Howdy all -
I'm making and installing a gate and am hoping to get some advice.
The gate is made of 2"x4" galvanized steel beams, 3/16" thick. I guess it probably weighs somewhere around 175 lbs.
I got some 7" weld-on barrel hinges to mount it to the post.
For the posts, I was thinking of using galvanized pipe, 9' long, 3.5" OD, 1/3" thick, with 6' sunk in a concrete-filled 2' diameter augered hole. And I was thinking of using a 1" tie rod to attach the top of the weight-bearing post to a 5' piece of 3" angle-iron hammered all the way into the ground about 6' away.
So my questions are these:
- Do these hinges and posts seem adequate, or do you foresee problems?
- I'd like to add an automatic gate-opener in the future. Should I do anything different to accomodate that?
- Would I be ill-advised to pre-weld the hinges to the post, then simply make sure the post is set plumb and drop the gate on the hinges? If so, what's a better approach?
- Lastly, I need to make the locking mechanism as secure as reasonably possible because the gate prevents access to secluded property, and was wondering if anyone has a lock design that they could share. I was thinking along the lines of a hasp shielded by a pipe that's just big enough for a hand, but too small for bolt-cutters. Or a puck lock and hasp like this:
https://encrypted.google.com/search?...iw=&bih=&gbv=1
Any other ideas?
Thanks for your thoughts -
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