Privacy fence gate problems

[Shane Copps]

Thank you very much everyone.

I really appreciate it. I ended up putting up a 5 ft and 3 ft gate in the 8 ft hole. Mostly it will be a walk through with the option of opening it for something bigger. I just finished fencing off the 10 ft hole as it would have been a -just incase its needed-. The 7 ft hole I had to just bite the bullet and make the gate that big due to positioning of buildings, garden and sidewalk. I am going to watch it, and if it starts to sag I have a wheel on order to support it.

Again thank you for your ideas

[David G Baker]

I made a 10 foot gate out of old bed frames and made two gates that were hinged on 3 inch steel pipe anchored in the ground with concrete. I knew that the gate would be to heavy unless I split it into two sections. I also mounted wheels on both gates to support them so they would never sag. I attched 1"x8"x 6' redwood to the metal. I made the gate around 20 years ago and as far as i know it still is working.
Another option is a sliding gate because they won't take up all of the space a hinged gate does.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Our gates are metal welded frames set on heavy duty hinges, with the wooden slats screwed to blocking inside the frames, and they have held up fine. We have a double gate in the back that spans about 8' and a side gate that is about 4' wide, and I don't have any trouble getting the lawn mower in and out through it.

Doc

[Val Kosmider]

For the 'wide' gate which is seldom, if ever, used, I sank 2" pipes into concrete at the same distance as a 'normal' fence section. I then hollowed out the inside of a PT 4X4 fence post and slid it over the pipe protruding from the concrete. The fencing slats were installed per any other fence section.

When I needed to remove that section, I simply slid it up off the pipes. Worked like a charm. In ten years I only used it twice, but it was REALLY handy. I made the pipes so they slid into the concrete, so when I needed to get a truck into the fenced area, I could pull out the pipes and have unimpeded access.

The only really difficult challenge is getting a two inch hole drilled 18" deep in a PT 4x4! That just takes time, patience...and a drill extension!