The longer gate length meant I had to alter the corral fence.
In addition to replacing the fence boards on each side of the gate I replaced the old post (which was rotten and fell over once I removed the boards from the post) with a newer heavier post, a post that should be able to hold a heavy 16' gate.
Even though the post already had lag bolts to hold the gate, they were in the wrong locations and I had to move them for my newer gate.
I didn't widen just only one side of the gate. Due to the barn and the tool shed locations it was better to widen a little on each side. The south (left) side board length was 9' instead of the typical 8' so I made the new length 8'. The board lengths on the north (right) are 6 and 1/2 ft each for some reason. In the future I plan to replace these boards with poles. Once that is done the entire fence on the east side of the corral will be poles and not boards.
Here is a photo of the newer gate. Here I am in the process of changing the 9' fence section to be a 8' fence section of poles.
Here it is done. The gate is not completely closed in the photo. That is why the gate doesn't look to be aligned correctly.
Since I rebuilt the fence on the left side of the gate, I also rebuilt the fence around the water trough and leading to the gate that goes to the barn. The top post is part of a tree branch I had rescued from the creek across the road. The beavers had used it when making one of their dams. The branch is surprisingly solid, and since I didn't have any other poles this length I used the branch even if it isn't completely straight. I think the bend adds character, and it helps that the old post on the left is slightly higher than the old post on the right.
In the past I found the cattle will put their head through the pole fence to reach the grass in the yard. One time they broke a pole. Since then I put wire fencing over the poles to prevent the cattle from getting their head through the poles, as you can see in the rebuilt fence on the left side in the preceding photo.
This newer gate is easier to open than the old gate. I had no problem with the old gate as I knew how to handle the gate handle. This newer gate is heavier than the old gate, and while I have the gate balanced pretty good on the post, the far end of the gate does hang down a little due to its length and weight, and with the uneven ground one does have to lift the gate over a few high areas. Once the ground around the post settles and hardens I'll know better how the gate swing open wide. Right now the gate's weight makes the post lean over when the gate is open wide.
Another nice feature of the pole fence is that it doesn't have to be painted - unlike the old corral fence. I have enough fence for Tammy to paint to keep her busy for a long time.
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