Sloped drive/ gates job.

[zoothorn]

@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

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by zoothorn

[joe90]

I also think getting gates before placing 2nd post is best, crack on with first post. If you want the gates to only open 90’ then hinges on the inside is ok, if you want them to open more than that then on the inside would be better. You will need something to stop them opening outwards into the road.

[zoothorn]

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

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by zoothorn

[markc]

2ft for the small gate is plenty. And the slope across your entrance isn’t that big a deal.

Get the top post in first (because that’s the one that can’t be adjusted due to ground level).  Set gate in place and fit hinges, adjust to level and make sure it swings nicely.

offer up other gate, and secure with packers under and braces etc. Offer up other post and dig hole to suit. Fit post to gate and concrete in.

 

[zoothorn]

1 hour ago, markc said:

2ft for the small gate is plenty. And the slope across your entrance isn’t that big a deal.

Get the top post in first (because that’s the one that can’t be adjusted due to ground level).  Set gate in place and fit hinges, adjust to level and make sure it swings nicely.

offer up other gate, and secure with packers under and braces etc. Offer up other post and dig hole to suit. Fit post to gate and concrete in.

 

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

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by zoothorn

[zoothorn]

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.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by zoothorn

[zoothorn]

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

 

 

 

 

[markc]

1 hour ago, zoothorn said:

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

 

 

 

 

The peg does not go all the way into the post, idea is you knock it in as far as you need to level the gate. You need to dril a hole of the right size or you will never get the huge nail to go in … or it will split the post.

any reason you didn’t go for screw on gate pegs?

[PeterW]

Peg goes in the bottom. Drill a 50mm deep hole with a 25mm auger bit, then reduce to a 19mm bit for another 50mm

 

Square the pin up so the pin is parallel to the post and knock it in until it starts to tighten up. If it goes off square then just realign it and start again, or if you’re handy with a chisel you can cut the first 25mm or so with a chisel to keep it straight. I’d want 60-70mm between the gate pin and the post. 
 

Then the top pin is similar but you bore the hole all the way through. Washer is too small - I would get a big galvanised plate washer for the back - and then it’s a case of knock it through and put the washers and the nut on. Ideally it needs to be tight in the hole so you adjust with a hammer both ways ..!!

 

You also need to make sure you bolt through the top rail of the gate with the strap and get it tight - this takes all the gate weight in tension so has to be done well. The bottom threaded eye also needs flat plate washers on it too. 

[zoothorn]

@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

[markc]

Just seen the pic, both of those hinges are adjustable via the threaded rod through the gate. We peasants are expected to adjust the gate by knocking the peg in further or (trying) to pull it out a bit…. This is when a cheapskate has welded big nuts onto a steel gate to act and loops on the hinges.

[zoothorn]

4 hours ago, markc said:

Just seen the pic, both of those hinges are adjustable via the threaded rod through the gate. We peasants are expected to adjust the gate by knocking the peg in further or (trying) to pull it out a bit…. This is when a cheapskate has welded big nuts onto a steel gate to act and loops on the hinges.

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]

4 hours ago, zoothorn said:

@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

top hinge is the peg with the threaded end that goes all the way through. It’s in tension so the nut and washer stops it pulling through the post. 
 

bottom hinge is the spike peg that goes in as far as you can then you use the threaded bottom hinge to adjust it in and out from the post. Most have a set of square plates that grip the bottom of the gate as in this pic 

 

 

Hole in the ground will be fine while it’s wet - use the time to get a couple of coats of preservative on the bottom of the post if you can. 

[zoothorn]

2 hours ago, PeterW said:

top hinge is the peg with the threaded end that goes all the way through. It’s in tension so the nut and washer stops it pulling through the post. 
 

bottom hinge is the spike peg that goes in as far as you can then you use the threaded bottom hinge to adjust it in and out from the post. Most have a set of square plates that grip the bottom of the gate as in this pic 

 

 

Hole in the ground will be fine while it’s wet - use the time to get a couple of coats of preservative on the bottom of the post if you can. 

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.

Edited August 4, 2021 by zoothorn

[PeterW]

The whole lot that goes into the ground. Give it plenty of treatment 

[Onoff]

I'd leave the post in a container of whatever wood treatment you're using until it's ready to go in the ground. The post will suck up the treatment a fair way. 

 

You can buy Postsaver sleeves though not sure what size they go up to. Never used them myself. For example:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protectors-Postsaver-Protector-Repair-Sleeves/dp/B0957FPPB1/ref=asc_df_B0957FPPB1/?

[zoothorn]

2 hours ago, Onoff said:

I'd leave the post in a container of whatever wood treatment you're using until it's ready to go in the ground. The post will suck up the treatment a fair way. 

 

You can buy Postsaver sleeves though not sure what size they go up to. Never used them myself. For example:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protectors-Postsaver-Protector-Repair-Sleeves/dp/B0957FPPB1/ref=asc_df_B0957FPPB1/?

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?

Edited August 5, 2021 by zoothorn

[IanR]

For this type of hinge, I always turn the lower hinge 180° so that it opposes the upper hinge. New gates don't last long if they can be easily lifted out.

 

It means assembling the gate on to the hinges - you'd have to bolt the top band on to the gate, with the gate already in position and the lower eye bolt assembled on to the hinge pivot.

 

There are anti-lift brackets you can use, but this saves purchasing anything else. If you swap the nuts on the top band to ant-theft nuts, it makes it even more secure.

[PeterW]

@IanR I do the opposite as find it’s easier to drop the gate onto the bottom pin and then pull it back with the bolt at the top but agree - unless you weld pins on they do walk !!

[zoothorn]

2 hours ago, IanR said:

For this type of hinge, I always turn the lower hinge 180° so that it opposes the upper hinge. New gates don't last long if they can be easily lifted out.

 

It means assembling the gate on to the hinges - you'd have to bolt the top band on to the gate, with the gate already in position and the lower eye bolt assembled on to the hinge pivot.

 

There are anti-lift brackets you can use, but this saves purchasing anything else. If you swap the nuts on the top band to ant-theft nuts, it makes it even more secure.

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.

[zoothorn]

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

[zoothorn]

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.

[PeterW]

Yep that stuff is fine. Try and get a solid brick or two under the bottom of the post to give it something to bear on. 

[zoothorn]

5 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Yep that stuff is fine. Try and get a solid brick or two under the bottom of the post to give it something to bear on. 

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.

[PeterW]

Drop a bucket in and clear some out but don’t worry too much. Tiles in the bottom, post in, then bags of postcrete. They will soak up the rest.