Driveway Gate

[monte55]

I have done a fair amount of deck railing, pickets, etc. I have a customer that wants a single 10.5 foot swinging gate about 5 ft high. I have never made a gate of this size. First.........is there a common rule as far as vertical
picket spacing? Also what is suggested for horizontal main rails to prevent sagging. I have no idea what it will weigh yet..........any ideas on the main ground post size and thickness and how deep. I'm thinking 4" sq x 1/4 " wall and at least 3 feet deep in concrete so it will not bend and sag. It will be ornamental somewhat but I dont know how much yet. I know this seems vague but is there a rule of thumb? I really don't want to put in diagonal
bracing because of appearance. All ideas welcome. If I have to use a diagonal brace, it has to blend in............Nick...............Thanks

[dabar39]

Monte, I don't know about your local zoning, but here in my neck of the woods you need 4" spacing on all pickets, whether it be fence, railings. gates etc... so that young children and small animals can not become wedged in the fencing. It also has to be a minimum 4" from the ground as well. As far as the gate itself, you don't mention your preference of materials so it's kinda difficult to make further suggestions, give us a little more info on the style and design. Dave

[KBar]

Monte, have you tried Kings Architectural Metal. They have railing pieces and many ornamental pieces you can put between your vertical supports, without worrying about adding diagonal supports.

What Dabar said about the spacing between the rails, I think that is a standard ruling in industry and building codes. They use it a lot for railings with a maximum of 8 inches so a child cannot fall through but with a gate Im sure the 8 inch rule doesnt apply. I would still use the 4 inch rule or check with the local codes office.

http://www.kingmetals.com/

[welder_one]

monte, i just fab'd and hung a gate like what you are talking about maybe four months ago. what i did is made the gate out of 1 inch square tube 11ga. wall. for the main post, i used 3x3 square tube at 1/4 inch thick. i set it three feet deep in a 2x2 hole, and concreted it in. the 3x3 is only 40 inches tall. oh, i almost forgot, i welded 12 inch by 12 inch plate to the bottom 1/2 inch thick. i then sank a 2x2 11ga. wall square tube into it and concreted it in to the 3x3. i made the 2x2 as tall as the gate and made a couple of beads on the opposite side of the gate on the tubing to make it draw a little against the weight. you can grind these welds smooth after installation. i hung the gate high bubble towards the end and welded the hinges. i did the same 3x3 concreted tubing at the open and closed position of the gate and welded a small ledge for the gate to "sit on" open or closed to keep from sag. here are some pics. the gate is 7 ft tall at the peak and 12 ft 6 inches long. the center bars are 4 inches apart. the gate wighed in at a little under 600 pounds. he bought materials and after materials i charged 750 dollars for it, installed. hope this helps.

[AC MOTORSPORTS]

How You Doing

I Work For A Shop That Is In San Diego And We Do Stairs, Hand Rail ,gates ,and Some Structrul Steel I Have Been With Them For 20yr

We Have Put Up A Lot Of Gates And Some Role And Others Swing

There Are Codes For Gates And If The Gate Is At A Fall Point "like At The Top Of A Stair " It Need To Be 3 Foot 6 Inchs And There Can Not Be Any Opening Over 4 Inchs "

Now If The Gate Is At The Drive Way And There Is No Fall Hazard And You Do Not Have A Pool In Your Front Yard The Gate Can Be What Ever You Whant There Is No Codes On That

But If You Have A Pool The Gate Has To Be 5 Feet Tall And No Opening Grater Than 4 Inchs And Code Say All The Way Aruond The Pool With Gard Rail 5 Feet Tall

Now On The Gate You Put A Good Set Of Hinges That Hold Twice The Weight Of The Gate

And Then The Post You Hang The Gate On Should Be At Lest 1/4 Inch Wall Or 3/8 Wall "THE POST SHOULD BE TWICE THE SIZE OF THE GATE FRAME "And 3 Feet In The Ground That Will Hold A Half Ton Of Iron

The Other Post That The Gate Will Close On Should Be The Same If You Us Smaller On The Closing Post It Mite Bend From All The Slaming Of A Hevay Gate

If You Do All That You Can Put A Big Or Small Gate And It Will Not Sag Down

We Did Some Gates At Petco Park And If You Have Ever Seen Pic From There You Will See That Some Of Them Are 30 Feet Long And 10 Feet Tall And The Weight Of Them Is 2.5 Tons Each And There Is A Lot Of Them Aruond The Park "we Set Them With A Crane "

Gooo Luck On Your Gate

[monte55]

That's kind of what I was thinking but I've never made and hung a long gate so I was guessing. These are my thoughts. Make the basic frame from 1 x 2" and possibly 1/8 -3/16" wall. Below the top piece approx 6" will be a 3rd horz
piece. I plan to put circles in that space all the way across. Then maybe
3/4 sq tubing for verticals. I realize I'll probably have to reinforce where the hinges are mounted to the gate or it may rip out. I'm thinking of using the
farm gate type hinge with the threaded rod for adjustment. Also, do I plumb the post or lean it slightly away from the gate. I'll probably use 4" sq x 1/4 wall for posts at least on the hinge side . I only want to do it once. I'm not sure of the design yet and neither is the woman who wants the gate. She e mailed me a pos drawing that looks
like a first grader did it.
Any input you have on my material sizes etc will be appreciated. Oh yeah, she also thought this gate could be hung on her old wood post. Yeah,sure.
Thanks for the reply and info.
Nick

[cat]

here's my one and only (so far) driveway gate-it is 12 feet wide and 7 feet tall. i made it for an glass artist for her california home on mulholland drive. she has a bird and collects giraffe's (?) hence those design elements. i did not install; her contractor did it and those are HIS crappy welds.
the first pic is the gate laying on my driveway and the second is installed. cat

[dabar39]

cat, did we forget to attach pics? either that or they are so small I can't see them, could you maybe get a telephoto lens for your camera? Dave

[cat]

actually they were too large and weren't accepted so i am trying to reduce. let's see if it worked. cat

[Bert]

WOW!! That gate is TOO cool!!!!!!
thanks for the pics
bert