First, I replaced the corral gate to the yard. Last year I had bought a real heavy duty gate - a bull gate - and decided to use it in the corral rather than in a pasture fence. Also, the corral/yard gate had a wheel as the gate would drag on the ground after you opened the gate. The wheel helped support the gate, but wasn't perfect as the wheel would sometimes get caught, especially in the snow or mud.
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| Old and new gates |
Since this new gate is very heavy I selected a heavy solid railroad tie and then poured 340 lbs of concrete around it to hold it in place. The post is solid.
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| Daisy inspecting and helping. |
The new gate opens on the right side and not the left like before. Because the horses had pushed the old post to make it lean when scratching on it last year I needed to replace the post. With a square railroad tie the most the gate will open is straight out to the side. Due to the position of the gate to the barn I was concerned the room between the open gate and the barn would limit a person when driving in and out of the corral if I had the gate open on the left and move to the right.
You may also notice I replaced the tall white pole with another railroad tie. The hole for the new well is not yet filled in and it was relatively easy to take out the pole now before the hole is filled in. I didn't need a tall pole for a fence post. I don't know why the previous owner placed a pole here.
The new gate has a spring lever to lock the gate. I drilled a hole in the post for the bolt to go into to hold the gate closed. This also helps to keep the gate from sagging. Metal 16 ft long gates have a tendency to do that.
This new gate is not perfect. At the very most open position the gate brushes the ground because of gate sag and the ground is higher at that spot. I haven't figured out a solution yet.
The second gate to be swapped was the gate that leads out to the north pasture. I replaced this gate with the one I had taken out of the corral/yard fence.
Another reason to replace this gate is that it also drug on the ground when mostly open. I had installed the gates lower than I install them now. But also the cause of the lean is that I drilled the two bolt holes in the center of the railroad tie. However the railroad tie is warped and not straight. That caused the gate to lean down the more it was open. Below you can see where the new bolt hole is located. Another reason to swap gates is with the old red gate I can't re-position the height of the hinges. With the 'new' green gate I can adjust the hinge height. I felt more comfortable with the new hole up in addition to being left of the old hole.
I had to drill into the post a little bit for the top bolt. That is because the railroad not only is bent a little to the side, it is also bent slightly towards the gate as you can see in the second photo below. I can adjust how far out the bolt protrudes from the post. Because of the position of the railroad at the other end of the gate I didn't have much room to extend the bottom bolt. It was easier to draw in the top bolt to make up for the sag and keep the gate more level.
The 'new' gate. It also has a sliding bolt that goes into the railroad tie to help prevent sag and provide a secure closure.
A feature I add to the gates hung near railroad ties is to nail a 'hanger' to support the gate when open, and to prevent the gate from swinging.
How the 'hanger' works. This photo was taken just after I finished installing the green gate. I work till dark.
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