Outdoor gate material

[opalko]

I have put up a 1,100 split rail fence, and am now faced with building

4 gates to go along with it. What I'm looking to build is something similar to this:

are cypress. But I don't currently have access to a good local supplier of cypress and am wondering what else I can build these out of and keep the weight down. Will P/T pine be too heavy? What are my other options? How long will untreated pine last outdoors, off the ground? The gate posts are 6x6's with a concrete collar. The dimensions are approximately 12' x 3' for the entire gate, ~6'x3' for each gate 'half'. No, I'm not going to paint or stain them.

Cheers

[GROVER]

might consider installing a pair of wheels mounted on the latch side of both. Joe G

[dpb]

[e-mail] wrote: ...

One of the cedars is the usual standin for cypress; not a bad choice probably for unfinished...of course, in the olden days redwood was a no-brainer... :)

[Swingman]

I agree about the cedar. Western red cedar in particular is much lighter than PT pine and can be purchased in 5/4 widths for a bit of extra strength. Makes good gates.

I also like the idea of gate wheels for this type of gate. I installed one last year on 10' metal gate and it makes a big difference with both sag and ease of use ... but BIG wheels are mandatory for muddy times. a good set runs about $40 at most tractor supply places.

[basilisk]

Your question was about materials and not methods, but here's my 2 cents worth anyway, when I make wood gates, I use a taller post on the hinge side and build the gate with an angle brace, sag free at any reasonable weight and lenght.

I have one on my barn that is 48" tall and 12' long, the hinge side is 8' tall, I used carriage bolts to hold it all together and after an initial sag of about quarter inch it has not moved down any more in about 2 years.

basilisk

[Chris Friesen]

themselves even without a wheel. For extra insurance you could run a thin wire rope from the top hinge-side corner down to the opposite corner.

The wheel would help reduce the stress on the gate posts though.

Chris

[SonomaProducts.com]

[dpb]

... Is redwood still at anything at all like affordable out there? It's become almost purely unobtanium here (western high plains).

--

[opalko]

Mississippi, and WRC is cost prohibitive here. Tough enough finding eastern red cedar locally, if you can believe it.

[opalko]

Picture?

[basilisk]

Picture?

I'm not at home and don't have a pic handy but here is a design that illustrates what I'm talking about.

my boyhood there were a lot of these around and were generally made of white oak, they would last a decade sturdy enough for cattle.

There's no reason you couldn't make it look anyway you wanted.

basilisk

[SonomaProducts.com]

RW is still pretty cheap out here but it can get expensive for the good stuff. Home Depot sells fence grade 1 x's by the pallet loads daily. The poor stuff is dripping wet. You can get a little better grade rough sawn for not too much more.

I also have access to a pecker mill dude who will fell and mill to order... between meth b> S> > Not sure where you are located. On the west coast it would be western

[Phisherman]

I built my garden gate out of PT pine. What is so "bad" with it is that it is usually very wet. You gotta have patience (or a kiln). I clamped my PT stock for 6 months drying time, but I got to say 9 months is better.

You can use white oak, teak, cedar. Instead of an "X" brace you can use one brace, corner to corner, to make the gate lighter and it is just as strong. Your gate posts have got to be solid and stable!

[Chasgroh]

cedar slats (that's no issue here, tho)...gonna try this design on a

6' opening I did 10 years ago...it's saggin' but because the owner didn't want me to attach to the corner of his garage I had to redhead into a 4 foot high block wall that was getting pushed out even back then...he's changed his mind and I get to build another gate!

cg

[walt stubbs]

I would probably use treated lumber for the post, but I think poplar would work for the gates. So long as is not in contact with the ground it should do fine, and would weather well. Walt

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