Input Needed: Driveway Gate Design

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First post.  Hope to solicit some advice from people who have pursued similar projects; I've read a lot of old threads here and gotten some good info about gate design.We are starting to plan out our next big home project, addition of a driveway gate.  This would totally enclose our back yard, containing the dog, and increasing security.  Fences and gates in our area are predominantly the dog ear privacy fence style, as it the rest of our back yard, so we are hoping to stick with that.Our driveway is ~15' wide, at the point where the trash cans are below.  The dirt strip alongside the house is ~40" wide.  This has been converted to a path/walkway since the photos were taken.  We use our back door as the primary door, so we need to have easy access.  The plan is to erect this fence just beyond the large tree to the left of the photo.  This will give us enough room to park one (occasionally driven) car inside the fence, and leave the daily drivers outside in the driveway.I'm hoping to keep the walk gate portion 36" wide or more (same as a standard entry door).  Hopefully this will make it easy to get lawnmowers, wheelbarrows, trash cars, and double strollers through.  We'd likely make both portion of the drive gate hinged, so that in the event we need to get large things in our out of the back yard it can be done easily.  Right now I've got the two drive gate portions split unevenly.  7.5' (what they'd be if split evenly) is a bit narrow to be driving through easily.  I'm hoping to keep the drive gates able to swing both directions.  I need them to swing out at the moment, but if we ever add a garage and extend the driveway they could swing in.CAD predicts the gates will weight the following amounts when complete with pickets:Small Drive Gate: 125 poundsLarge Drive Gate: 175 poundsWalk Gate: 75 poundsPosts are 9' long, 2.5' deep in concrete.  Big ones are 4x4x.25, latch post for the walk gate is 4x2x.188.  Gate frames are 1.5x1.5x.120 wall square.  Does this look like a reasonable way to approach this?  Any and all feedback and criticism is appreciated.Rear View (backyard side)Front View (street side)Last edited by nogirlsatgt; 12-06-2013 at 10:48 AM.
Reply:Hello and welcome.Off the top of my head I want to say a 36" man gate is a bit narrow, especially for a mower or wheelbarrow. 42" is a bit better. Though with the big gates right there, it may not matter all that much. Keep in mind though a path seems much more narrow when it's up against a house or wall than it does when it's out 2 or 3 feet. The width is the same, but it doesn't feel that way.A couple things to keep in mind. Standard pressure treated wood and mild steel do not get along well. ACQ treated wood is VERY corrosive. It will eat standard steel nails and so on in 6 months. They recommend double galvanized fasteners, specialty fasteners with special coatings ( like deck screws), Stainless steel, or copper. Light steel tube will get corroded also if it's in contact with PT. You either need to make sure you separate the two, say with some sort of rubber, or make sure the steel is hot dip galvy. I'm not sure if powdercoated steel will hold up or not. If you go with PC, you probably want to determine where your fasteners are going to go and predrill, so you don't damage the PC when you install the fasteners.I'd also think hard on how you intend to fasten the pickets. Your drawing shows a top and bottom 2x, but no middle one. Also I'm not sure how you intend to attach the 2x's to the steel frame. You can avoid lots of holes in the frame if the pickets are attached to the 2x's vs the tube..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWHello and welcome.Off the top of my head I want to say a 36" man gate is a bit narrow, especially for a mower or wheelbarrow. 42" is a bit better. Though with the big gates right there, it may not matter all that much. Keep in mind though a path seems much more narrow when it's up against a house or wall than it does when it's out 2 or 3 feet. The width is the same, but it doesn't feel that way.A couple things to keep in mind. Standard pressure treated wood and mild steel do not get along well. ACQ treated wood is VERY corrosive. It will eat standard steel nails and so on in 6 months. They recommend double galvanized fasteners, specialty fasteners with special coatings ( like deck screws), Stainless steel, or copper. Light steel tube will get corroded also if it's in contact with PT. You either need to make sure you separate the two, say with some sort of rubber, or make sure the steel is hot dip galvy. I'm not sure if powdercoated steel will hold up or not. If you go with PC, you probably want to determine where your fasteners are going to go and predrill, so you don't damage the PC when you install the fasteners.I'd also think hard on how you intend to fasten the pickets. Your drawing shows a top and bottom 2x, but no middle one. Also I'm not sure how you intend to attach the 2x's to the steel frame. You can avoid lots of holes in the frame if the pickets are attached to the 2x's vs the tube.
Reply:That picture there pretty much shows you how to do it. Note the braces in the square corners for reinforcement, plus the added cross bar in the middle to attach the 2x to in the center. They also show the clips to attach the 2x to the steel framing.I can't tell from the pict, but I'd guess their frame is hot dipped galvi from what I can see..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Is it going to have an opener?  If it will, it better be top line.  I'm not sure how windy it gets right there, but when a good wind catches that gate, it's going to move like a tank.  Even controlling it by hand could be pretty dicey, unless you're fairly husky.-RuarkLincoln 3200HDHobart Stickmate LX235TWECO Fabricator 211i
Reply:I do these kinds of gates all the time.  One of the things I insist upon is setting my posts.  Most people don't have a clue when it comes to that.  In your case the posts would be at least six feet deep, preferably eight.  I have  saying about that, "you only regret digging a gate post hole too deep one time."  Screwing this part up means misery for everyone involved it seems like forever.I hate barrel hinges.  Yeah they're cheap but most people don't install them right and once again you're looking at long term issues.What I like is Heim joints aka rod end bearings.  They last forever, you can make them adjustable, and they're cheap, compared to commercial good gate hinges.  One I like to use on bigger gates is the tractor three point components you can buy at farm stores.  On walk gates and gates up to your size I buy them at a bearing supply and I use stainless, long term success.I do the 1 1/2" 11 and 14 gauge wood gate frames all the time.  I have a couple of fence contractors that will sell the frames and I install them, walk gates.  We have it down to where they can sometimes text me a photo with measurements and I can make the gate before I ever see the fence.  What is critical there isn't just the opening but the spacing of the horizontal boards.  We want the nails lined up like there isn't a gate there or if there is one it was designed by someone who cared.Another great thing about the rod end bearings is if there is a pool involved you can build a gravity hinge on site and gravity will never fail you, your feet might, but gravity never will.  Plus if you're lucky some city inspector will red tag the fence because the gate doesn't have a spring to close it.  You get to meet the inspector on site and show him the requirement is a self closing gate and then watch him try to figure out how in the heck the gate closes every time.  That's worth any irritation involved.I've been doing steel framed wood gates for almost ever.  A couple of things I've learned, don't use galvanized nails or screws around cedar, they don't like each other and you will get stains and eventually failures.  Always build in adjustments, gates are abused all the time and it is assumed you have allowed for that when you designed and built it.If you are bound and determined to install barrel hinges here's the way I do it.  Bottom hinge male is welded to the post, female to the gate, grease zert up.  Top hinge, male is welded to the gate, female is welded to the post, zert up.  This prevents anyone lifting the gate off the hinges.  I've replaced a ton of barrel hinges over the years that were installed wrong and even when they were installed right, not maintained, properly greased.If you're using 1 1/2" square tubing and finished two by fours it works out perfect.  You weld your tabs to the back of the horizontal and you allow for an 1/8th of an inch for the 2 X 4's 1 5/8" width.  If I'm using two inch square tubing I weld the tabs on top of the horizontal and use rough cut, full width two by fours, I end up again with that 1/8" separation from the pickets, good thing.If you ever use the heim joints you will never want to use anything else, guaranteed.Last edited by wroughtn_harv; 12-13-2013 at 02:28 PM.life is good