How to Hinge a Wooden Gate ?

Hi,

I want to replace a wooden gate in my yard, in a 3 row split rail fence. I am providing pics of the gate and the hinges. I believe the name of the hinge type is something and pintle.

I will also need to replace the rotted post next to the hinged side of the gate.

I thought I would be able to just lift the gate off the hinges, but not so. After lots of Liquid Wrench and "3 in 1" oil on the hinges, I was able to move the gate up about an inch ( separated the hinges about an inch), but it seems to be stuck there.

I want to reuse these hinges in my new gate, if possible.

My main question is ......... how accurate do I have to be in installing these pintle type hinges into the new post and gate ? Is there a method to make sure everything lines up properly? Would Home Depot or Lowes be able to drill holes into the post and gate for me that are exactly parallel ?

Am I correct in assuming a pintle hinge is supposed to come apart into

2 pieces?

gate :

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one hinge :
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Thanks

Reply to
utilitarian
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re: "I believe the name of the hinge type is something and pintle."

I believe the something is "screw eye", as in Pintle and Screw Eye Hinge.

re: "Am I correct in assuming a pintle hinge is supposed to come apart into 2 pieces?

Yes, unless someone has enlarged (peened?) the top of the pintle to prevent the removal of the gate.

re: "Would Home Depot or Lowes be able to drill holes into the post and gate for me that are exactly parallel?"

Perhaps *a person* in one of those stores could, but I doubt that they will - at least not without a "installation contract" of some type and a charge. The only thing I have ever seen them do for free is cut wood.

re: "Is there a method to make sure everything lines up properly?"

It would seem to me that with a few accurate measurements and proper drilling techniques it should be fairly easy to mount this type of hinge. A fairly simple jig that could be clamped around the posts could help ensure that you drill a straight hole.

re: "how accurate do I have to be in installing these pintle type hinges"

How well do you want the gate to work?

Basically, the three things to be concerned with are:

1 - You want the pintle and eye bolt to be centered in the fence post and gate post (Is it called a stile when it's part of a gate?)

2 - You want the pintle and eye bolt to both be level.

3 - You want the gate raised up high enough to clear any obstructions on the ground. That means that 10" from the ground to bottom pindle on the fence post might mean only 7" to the bottom pindle on the gate.

Oh yeah, I guess another thing to ensure is that each eye hook sits firmly on it's respective pintle. If only sits on the pintle, then that pintle will be bearing the full weight of the gate and the other hinge will just sort of be guiding it.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

The word you are looking for is lunette (lunette & pintle---used in the trailer hitching business)

Joe G

Reply to
GROVER

ard, in a 3 row

I'm not so sure that "lunette" is the right word when a "hinge" is involved.

I only say that because when I try to search for "lunette and pintle hinge" I only get hits for trailer hitches. Even when I try to be more precise and tell Google not to include the word hitch (lunette and pintle hinge -hitch) I still only get hits related to trailers.

However, when I search for "eye and pintle hinge" I get hits for modern versions of the OP's hinge.

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I'm having a tough time finding the exact hinge that the OP has.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

More probably the terms are pintle and gudgeon, the traditional way of fastening a rudder to a boat so it can hinge freely in both directions, see

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To replace a gate hinge, if no specialist carpentry store is nearby, a boatyard may supply your needs better than an auto or trailer dealer.

Reply to
Don Phillipson

yard, in a 3 row

I stand corrected, the lunette does seem to be a word from another trade.

JoeG

Reply to
GROVER

I'm gonna stick with my suggestion of *Screw Eye* and Pintle.

As far as I can tell, the only part that I can find that matches the OP's picture is a screw eye, which as we all know, is like a lag bolt with circular opening on one end.

None of the "gudgeons" I've found on the web have "lag bolt" section, but this Screw Eye and Pintle Hinge does:

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

utilitarian wrote: ...

You're not using a big enough hammer, then...just drive 'em off although would probably help to get a lever under the gatepost and have somebody help take the weight off while you're doing it.

