Gate latch design thats immune to frost heave?

[RickH]

Is there any kind of fence gate latch design that is immune to frost heave? Maybe something where the latch grabs a vertical rod that can move up/down every season and the latch still works? It's spring and for the 12th year in a row I have to remove and re-screw my gate latch into a new position to get it to line up again with the horizontal catch. (In this area there was a boulder that stopped us from sinking the post hole deeper than only 3 feet or so). Frost line is 48 inches here.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/9/2011 1:46 PM RickH spake thus:

Maybe try my new favorite kind of gate latch, the ring latch. That's the type where a ring, attached to the post, is hit by a horizontal bar attached to the gate that pushes it up and then lets the ring drop down behind it, holding the bar captive. It's immune to a certain amount of up-and-down movement, might solve your problem.

No links to such latches at the moment; will try to locate one. They're available at most hardware stores here (California).

[aemeijers]

Try any farm or ranch supply. Such things are quite common for stock pens and such.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/9/2011 3:34 PM aemeijers spake thus:

Thanks, didn't know that.

So maybe you can tell me: do you know if anyone makes any good-looking ring latches? The only ones I've ever seen are the typical hardware-store ones, bright zinc-plated steel. They work great but look kinda cheesy. It'd be nice to find some fancier ones, say with a black oxide or other finish, looking more wrought-iron-y.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/9/2011 3:34 PM aemeijers spake thus:

Um, not so fast. Are you referring to latches like this one?

If so, that ain't what I'm talking about. What you apparently are referring to are latches that use rings has handles.

The ones I'm talking about use a ring as the latch. Kinda hard to describe without a picture, and I'm having no luck finding them, even with Google images. I know they exist, though, as I've installed lots of them on clients' gates.

FINALLY! Found one:

See how that works? The bar pushes the ring up; then the ring drops down, holding the bar captive. (The lever is to lift the ring from the other side to open the gate.) So long as a) the bar doesn't strike the ring-holder or b) the ring isn't so high that it can't hold the bar captive, it'll allow some vertical motion and still work.

[Dean Hoffman]

There are a few ways for farm fencing that would work. One is just a short chain with a hook on it. Another is a loop of wire that one throws over the fence post. The aesthetics might not work though. How about something like this

[WW]

Paint it black with spray can of Epoxy paint. Krylon works good. ww

[mm]

My gate latch used to go up and down in relation to the strike also.

What I did wass, when my gate needed rebuilding, rebuild it so that it closed by itself, and I didn't include the latch since anyone could reach over the 42 inche gate and open it anyhow.

Later, because of the way fence gates are made, because they are 1 1/2 inches thick but the hinge is at one end of that, gravity will shut the gate most of the way, but not the last inch or two (unless it swings into the round fence post and sticks there). So I put on one of those big iron springs intended to close fence gates, set it at the lowest tension, and gate closure went from 60% of the time to 95% of the time. Just not when the wind is blowing the other way.

Of course if you really want your gate latched, this won't work

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/9/2011 6:49 PM WW spake thus:

I actually did that for one client. But they still look pretty crappy, being made of sheet metal. I'm looking for something that looks substantial, like wrought iron.

[aemeijers]

So pound the crap out of it with a ball peen hammer, then paint it..... (or use the textured 'hammertone' paint)

[LdB]

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/10/2011 8:51 AM LdB spake thus:

I nominate this for the Best, Most Appropriate Answer to the Question at Hand for this newsgroup this week. Better than my suggestion even.