zoothorn

Bingo thats what i needed, of course! Ok done this & 3 bags of crete gone in. Im panicking, as this water crete ratio is so damn vague. 1/3 rd fill hole with water, 1 bag of crete in. Well it needed 4 buckets full of water to get my 1/3 rd water level. Then 1 bag.. seemed stupidly thin, so i put a 2 nd bag in... still seems stupidly thin... so ive put a 3 rd bag in.. but it still seems too thin. And im only 3/4 of way up the hole. What am i doing wrong here?? I mean its now too late, if i have put way too much water in, which i have no idea if so. If this is acceptable/ if it will produce a solid conctete... then 4 bags per hole?? That seems over double what ive been so carefully researching up on, i had expected to use. That might not even grt me to the top either. Urgh.

@Onoff hi there Onoff, yes good points. Im doing the line by eye admit to site the 1 st post that is.. looks pretty good. If this one is a mite twisted 'back' it could benefit the gate opening a bit past 90*: was my thinking: ie slight 6" more space on drive when opened fully. But i will use a line for siting Post2. Tbh i dare not whack my stones down now.. i might bodge it up. Thanks zoot

Hi dangti6.. yup understood seems sensible to agitate. Ok got it braced ok, popped stones gently round base. Now i have concern here: the btm of hole slushy clay/ got out as best i could, put a red thick tile in, post ontop. Its the base moving/ sliding on the tile putting it out of kilter whilst i pour the mix in Im worried about. If I really push& wedge in big stonesbefore, I might put it out. I think the idea is - not- to do this? My other concern is the depth. Ive only gonna have it 31" at best in the hole, it was collapsing & i was getting nowhere trying deeper. So had to stick here. Is 31" top of hole ok? Maybe 30.5" of mix depth? It does have a bit more width involved, say a good bucket diameter.

Ok that's what i wanted to read! Water out of hole, half gone overnight helped.. now widening a bit. So can 'offer in' my post soon.

@joe90 Hi John. One thing just occurred.. my posts will be fairly close to the tarmac edge of the road, about 1-1/2 ft. My gravel drive obviously meets the road, presuming this is all mine here as it were. Do I need to establish precisely where my boundary edge is here tho relative to the road? Or is my distance ok/ just crack on? I have to bear in mind my creep n'bors will use any excuse to hamper me.. a visit from council is their default way, along with the continual dog dirt. thx zooter.

Chaps. Ive watched postcrete youtube clips, presumably I do the same with my blue bags, but cant quite understand the way you dont mix it. How does the water & dry contents mix perfectly evenly, without mixing it? Surely dry lumps of it in the mix, no? The principle seems odd to me. Anyway i gotta get water out, chip away some more hole side.. then seat my post so concreting isn't imminent! More likely end of the day with my snails pace. thx zooter.

I only figured out this 5 bar/ 6 bar difference today... had assumed these std timber gates were just " 5 bar gates". But no all it seems are 6 bar. Apart from one. Their bloody 4' one. Inept not to tell me, or to know or care their stock was different one to the next, getting annoyed at me being 'fussy' try8ng to explain i needed them to " match". (When i hadnt the knowledge at this point to ask to simply order 6 bar: but as their paperwork says they all are 6 bar it wouldve made no difference). And a rude couldn't care either attitude to me too. But got lucky. The only other place selling them here, had an 8' (6 bar) so ive nabbed that.. & ordering me a 4' (6 bar) for a week+. But still possible it'll be a sodding 5 bar too.. so gotta dive in once arrived, check they match. Last resort: two six footers (& i can see match/ are identical 6 bars). But from this wretched 1st place. Hole still full of water!

Gordon bleedin bennet.. my gates arrived, the 4' is a 5 bar, the 8' a 6 bar. Place didnt tell me about this. So refund squeezed out/ stesss/ & panic on to find from elsewhere now so another delay. I cant have more than a 4' hanging from this LH lower slope post, as its a full foot less buried.

Chaps, I dug me hole a bit off.. IE my post if I plonk in middle, is approx 2" off where i need it. This means once gates on, with other post in, the smaller RHS gate pinching into my bush. Is it ok to plonk my post 2" off centre of my hole? Like this..

Hi Ferdinand. Good plan, saves me buying a flippin diddy bucket. Helluva job getting in to hoik earth out handful by handful (cant afford a double scooper long handle extractor thing).. i really didnt need this. Anyway must start early tmrw, camera on tripod to deter the creeps. thx zoot.

Oh really? Well hole is half full you see.. so a good 2-1/2 full buckets in there i reckon. Hole is exactly a bucket diameter.. a bit too big but I got an extra bag three-in total. Heavy metals leech make it brown, i think, not the grey clay.

Yup, except it wont fit. Easier said than done getting this water out. I see on clips etc it says use clean water.. I guess for a reason. So gotta go buy a small damn bucket so scuppered post in today, even getting water today out ready to do post tmrw, as n' bors will see me prepping & dog dirt likely in it overnight (hole just behind a blind spot bush theyve thrown the stuff at my car from b4). So Ive covered over hole again. Good my 20 kg bags ok tho. Thx zh

Hi there Peter. Understood, have a red thick tile or two to get height right: this needs to be spot on so gate sits level with post top. Ok after our last week deluges, my hole cover hasn't worked: my hole's half full of dirty brown water. Does this all need removing? I must get this post in today as my n'bors started up the dog faeces deposits again : the hole/ around it they'll be eying up with relish to scupper with more if my back is turned. Cannot leave till tmrw. Damn bloody water. Really didnt wanna find this in there.

