d-i-y sliding steel double gate

[T i m]

Hi All,

I live on the end of a terrace with a garage at the bottom of the shortish garden.

I have side access to the 'garden' (back yard) via a pair of wooden gates on the ramains of some 9" square wooden posts. Fedup with seeing

9" square tannalized posts rotting off at the ground it what seems like no time and with restricted room to 'swing' double gates I thought of making / installing some sliding gates. The gates have about a 12' span (I would have to drive in at an angle)

I had the chance to look over a set at a local steel fabricators and it all looks pretty straight forward in construction.

The 'track' was (would be) a single (25') length of thick walled steel tube (about 25 mm dia) that was tack welded to some steel rectangular box section with perforated sides that get's set into the ground (concrete) with the 'track' slightly above the surrounding surface.

There were concave faced nylon wheels set under each end of the gate to keep it 'on-track'.

The 6" square steel posts are set infront of the track with rollered guides above the gate to keep the gate upright as it is opened. They also stop the gate being lifted off it's track when closed.

There was a stop on the gate to prevent it going past the second post when open and another at the closed end that allows the gate to be padlocked shut. I would probably also fit a drop bolt in the middle to help prevent the gate being bent in the middle.

The gate itself would be about 12' wide by 6' high steel box (not sure what thickness or section would be needed yet) and probably be constructed to look like two 'gates' from the outside and the 'panels' infilled on the outside by some suitable wood (floor grade T&G or thinner cladding stuff over WBP ply for strength).

I could get the steelwork galvanised but it will probably look better (and outlast me) if painted with some suitable stuff (chassis paint, Hammerite etc)

So, that's the 'rough' plan.

Anyone done similar, any thoughts or reservations etc please?

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. I though it might be a good use of my new (cheapo) SDS drill with a L O N G wood type bit to drill out the old post stub (just in drill mode)? Can you get long (1m?) wood auger / bits at a reasonable price please or should I carry on with my first plan ... Semtex?

I replaced the ramaining post about 6 years ago so I'm not sure how easy that will be to get out?

[Mary Fisher]

Not really similar but Spouse, fed up with rotting and easily broken into wooden garage doors made steel ones - on hinges though. He made a steel framework and clad them with sheet steel, can't remember the gauge. They are very strong and don't look bad. The white Hammerite is beinginning to get a bit knocked about and it could do with a new coat but it's lasted for many years. No rotting and, to date, burglar-proof.

Mary

[Alan Campbell]

Hi,

How about steel or concrete posts (no rot)?.

Still leaves you with the limited space problem you currently have but the reduced cost/work might make the sacrifice worth it.

Alan.

[T i m]

She's alive!

Where were you when I needed you on uk.food+drink.misc (they were picking on me Mary!)

Anyway, thanks for the reply darlin and the feedback.

I've done the same as 'spouse' with my workshop replacing an 8' square up_and_over door with a triple door and fanlight type assembly all in steel. The l/h door is the 'personal one' and the other two 'bi-fold' when (if) I need to open the lot up.

The gate will be a slightly different badger as it's going to be a 12' 'unsupported' span (the wheels will be at / near the ends). Also the 'hounds' are going to have to get past that to get to the workshop and between the two are the plasma cannon and ion field generator. ;-)

I think my local steel fabrication place stock all the bracketwork 'off_the_shelf' so that might save a bit of work, it's just what guage / section to do the gate bit in is my first question?

All the best ..

Yours .. ;-)

T i m

[T i m]

Well that was the though as the new sliding 'gate' would need to be more precice re it's mountings. Also I thought I'd get a couple of plain steel posts in then I could weld the bits on before I paint it all up.

Well the 'cost' shouldn't be too bad Alan as the steel is pretty cheap (bought in quantity) and I have the steel cutting bandsaw (nice for 45 deg corners), pillar drill, welding gear already. ;-)

The 'work' (as I see it) will be getting the old posts (one good, one stub) out. If I get them out neatly and leave the cement in place I would probably reuse the holes making the re-fitting quite straightforward.

I can have most of the steelwork cut ready with just the final lengths to cut nearer the day.

All the best ..

T i m

[S Viemeister]

I think that some of them may have thought you were being deliberately provocative :)

Sheila

[Mary Fisher]

Oh, I'm sorry. I got a tad bored with them. If yoyu'd said (pribvately) I'd have come back from the dead to support you. I did in another ng when I was told they were talking about me ... What were they saying?

My pleasure.

Capital 'S' if you don't mind ...

Unfortunately, because of the junk in front of the rh door (facing) ours is un-openable anyway but since the garage isn't used to contain the car that's not an issue. The carport was built to protect the car.

Unfortunately because of other stuff (like trailer, ANOTHER workbench, trailer tent, gas cooker still to be sold on e-bay when he gets round to it)) the car is only half way under the carport.

