tomarse
professional amateur
- Messages
- 63
I thought i'd post this since i actually finished painting them today and am quite chuffed with how they turned out
I decided that i wanted some gates across my drive. The width is roughly 14 foot (I can get a car through a single open gate) so i needed something fairly hefty. I also needed them to swing both ways so i could get my fairly large truck out at an angle, and also had a cross-slope to contend with.
After a bit of thinking i decided on a simple design - 2 boxes with railings in the middle. My boxes are made of 60x40x3mm box and i ordered 20mm solid round for the railings. 20mm turned out to be somewhat larger than i expected and made them a lot heavier than i planned!
I started the job with a 100A ferm MIG welder but it just couldnt cope with the 20mm bar so i had to upgrade to a shiney new clarke 150A MIG from mr weldequip and that is so much better and could actually weld to the 20mm bar!
The posts are made from 80x80x3mm (which has 3ft under ground set in concrete!). I wish i had bought 4mm wall now since due to the weight of the gates with the 20mm railings they wobble slightly. I have since dropped some 20mm round lengths down them and filled them with concrete which has helped a lot!
onto the pictures:
I wasnt sure how to make my latches.I wanted something that supported them due to the weight and because of the cross slope it needed a long 'leg'.
I eventually settled on legs made from small box that just runs inside some slightly larger box. There are 2 sprung gate latches that slide right through the 2 bits of box and thus hold the weight.
You just have to lift the gate a tiny bit and the leg drops into place and the gate latch springs itself through on its own which is great!
It works better than i expected though im not sure how well it will continue to work once it gets some rust on it. I will have to grease it up lots and see how it goes..
I hung the gates using some hefty adjustable gate loops and the pin is welded to the post.
I am now considering some ornamental. spikes for the top but so far nobody has even tried to climb over them so i may wait for a while.
This was a successfull project and even though i spent a fair amount on metal stock (the gate post cost quite a bit) it has worked out at a fraction of the price of anything commercial i could find that is similarily hefty.
I have now found a few friends and neighbours who also want gates so i am going to try out a couple of different designs cutting and welding stock is enjoyable compared to the rusty car repairs that i have been used to so far!
I decided that i wanted some gates across my drive. The width is roughly 14 foot (I can get a car through a single open gate) so i needed something fairly hefty. I also needed them to swing both ways so i could get my fairly large truck out at an angle, and also had a cross-slope to contend with.
After a bit of thinking i decided on a simple design - 2 boxes with railings in the middle. My boxes are made of 60x40x3mm box and i ordered 20mm solid round for the railings. 20mm turned out to be somewhat larger than i expected and made them a lot heavier than i planned!
I started the job with a 100A ferm MIG welder but it just couldnt cope with the 20mm bar so i had to upgrade to a shiney new clarke 150A MIG from mr weldequip and that is so much better and could actually weld to the 20mm bar!
The posts are made from 80x80x3mm (which has 3ft under ground set in concrete!). I wish i had bought 4mm wall now since due to the weight of the gates with the 20mm railings they wobble slightly. I have since dropped some 20mm round lengths down them and filled them with concrete which has helped a lot!
onto the pictures:
I wasnt sure how to make my latches.I wanted something that supported them due to the weight and because of the cross slope it needed a long 'leg'.
I eventually settled on legs made from small box that just runs inside some slightly larger box. There are 2 sprung gate latches that slide right through the 2 bits of box and thus hold the weight.
You just have to lift the gate a tiny bit and the leg drops into place and the gate latch springs itself through on its own which is great!
It works better than i expected though im not sure how well it will continue to work once it gets some rust on it. I will have to grease it up lots and see how it goes..
I hung the gates using some hefty adjustable gate loops and the pin is welded to the post.
I am now considering some ornamental. spikes for the top but so far nobody has even tried to climb over them so i may wait for a while.
This was a successfull project and even though i spent a fair amount on metal stock (the gate post cost quite a bit) it has worked out at a fraction of the price of anything commercial i could find that is similarily hefty.
I have now found a few friends and neighbours who also want gates so i am going to try out a couple of different designs cutting and welding stock is enjoyable compared to the rusty car repairs that i have been used to so far!