June 19, 20206 yr Hi all, just planning ahead for August / Sept - I'd like to get around to erecting some gates on what hopefully will be our new access. We are thinking of 6ft wooden gates within a metal frame, sort of like: We would like to use metal posts - with no brick surround. These black metal posts will match some railings that we will also put down. The gates will be between 5ft and 6 ft high and 6ft wide each. How big a post do we need? Does anyone have experience of this? 6" x 6" post? 8" x 8"? 5mm thick metal? Do we fill the post with something to help strenghten them? How far in the ground do they need to be? (6'6" out of the ground - 3' in it?) Would it benefit from a square foot welded to the bottom? Any advice gratefully received. CC
June 19, 20206 yr I would use 100mm square box minimum, 4 or 5 mm wall, galvanised and concreted in at in least 1m. A 6' gate is not that big a load but you might prefer the aesthetic of 150 or 200 box. A foot on the box is optional , you could plonk it on a pad stone.
June 19, 20206 yr One idea: go to your local agricultural merchant and have a look at their metal gateposts. It may not be an intuitive answer, but they should have posts designed for gates that are up to 12ft wide and up to 7 bar, and so will be very robust. When I have these they have usually been approx 8 ft 6 in long, and I have used them around 1/3 in the ground. They seem to come in 3"-5" diameters. You may wish to put some type of cosmetic larger post round it. Ferdinand
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