Right quite a bit happened quite quicly a while back but forgot to update this.
First I should say that this is not the final shape nor design but rather something that can be converted relatively quickly (basicalyl going to have a bell curve on top). Main focus was on securing the entrance quickly which it has achieved.
So first a couple of leaves were fabricated - they are hung off standard threaded farm gate hinges at the moment.
With that all more or less working (ideally need to shorten the hinges a tad as there's no adjustment at the moment but they'll do) then it was time to start filling in frame with some sopping wet pressure treated timber - again this was stuff that was quick and convenient and will be replaced.
Basically the central bar is 50x25RHS and flush with the rear of the 50x50 box making the frame. There's then some 50x5 flat tacked flush with the front at the top and bottom. With some "8x1s" they can just be slotted in and no fixings required although at some point will likely sink some coach bolts top and bottom.
Then as I was expecting to be away for work I threw the post box on the outside so that letters and parcels could be dropped off whilst I was away (normally they'd be left in the outside lavatory - obviously not literally).
The post box will be relocated to the rear of the door to sit inside a steel frame and then have an opening cut in the timber for the two top hatches for parcels to be dropped off. That way I don't need to open the gates to check the post.
For the moment there's a bulk bag of sand-blasting grit holding the right hand one shut and then there's a dead bolt to keep the other shut so I can open it and go out if I want. I haven't finished concreting across the drive because I want to weld a stop to the cross-brace in the centre but being 75 yards from the nearest power socket was a bit of a pain.
So today as the weather was glorious I was rummaging around in the bushes to tap into the power supply that ran some lights down the other driveway and get some power up to this gate. For the moment it's just an armoured cable run through the bushes like the other one but when the drives get redone in the future I'll put some conduit in and run it inside that along with some extra cabling.
So now I've got some power up there I can weld on a stop and some holes for a dead bolt. Hopefully early next week after I get my jab I'll be up in Surrey for some work and can collect a pair of FAAC rams that have been dropped off at my storage unit (@8ob ). Then a quick bit of concreting and wiring in a gate controller and job done for the moment.
Little but crucial change - no bag of sand required now
Managed to have a scrounge around in the scrap pile and find a piece of old tube and a 16mm bar that fitted reasonably well together to act as a dead bolt. Next step is to do some concreting and fit some FAAC rams to either side