Gate build

[Badger110]

A customer has asked me to fit some automated gates to her property,so i have taken it upon myself to make these gates.

 

The opening is 3038mm and i will be making 2 of 1465mm(w) x 1400mm (H) gates with composite planks as the infill.

 

I have made a mock up drawing on Shapr3D using 40mm (3mm thick ) box section as the outer frame, a simple square shape with mitred ends to the 4 pieces and i intended to weld these together, this is great for making sure everything is going to fit!

 

However after searching for a suitable hinge which won't cause me to have to add more metalwork to the gate, i went for these https://www.locinox.com/en-gb/gate-hardware/hinges/adjustable-90-hinge-with-bearing-bearing hinge?returnurl=%2fen-gb%2fgate-hardware%2fhinges%2f 

 

 The 2 mitre points top and bottom next to the 100mm supporting post ( 5mm thick wall ) will have to be straight welds as these hinges have a plate which is welded onto the ends of that particular part of the gate as in this diagram here;

 

 

I've researched and come up with a figure of 70kg as the maximum weight combined of the steel  and the composite boards for the infill (40mm box section @3mm, 20mm flat plate @3mm and 20mm angle @3mm to hold the composite boards in place,

 

I was confident that 40mm is sufficient to keep the entire gate square once made up and hung, but given that the hinge requires me to do a straight weld at that hinge end, should i be looking at placing some flat plate over the welds at this point to add some strength, especially at the top where the weld is, as it's under constant ' pull ' ?

 

A diagonal brace would be the simplest idea to brace the entire gate, but this will make fitting ( and possibly removing ) the composite boards rather difficult so i want to do away with adding anymore braces than would be essential.

 

Thoughts on using 40mm box section over this span?

 

Should i be looking at adding a vertical brace or 2 to stiffen the gate?  If i did this i would need to up the gate to 50mm box section so i can get a vertical brace ' behind ' the composite plank ( 25mm spare ) 

 

I guess it's a confidence thing as it's my first time doing this type of work, but exciting none the less

 

I will get some pictures once i begin the work

[smallfry]

I would go for a diagonal brace flush to the back. Doesnt have to be box section, just a flat 3mm x 40 or 50. Then the infill planks can be screwed to that also, adding strength.

Either that or some decent fillets on the corners.

In fact I would NOT use a box section along the bottom edge, because this will create a ledge which will attract and hold water against the bottom of the planks, causing rot after a while

[daveturnbull]

@ianmayco68 makes steel gates for a living, I seem to recall. He'll probably know.

I made one recently, repurposing an old 40mm box section frame that was about the right size, and screwing some battens on for the infill. I went for a single gate to give maximum access width (fence on one side) so fitted a sturdy wheel to take the weight at the latch side.

[ianmayco68]

Sadly not anymore , I've moved on to another job but I'll gladly help anyway I can , the first question would be how are you automating it ? We would normally use this type of hinge , hook and eye  here's a link https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/groups/13SWHHE__Hooks_Eyes . With these you have adjustment to get your gaps looking good when closed and to help get the automation working rite and the hinge pins can be welded on . 

We wouldn't diagonal brace a gate that small , if your sitting the boards inside the frame then a 20mm piece of flat stich welded to the  frame top and bottom to screw the boards too and possibly a horizontal brace across the middle to stop the boards bending , are you fitting a lock of some sort to the leaves ?

cheers Ian

[Badger110]

On 1/14/2022 at 4:57 PM, ianmayco68 said:

Sadly not anymore , I've moved on to another job but I'll gladly help anyway I can , the first question would be how are you automating it ? We would normally use this type of hinge , hook and eye  here's a link https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/groups/13SWHHE__Hooks_Eyes . With these you have adjustment to get your gaps looking good when closed and to help get the automation working rite and the hinge pins can be welded on . 

We wouldn't diagonal brace a gate that small , if your sitting the boards inside the frame then a 20mm piece of flat stich welded to the  frame top and bottom to screw the boards too and possibly a horizontal brace across the middle to stop the boards bending , are you fitting a lock of some sort to the leaves ?

cheers Ian

 

Automation is above ground arms fixed to the posts and mounted to the bottom rails of the gates.

 

The simple idea of a hook and eye works ( as with @daveturnbull gate ) but they would interfere with the composite panel closet to them, so instead i went for the top and bottom hinge as linked above.

 

I'm using a 20mm flat plate to keep the boards within the frame and 16mm angle screwed into the frame behind the boards to hold it all in...i can space these off the bottom box section to reduce chances of rot within the composite board.  

 

If i put a horizontal bar across the middle, again i'll be making it difficult to fit/remove the boards, so i'll go for 2 verticals instead.

 

The composite boards are 20mm and only 1500mm long which gives me no concern for them warping or flexing.

 

I welded the lugs on today for the gate hinges 

 

after a few attempts i got the weld presentable!

 

 

 

 

I have to weld up the top and bottom and get them dropped off at the powder coating place on tuesday as they're due to be dropped in the ground on saturday.

 

 

 

[cookie64]

ive been duilding some side gates too, similar design, 50x50 box outer square then 50x30 box diagonals, im planning on fittings 20mm boards insdie the frame. i went for these hinges, https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/products/0515S181__Superhinge_M20_Tested_Low_friction_Suitable_for_gates_up_to_150Kgs

[Badger110]

One thing i found with FHbrundle is their price's are pretty good.

The hinges i picked were £36 EACH on another site...£20+VAT for a pair on FHbrundle's site...bargain

[Ed Poore]

May be too late to the party but I wouldn't worry about any bracing - I made up these gates end of last year, each leaf is 10ft wide and I can jump about on the end without bending it.

I think it was 50x50 thick wall box (can't remember exact thickness off the top of my head) for the outer rectangle. Some 50x5 flat top and bottom flush to the front to provide something for the boards to sit against and then there was also a 50x25 RHS across the middle flush to the back which meant I could actually bend the boards (8ft if I remember correctly) and slot them in, they're not actually bolted in at all.

The frame in situ for test fitting, I used standard gate hardware from the local farm supplies and will eventually get around to fitting a set of hydraulic rams when I overhaul them.

The only other bit I did was to weld up an 'H' frame that has the cross-brace buried in the ground (concreted in) - this not only ties the two posts together but provides a conduit for running cables from one side of the gate to the other. I think that was 150x150x5mm box. The horizontal long bit is the bit that gets buried underground.

[Badger110]

After building them, they were overkill and 40mm box section would've been more than adequate.  The bracing does serve to keep the middle board in check and thus continuing to give the rest a little more bracing too.

 

Finished result;

 

[Anderzander]

Wow - they look posh ! 

[elbekko]

Very nice!

[hurbie]

that's looking very good !