How big a gate do I need?

[John K Jordan]

Wouldn't a backhoe get in 8'?

A typical backhoe will fit through an 8' gate, at least those I'm familiar with. My tractor and bobcat are both 6' wide as is my zero turn mower with the 60" deck so 8' is a reasonable minimum. However, that is pretty tight and requires care. The nine gates I installed here on the farm are between 12' and 16', with 14' a comfortable size for large horse and equipment trailers. A wider gate not only gives room going straight through but also for moving through at an angle and especially when backing a trailer. But I'm using these gates all the time. For occasional or rare access for vehicle, equipment, or small trailer an 8' gate should work. If you want to provide for trucks or larger trailers (my big trailers are 8' wide) a 10' gate would be tight but would work.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

What I see the most around here, is a double gate for "full access" that's setup such that only one side is opened for human traffic. It can even be made somewhat "invisible" with a little creativity so that one side looks like a gate and the other looks like the normal fence...until you open it.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Sanity check: Wade has a 1/4 acre lot (~= to 10,000 sq-ft)

Some assumptions: 80' x 125' lot; allow 4000 sq-ft for house and flatwork = 6000 sq-ft of yard total. Split evenly between front/back = 3000 sq-ft back yard. Less 1000 sq-ft of back yard's 'non-mowing' areas (pool, flower beds, veggie garden, tennis court, green house, fountain, sculpture graden, and let's not forget his English-style, Temple of Athena 'folly'). ....So, 2000 sq-ft of grass that's gate-accessible.

Mowing? A good landscape contractor will use 21" push mowers and have 2000 sq-ft cut before he can get a 60" ZTR off the trailer.

For you 'big equipment' guys, I sort of doubt Wade needs routine access to the space with a D9 Cat or Komatsu PC1250. ....But yeah, I want one too.

I'm Scottish and cheap, so would still put in the 36" gate, but Wade's better half might be meaner than mine, so maybe he should follow her 'recommendation'...??? Just to be safe. Matt/Rich - good call!!

[Matt Meiser]

You live in Texas where there's a ready supply of cheap landscape labor. Very few lawn services around here even have a 21" push mower on the trailer. Typical setup around here is two guys, a zero turn or a larger stand-on mower depending on the size of jobs they do, a smaller walk behind, and some handheld equipment. One guy does the big areas, the other does the small areas, trims, and blows off all the hard surfaces.

No one said routine access. If the fence style is such you can remove a section, no big deal. We can release some clips and slide ours to one side, pop one end out, then repeat on the other end and get an 8' section out next to our gate. Ripping out a fence when you have a collapsed drain tile, flooded basement, and your contractor needs to get a backhoe in won't seem like such a good deal for a $500 savings. Especially if the excavator charges you a few hundred bucks extra labor for the pleasure.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Dang it! ...I forgot Wade's Koi pond. So that's only 1200 sq-ft of back yard.

Cheap labor? Where? I drive thru 35 miles of construction projects every morning. The construction workers have their new personal vehicles parked along the road, and most are new-model, extended cab Tundras or F-250's. Price one lately?

Edit: Talk about timing!! My HOA's landscape maintenance contractor for the common areas just pulled in. They are small family operation, and are driving 2 brand new 4-dr Tundras. It's been about 18 months since I was in a showroom, but I recall looking at ~same model at $60,000 each. Please show me 'cheap'.

[John K Jordan]

Sanity check: Wade has a 1/4 acre lot (~= to 10,000 sq-ft)
...

I have 27 acres now but I once lived on a lot in the city with under 1/2 acre wooded lot, most of it fenced but with a 10' gate. The utility company used my gate instead of taking down the fence when they had to dig up a utility line. A bobcat drove through to dig for a pool. I hired a huge tracked highlift to clear and level a spot in the back of the lot and a dump truck carried off the debris. I hauled 4-wheelers on a trailer through the gate nearly every weekend. When I built a shop getting a concrete truck into the back was a big help. We skidded the logs from a big windfall tree out the gate.

Every situation is different, but the point is there may be reasons other than lawn mowing for a gate you can drive through. The cost of putting a wider gate in now may be less than tearing it out later. I'm part Scottish, but I almost always lean toward the "be prepared" side! Maybe that's because I never was in the Boy Scouts. My dad took me to one cub scout meeting and they told him the dues were 10 cents a meeting. At that time he couldn't afford that. Seriously.

I do like Jim's idea about the walk-through side.

JKJ

[Malcolm McLeod]

Sorry Wade, we've been out voted. Better go with the 12-footer.

You can setup a go-fund-me page I guess. ....I wonder what Koi taste like? ...might cut down your grocery bill for a while???

(It's Friday - - just having some fun!)

[Wade Lippman]

The backyard is 2500sf. No utility lines.
I measured it and 8' is all that will even fit. There is another 4' from one side to the wall; but that is blocked by a deck. There is a hedge on my side of the lot line.
We already have an invisible fence, but wife is afraid that the cars that go by occassionally are going 40mph and won't see a dog. I think she is wrong, but if the dog ever got hit, my life wouldn't be worth $0.02.
I guess the lot line must be a few feet further over than I thought, or the deck wouldn't have passed the 15' setback.

[Bill Jobe]

I built mine at 9' and wish i'd gone bigger. Now i'm thinking of buying a workshop premade and delivered. So now I have to remove a post, or rather cut one off. I set them in concrete at 30" due to our cold winters.
Hasn't been an issue since building my fence many years ago. I know a guy with a narrowed dump bed for when I want dirt/sand/gravel. Even got a full size truck to dump sand by backing up to the mirrors.
I'd go bigger unless you are sure you won't need to get a car or truck through.
I really like the idea of a removable fence and will probably do that this time. It would be nice to have another walk through gate. There isn't room for both on that side of the house. The only problem will be the new treated pickets not matching the old.