Hi chaps, back on here.. paid for, but still waiting for gates (& DG window waiting for). So only have posts, & can only do 1st for now. Ok so dug me hole. Bit too wide prolly. Bought this stuff for "postcrete " what they threw in my boot/ had no idea it wasn't branded Postcrete till i got home. Is this ok? 3 bags. My 6 x6" post lower 3 ft, had 2x paints of preserver. So Im all set to seat this post in. The higher sided one, going deepest in ground. The 8 ft gate from this. Thanks zoot.

I think Im just gonna paint the lower end, standing it up in a tray easier said than done in a low cottage! Is the idea to paint the whole shebang, gates inc, before putting the hardware on? I got bartoline wood preserver I use for my "cambrian log chalet" (ok, shed then). Its all already tannalised is why I ask.. my cabin wasn't of course. thx zh

Hi Ian, good of you to mention this.. here is actually no concern re. theft, so Im better off both pointing up. Thanks though, Zoot.

Hi there Onoff, understood suck up idea, capilliary action at zoot acres! Cant believe it but we still have no rain, zero for weeks out west here.. now is it worth nabbing the opportunity to get the post in now, before rain comes say midday, without adding extra sucky gubbins?

Aha ok making even more sense, I can see the logic of the big washer replacement too Peter. I was wondering about coating it: when you say 'on the bottom' of it, do you mean the fallible base or the whole 3' its going in the ground? Appreciated, zoot.

Hi markc, i was wondering if the idea was tap the top one in.. hardly ideal, but at least it's the right way, ie if swells then i can tap the b'stard in. Ok so I've dug me 'ole. Nearly killed me, 5 hours, wiv me head in the 'ole last hour (no long handle thingy whatnot to scoop earth out). Ideally I'd set post in place & postcrete it now till 10pm.. because we got rain coming in early AM tmrw/ weathers breaking.. but Im so exhausted I can't face it tonight. Will me 'ole be ok for few days with heavy rain coming? Thx zooter tooter.

@PeterW Peter hope you're enjoying the sun ifyou got it.. baking down on my back digging a hole, me not enjoying it! Invaluable hellp as usual cheers. That all maakes sense now.. but the top hinge, so this isnt adjustable then? thanks zoot

Above photo lower hinge & bracket wrong way round then, I get it now. But still can't understand the top hinge & bracket. Could someone help with my positioning of the post side pins? How far into post they should go? Is this correct? The shaft of it will stick out the rearside of the post.. but Id have a gate sat with minimal gap which I guess is better than a big gap. Is this the idea here? thanks zoot

Im stuck before I even start! I cannot see how the top post side pin rod thing can be adjusted. It doesn't seem to tally with my chaps explanation in the place I just bought them, as he drew a continuous threaded rod here I could visualise could be adjusted (ie I visualised a similar thing to the lower hinge two sections, which can be seen clearly how they would adjust). Omg.

Hi markc, helpful thanks that makes sense. From clips, it's lump hammering in of the hardware into the posts which seems to be the most 'pressure' Im going to exert rather than the drilled holes. The hook whatnots for eg. The top one especially. I'll go & see of these adjustable hinge ' sets' are long bolts tho instead of a whack-in hook thing, if so it takes out this concern. Or if the adjustable bit is the long bolt & this just the upper hinge hardware.. this would help. Would this work: I get top post in (gotta go back to place 1st to determine how much the hinges need for a gap between post & gate.. plus factor in a cm or so swell leeway) then get a pre-drilled post 2 in, lastly drill the holes into post 1 to match level. ? You see SO much prep needed, for me. Clip online chap does a driveway gate job in 6 hrs flat. Ffs! thx zh

Actually its a full foot H difference L to R.. not 8". So, the RH post can only be set in the ground 2 ft. Maybe 2' 3" max. Is this a problem? The ground dips annoyingly at just this RH post (vertical markers here are @ 12' apart, plus 2" each side for hinges: IE these my inside post edges.. if I orientate posts like my drawing that is, which seems the way to maximise my entrance 'gap'). @joe90 yes I think Ive decided gates like my drawing, so 90* max is fine for both. Will worry about road afterthoughts. Horizontal tape marks on string give idea of how on the c*ck it will be. Zh

@joe90 or @markc does it matter which side of posts the hinges go? (Ie like my drawing, or on inner post faces maybe?). Is one way 'better' or 'correct' in my situation (that is gates only opening inwards). Or is it just down to where I want my posts to go, one way (my drawing way) of course meaning they're further apart.. but might then be clashing with hedges. I need to get a plan on this, before I start digging hole 1.. or post 2 might be incurring too much into the drive opening which I have to tightly reverse into each time you see = hitting a post is always a possibility even at 12 ft gates' width as Im going in backwards! (& I'm quite backwards in general too. And I have no rear view mirror). zh