kudos.....
I have 5. One just turned 2 has not left without permission YET. One (now 3) dug/pushed her way out for a few months but now stays put. The 3rd (8 and quite small for a GP) quit jumping the fence once it reached almost 7 feet with barb on top, she was running up a tree and launching herself across the fence before the barb wire. The oldest chews through the field fencing and barb wire if he really really needs to get out, he is 10 now and not as needy . Number 5 is now a house dog after 4 years of trying to contain her, I gave up. She will investigate and test fencing until she finds the path out. Might take 5 minutes maybe a couple of days but she will succeed. Never runs off just shows up on the porch to guard the house. Been my inside protection/alarm for 4 years now, since I never succeeded in 4 years of trying.
BTW the oldest is only one that will go on extensive walkabouts when unsupervised. The rest stay pretty close to the property unless in hot pursuit but they catch a coyote or feral dog pretty quick when needed. It being mid Dec coyote season (new adult pups trying to find territory) is upon us, and they'll be busy explaining to newcomers the rules around here. The resident pairs KNOW the rules and don't challenge the dogs.

 

[Carl_NH]

Overthinking just a bit. I put in 600' 11GA wire total 9 GA black PVC coated welded wire fence this last summer and used 5" round posts 8' from TSC buried 30-36" with a half bag of sakrete per hole. The posts were $18 when 4x4 PT was nearly $25 here and full 5" round are 1.5 times the area of the 4x4.

Just dig a hole, backfill halfway, if you have too big of a hole cut a hole in 5 gal bucket and slide over, fill with concrete and backfill. Done in a half hour.

I made my own 4' gates 2x4PT rectangle, cut a slot on the inside of the PT, fit in the 9GA welded wire in the slot and screwed it into the slot/frame with 2" long SST screws which put tension on the wire and stiffened the gate.

 

[2manyrocks]

It's only two posts. Use a manual post hole digger to dig holes for two 4x4 PT posts or get some 5" round treated posts. Set them in the hole. Firmly tamp each layer of dirt as you backfill.

Using a backhoe to dig holes for posts is just going to make a big, loose, hole that you really don't want.

 

[jyoutz]

Just putting a post on both sides of the gate isn’t going to hold up over time. You need to brace each post, either with a H or a long diagonal to both hold the gate and allow the stretched fence to be supported.

 

[Richard]

I have 5

Ouch, I'd hate to see your (their) monthly dinner bill!

Our "gate" situation still works. I don't know why she's not plowed through it. I don't know her prior history (she originated in/near New Orleans, my brother in law picked her up from someone who I understand didn't feel they could take care of her. She was tending to his chickens. (was she snacking on them? Don't know).

Brother in law was going to keep her but concurrent with this, his wife got diagnosed with ovarian cancer (currently in remission I'm told) and that scrambled their lives.... so didn't need a "little yappy dog" to cause any more commotion. As you know, she might be yappy.... but she's not little.

Elephants can get trained with a chain around their foot to be led or stay in place. Once they learn that, the chain can be swapped for a rope. (this is what I've read over the years) The rope isn't strong enough to hold the elephant but, they don't know that.

I wonder if she's been penned before, couldn't get out so like the rope, tends to accept it (shrugs shoulders)

I just know that the "gate" we have is starting to get bent, curved, curled and several broken welds.... so this spring I'll have to do something with it.

 

[Eagle1]

Once they are grown up it's not bad, we go through about #50 a week, plus "treats". I love these big goofballs, once told something belongs it is safe, it it does not belong it will be ask to leave. Each has their own quirk.

I use an old ball pit from a dollar store, you know the thing they keep the cheap balls in, as a gate. Too heavy to chew or bend but easy enough to adapt as a gate between a couple hickory trees.

Enjoy the breed they get better with age but like all dogs leave way too early.

 

[ponytug]

Once they are grown up it's not bad, we go through about #50 a week, plus "treats". I love these big goofballs, once told something belongs it is safe, it it does not belong it will be ask to leave. Each has their own quirk.

I use an old ball pit from a dollar store, you know the thing they keep the cheap balls in, as a gate. Too heavy to chew or bend but easy enough to adapt as a gate between a couple hickory trees.

Enjoy the breed they get better with age but like all dogs leave way too early.

I'm having trouble imagining a "ball pit" as a gate. Do you have a photo?

Your dogs sound like wonderful, and beloved, characters.

I agree that you would be best off not using an excavator to make holes as that would lessen the soil integrity. I found some nifty t-post "Wedge-loc" brace gizmos at TSC that are actually amazingly stiff brace corners, and very easy to install once I understood how they go together and work.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/wedge-loc-corner-in-line-brace
installation video here;

They have held up well against cows itching on them.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Eagle1]

I just took the panels apart to form a flat wire grid (think 6' tall cattle panel) with hinges where the corner were made. One "panel" on the corner hinge is the gate. The rest closes the extra space. No pictures don't have cell phone or digital camera. It was free and has outlasted most gates and is tall enough to keep the jumpers at home.

 

[TheMan419]

I'm having trouble imagining a "ball pit" as a gate. Do you have a photo?

Your dogs sound like wonderful, and beloved, characters.

I agree that you would be best off not using an excavator to make holes as that would lessen the soil integrity. I found some nifty t-post "Wedge-loc" brace gizmos at TSC that are actually amazingly stiff brace corners, and very easy to install once I understood how they go together and work.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/wedge-loc-corner-in-line-brace
installation video here;

They have held up well against cows itching on them.

All the best,

Peter

We used the wedge-loc for corners for our first horse pasture. The first corner took me like 45 min to build. All other corners like 10 min. Easy peasy once you understand how they work.