Soft closer for metal garden gate

[Nick]

Fairly large 19C wrought iron garden gate. 5ft wide x 4ft high 50 Kgs (ish). For various reasons this gate needs to be closed other than when in use and it is used frequently. Unfortunately, folk will leave it open and a closing spring was fitted. This resulted in the gate slamming and repeatedly wrecking the 5x5in closing post Closing post now needs replacing again.

Any ideas for a soft closing mechanism that might do the job? I have had a quick google but find nowt suitable so far.

Thanks,

Nick.

[JimK]

correct adjustment of closing device? rising butt hinges?

JimK

[Andrew Gabriel]

Heavy duty door closer with damper? Might need more than one.

The other option would be to make the closing post absorb the energy without damage - e.g. allow it to displace on a strong spring. Damping the gate is probably safer from the point of view of trapped fingers, etc.

[Chris J Dixon]

Are any of these any good?

[Andy Dingley]

I once had an original Victorian soft closer of Cunning Design. It was a falling weight that provided the power to close the gate (via a tarred rope that smelt like Denso tape). As the weight hit the bottom and the gate was almost closed, the spike end of this cylindrical weight entered a conical cast iron cup, full of water. It finally bottomed out with the gate still an inch or two open, the hinges being tilted (in the usual Victorian fashion) to finally close the gate gently against its stop. As the cup had a big lip around it, rainwater was enough to keep it adequately filled.

[Jules Richardson]

*sigh*

I read the original post and thought "how about a weight falling into a liquid-filled receptacle used as a damper". Once again, all the good ideas have already been thought of ;-)

I've seen plenty of gates that are closed via hanging weights - but that's the first I've heard of a genuine damping mechanism toward the extent of the weight's travel. It could be done (and obviously has been!), although I wonder how maintenance-free it is/was (lots of potential for the mechanism to rust, fill with debris, break etc.)?

cheers

Jules

[Andy Dingley]

Needed to have the autumn leaves kept out of it, but otherwise it was a hundred years old and still going (probably a fair few ropes in that time). The only thing looking tired was the pulley, which I replaced and re-axled.

[jkn]

A variation is to use, for instance, two weights, W1 and W2, separated by a length of the cord. When both weights are in the air, the closing force is according to (W1 + W2). When the gate has part-closed, so that lower weight (W2, say) has hit the ground, the closing force is then only according to (W1), giving a 'softer landing'.

By extension, you end up with a series of weights, on a chain, or even a heavy chain itself.

I think this scheme, with a heavy rope, was originally used by hot-air balloonists to help ensure a safe landing. Of course, tailoring this to the desired closing force/decelleration characteristics required might be a pain...

HTH Jon N

[Rod]

We have two timber gates - one home made at the back, a bought one at the front. (Mind the effort of cutting it down to the size we wanted almost qualifies it as DIY.)

They don't self-close but one problem we had in common with self-closers was getting the latch to close. People would usually close the gate, but somehow the latch just missed out on, well, latching.

So I drilled a hole in the post behind the and popped in a couple of rare earth magnets. They provide just enough pull to ensure the latch does. But not enough to stop it falling down as it should.

I was chuffed that it worked as well as it did. And if the Victorians beat me to it, at least they couldn't have done it with the neat little magnets I had available. Worked well enough on the front for me to do the same on the back gate.