Questions on weight-closed fencegate

[Dan]

I'm having trouble doing some research on a weight-operated gate closing system. It's either because I don't know the right keywords or there just isn't much stuff out there.

I just put up a short section of cedar fence, about 44 inches high, with a gate, so the dogs won't run into the neighbor's yard every time something moves. The gate is about 39 inches and I want to try using a weight on a cable to close it instead of a spring. Just to be different, I guess, but if it works it wouldn't slam the gate shut like a spring would. I saw something like it on Norm's show some time back. Does anyone know of any gates that use a weight on a chain or cable to pull it shut? I'm still going to give it a try but maybe I can save myself a little experimentation.

Thanks, Dan

[Robert Bonomi]

Absent anything else, a weight-driven closer _will_ slam the gate, just like a spring-loaded one.

Design is simple/trivial. Hang a bracket of some sort on the 'back' side (the side _away_ from the direction the gate opens towards), of the hinge- side support post that the gate is hung on, that extends out a few inches. Put a pulley on it. Tie the cable to the gate, 1/3 or so of the distance from the hinge to the latch side. Run it through the pulley, and hang a weight on the other end. Make sure the weight is off the ground, when the gate is fully closed.

[Leon]

IIRC the Norm version involved a separate post set out from the gate. A rope runs from the gate to the post through a pulley and tied to a brick. The brick travels up and down the side of the post as the gate is opened and closed. You do have to contend with the post and the rope that runs out from the gate and fence a couple of feet.

[Dick on the James]

Dan, I have a non-pulley version of a weight-closed gate. My gate is very 'Williamsburgy', about 48" high and 36" wide, made of 5/4 boards and with heavy iron strap hinges. The closer is an iron 'cannonball' about 3-1/2" diameter, hung by an attached eye to a chain. The chain is affixed to the gate 36" above grade, about 24" from the hinge side of the gate and the other end to a 4x4 post 16" high sunk vertically in the ground. Note that the post is offset to the opposite side of the hingepost from the gate and about 20" away from the fence. IMO a chain would be more flexible than a cable and have more visual appeal if you wish not to use a pulley. My gate closes either slowly with no sound or with a small thump depending on its state of lubrication. It can open easily a little past 90* to the fence line. There is no latch, only a stop block on the strike post. Plan View:

hingepost O//////////////gate////////////////O strikepost [------16"-----][-----------24"----------+

1 + 1 + 20" + 1 ** weight about 1/3 along the chain from the post 1 + O chainpost

Have a look here for a chain and ball closer

here for a picture luck, Dick

[Ernie Jurick]

Dick has your answer I think. Consider adding a loosely-set pneumatic screen door closer as a shock absorber to prevent slamming.

-- Ernie

[Bill Wallace]

I can propose a "different" solution, not a spring or weight, that works pretty slick. We call it a ramp hinge. It involves making your own hinges out of pipe sections. If the barrels of the hinges are cut in a bias where they meet, the gate rises slightly as it opens and rides back down to level, which closes it when released.

If this is hard to envision, just imagime when you cut the pipe to make the two hinge barrels you cut it on your miter saw at say 20 degrees.

Just an idea. I've used it on large metal gates for years without a hitch.

[Dan]

On Wed 23 Jul 2003 09:00:03a, [e-mail] (Dick on the James) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks loads, Dick, that was the sort of thing I was looking for. I think I'll go with a slightly modified version of that.

Bill, I liked your idea a lot too and a friend of mine has a larger gate project coming up. I'll mention it to him. I'm going with the chain and weight because... well, just because I like the gizmo, I guess. Sometimes I'm not sure why I do things.

JOAT, thanks for the keywords. I kept using the word "weight" in all the things I tried and never used the word "closer". I don't know why I understand some things other people tell me are complicated, and other times can't see something simple right in front of me.

Rising Butt Hinges, eh? Learn something new every day. We've got a front door could use a set of those. :-)

Of course, now I have a brand new complication. Got home today and the cedar 4x4 that will hold the gate has started to split right down the middle. I swear it wasn't there yesterday. If I put the single-strap hinges on it that I was planning to, all the weight will be on the wrong side of the split and it looks to me like it'll crack right in two. I'll either have to take that section apart, pull the post and replace it or add more wood to the other side and try it with double-strap hinges. Those are the the only two options I can think of. If it ain't one thing....

Thanks a lot everybody. I learned stuff!

Dan

[John Grossbohlin]

Dan,

Check out

this fails for some reason go to the Colonial Williamsburg Web Site then "Shop", "For the Garden" and look for the "Gate Ball And Chain."

In use one end attaches to a post set about even with the hinge post and a foot and a half or so away from the hinge post, the other end attaches to the gate about two thirds of the way from the hinges to the latch. The ball should just about touch the ground when the gate is closed. With a light gate beware that a deeply set sturdy post (nominal 6x6 wouldn't be unreasonable) is warranted... the shock of the gate closing would quickly loosen an undersize and/or poorly set post. With a heavy gate it would close slower... less shock.

I went in and out of these types of gates every work day and they are not a problem to deal with--except perhaps if you want it to stay open and don't have another person to hold it for you!

John

[Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT]

Thu, Jul 24, 2003, 2:19am (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Dan) says: JOAT, thanks for the keywords. I kept using the word "weight" in all the things I tried

No prob.

Use google? Found this using "gate weight".

put off until tomorrow something which, tomorrow, you could put off until, let's say, next year.

- Lady Myria LeJean.

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 23 Jul 2003. Some tunes I like.

[Silvan]

That's pretty clever. I have no idea how I might make use of that idea, but I'm filing it away.

[Dan]

On Wed 23 Jul 2003 10:37:19p, [e-mail] (Jack-of-all-trades

- JOAT) wrote in news:17722-3F1F546F-132@storefull-

2131.public.lawson.webtv.net:

Uh, yes.

weight-operated gate closing weight gate closing fence gate weight There are other too-long combinations that I can't remember right now but if you'd like, I can hunt them down in my browser history list. If I had shortened my word list it is now obvious that I would have gotten what I needed. I apologize for that. I can't explain why my brain just wasn't working.

Dan

[Gnube]

I'm sure I am missing something here, but then again; isn't this just rising butts?

Like these?

?id=19256&ts=59071(Cut and paste into a text proggy if it wraps on you, or go to screwfix.com and type "rising butt" into the search box there.)

I bet I missed something here, being a dumb gnube!

Hope it helps.

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

[Bill Wallace]

Yes, rising butts, although I never knew they wer comercially produced and the sizes I apply are much larger "butt" that is exactly like what we build.

I'll leave all the obvious puns about "rising butts" to your imagination.

?id=19256&ts=59071>

[Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT]

Thu, Jul 24, 2003, 12:12pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Dan) says: Try these: weight-operated gate closing weight gate closing fence gate weight There are other too-long combinations that I can't remember right now but if you'd like, I can hunt them down in my browser history list. If I had shortened my word list it is now obvious that I would have gotten what I needed.

My search phrases use quotes. Usually long phrasees. If no good results, drop a word. Repeat. Still no good, switch words around. Repeat. No good, try new words. No prob.

JOAT Always put off until tomorrow something which, tomorrow, you could put off until, let's say, next year.

- Lady Myria LeJean.

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 23 Jul 2003. Some tunes I like.