If, as somebody suggested the tops have been enlarged (I'd guess it's not really very likely, but possible) put it back down in place and use a piece of coarse plumbers' emery cloth 60/80 at finest or a file and clean them up a little.

What could possibly keep you from doing so other than simply throwing up yours hands???

Close enough to put the gate back on them...

Yeah, measure where you want them to go and put 'em there--this ain't rocket science here, it's drilling two holes a fixed distance apart at the right height...

--

Reply to
dpb

They should come apart unless they have warped over the years. I know for a fact that the post part can be purchased cheaper than screwing around with an old one.

The female gate part, the ones I have installed as little as a year ago are made like half of a strap hinge. This style requires less fancy measuring than what you have.

The post needs to be in place before the post part is installed. Hinging the gate is a field operation.

Colbyt

Reply to
Colbyt

How about Adjustable Screw Hook and Eye Hinge for the proper name like it matters.

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$13.07 (includes shipping) a pair and I am pretty sure we paid less locally.

Colbyt

Reply to
Colbyt

Hey, thanks for all the quick replies. "Screw Eye and Pintle" is what I was thinking of, if it matters. That;s the first name I ran across, anyway.

The idea of using an emery cloth to clean up the "male" part of the hinge seems good. I went back out and looked at it, and there is a buildup of some sort on it ( oxidation over the years?) which might come off with some emery cloth or maybe a file, and let it come apart more easily.

I was using a car jack under the lower hinge to lift it.

I'm concerned about the accuracy needed in the drilling since it seems like the hinges could easily bind as the gate turns, if everything isn't lined up exactly "right".

What's the rule for hole diameter when drilling a hole that will receive a screw? The screw is just over a half inch in diameter. Drill a 3/8 inch hole for it?

After I get the old gate and post out, I suppose I will put the new post in, then drill the 2 holes in the post as levelly as possible, by eye, then drill 2 more holes as levelly as possible, by eye, into the gate stile, screw in the hinge parts, and hope it doesn't bind after hanging the gate. :) Sound about right ? Is this how a contractor would do it ?

Thanks

Reply to
utilitarian

We have those sort of hinges around our farm. I had a small gate, about three feet wide, made of metal channels so it was fairly light weight. One of the rams discovered that if he put his head underneath and lifted, it came off the pins and he could get out to graze around the neighborhood. Followed by the whole flock, of course. I turned the top pin down so that he couldn't just lift the gate off the pins. I know that puts most of the weight on the bottom pin, but it's better to induce more wear on a pin that try to get the sheep out of the neighbor's begonias.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

re: "What's the rule for hole diameter when drilling a hole that will receive a screw?"

Reply to
DerbyDad03

re: "What's the rule for hole diameter when drilling a hole that will receive a screw?"

Not sure what I hit, but my earlier post went out before it was completed.

Anyway, a real quick and dirty way to determine what size bit to use for any given screw/bolt (for wood use only!) is to use your eyeball.

Pick a bit that is *just* smaller than the solid shaft of the bolt/ screw.

As long as you remove enough material to prevent splitting of the wood or breaking of the fastener while leaving enough wood for the threads to bite into, you're good to go.

When it comes to tapping metal or installing fasteners into concrete, etc. you need to be a little more careful.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

If I were doing it I would use this hinge set which is what we used on my son's gate.

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We drilled the bottom hole in the post so that the gate would be 2" off the ground. Set the gate on that hinge pin with support under it. Then leveled it and figured out where the top hole in the post should be. Added that pin, placed the gate strap over that, marked and drilled the hole to attach the strap.

Yes that sounds harder than measuring, it is also harder to screw up.

Pardon the pun, I like a tight hole. I would drill the holes about 1/8" less than the diameter of the smaller portion of the screw. A little candle wax applied to the threads will ease the insertion.

BTW, before you spend a lot of time getting these old ones out, most likely you will find that a good bit of the thread has rusted away. It isn't worth the effort to save and reuse them unless your money is really tight.

Colbyt

Reply to
Colbyt

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