But at our age does it matter?

You mean your car won't have to go past it?

Shall I ask Him?

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Tell me more.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I just staggered down to have a look at ours. Not drunk, M'Lud, just ... er ... well, it was a very good meal (as all ours are and the traditional Hereford beef steak [Alice] deserved something rather good) reminded me that our garage doors have a steel framework. They must be fixed, somehow, to the concrete block garage ...

Shall I ask?

His memory is no better than mine but sometimes his retrieval system is more efficient ...

Mary

[S Viemeister]

It would be seriously off-topic here. And I don't know that he WAS trying to be provocative - just that it may have appeared that way to some.

Sheila

[T i m]

No, leave him be Mary ;-)

That's blokes for you .. spark plug gaps, thou's into mm's yes, birthdays .. no ;-)

The doors on my garage are bolted into a 100 x 100 x 5 mm angle iron frame and that in turn is bolted onto the pre-fabricated garage (it wasn't stable enough to dake the doors directly).

The gate is another matter. Because if the angle we have to adopt to stand a chance of getting a car into the garden they have to be quite wide. This means the gates are quite big to 'hang' from the posts and more importantly are difficult to open inwards (into the garden and onto the car we are trying to get in there or across the pavement (not very friendly / allowed?)

So I'm going to fit steel posts (no rot and good for welding things to) and a sliding gate (no space) that runs on a track (tube) at ground level and down the side of the garage.

I've got some ideas of what I'm going to do but not sure about some of the thicknesses / sections to juse to give me something durable but not over engineered?

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Hi Sheila, I hope you are well and happy?

Not 'provocative' but I did play 'devils advocate' a couple of times to try to get a theory across. Most follk were pretty easy going about the whole thing, genuinely answering questions and offering suggestions.

No malice intended etc.

All the best ..

T i m

[Mary Fisher]

There are some touchy folk on all ngs ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I can do spark plug gaps and thous into mms but not birthdays ... except my own of course :-)

That was it - angle iron!

Let us know ...

Mary

[Pete C]

Not suprising really, tanalizing is usually a surface treatment.

cheers, Pete.

[Mary Fisher]

Eggs is eggs, if they're from genuinely happy, free range and organically fed hens. Doesn't matter what the age is, who wnts hard boild eanyway?

There are a lot of myths about eggs.

We have two, one, a bantam, lays (at the moment) every day. That's enough for us. why don't you d.i.y. and have a couple of banties? Then you'll really know about eggs.

Mary in inner city Leeds

[T i m]

Hi Pete,

I might of got that wrong then? I thought they said they stick the posts in a big chamber, suck out all (or a lot of) the air, spray in fluid then thet the air back in (drawing the fluids with it?). I think that's what they said and it was some years ago now ..?

I did also soak them in creosote for a week before planting them?

Anyway, I think I'd prefer steel for this job as it's more 'mechanical' ..

All the best ..

T i m

[nightjar]

...

It sounds not dissimilar to a gate I have, except that the track is an inverted T section, with twin wheels running each side of the central web and the span is a bit less - around 3m.

IIRC (I won't be able to check for about a month), the gate section is about

100-125mm by about 50mm. The infil panels are steel, folded slightly along the diagonals (making extremely shallow pyramids), presumably to keep them from drumming. My gate closes to a steel post that has a U-shaped piece to engage with the top of the gate when shut. As it is electrically operated, using a worm drive, there is no need for a lock.

Colin Bignell

[Pete C]

You're right, they do, though how far it goes into the wood depends on a few things. The biggie might be that wood is usually treated 'wet', ie straight after being sawn from the log, making it harder for it to go far into the wood.

This is fine for stuff above ground like decking, but for below ground somthing a bit better is needed.

Again, if the wood is wet then it would tend to stop the creosote soaking in, especially as creosote is oil based. Creosote can be a very good wood preserver, otherwise telephone poles would fall over quite often :)

For really large timber it may be best to get kiln dried wood and have it treated to order or treat it yourself.

True, should last forever.

cheers, Pete.

[T i m]

Hi Colin,

Understood. I was thining about different types of 'track' and initially questioned the round one, but it sort of makes sense. I would think it might not attract stones like your inverted 'T' but might not be quite as 'positive' as yours?

Pretty close though?

Ok, that confirms my first thoughts about that .. cheers ..

The infil panels are steel, folded slightly along

I've seen that on garage doors.

My gate closes to a steel post that has a U-shaped piece to

Is the 'U' round the end or over the top (or a bit of both) Colin. Would there be any way someone could get the gate off it's track by lifting it up (like with patio doors)?

As it is electrically operated,

Very smart ;-) The one I saw was the same with a 'beam' across the back that stopped the gate if something was in the gap.

I'm not sure my gate will be opened that often so I don't mind a manual job ;-)

All the best ..

T i m