I've been gradually adding to my fencing this week. But every now and then a fence needs a gate and this is where things can get a bit tricky. I start off by digging a deep hole for the hanging post. For these I use sleepers for large gates or telegraph posts for smaller gates. These work brilliantly and are far cheaper than the 'proper' gate posts. They have a bit more rustic character too.
The most important thing is that the edge where the gate will be hanging is completely vertical. I don't use concrete. I just ram the soil back in, throwing in the odd brick and lump of rubble. However tired your arms, make sure you do a really good job of this. Come back to it if necessary, for when you strain the top fence wire it's amazing how it can pull that post over slightly.
I am making a point of this as I somehow didn't get the sleeper completely upright! From then on I was having to make compromises and change things to accommodate. In fact, I nearly had to take the post out and start over. Anyway, I eventually got the gate hung to my satisfaction.
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This picture shows the gates after I've put on the
metalwork for hanging them. The only tricky thing about this is making sure the holes are drilled straight, otherwise the bolts don't go through the holes on the other side! |
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| A nice, tight-fitting spring latch. |
When I fitted my first gates, I hunted high and low for a decent image of a spring latch so I could work out exactly how to fit it. Eventually, I just had to work it out for myself. I'm hoping these images will help anybody in a similar situation. My essential piece of information is to put the fixings on the gate and hang it first. Only then, right at the end, hammer in the giant staple to hold the latch. You'll have to hammer pretty hard to get the staple in, so ram the base back down again to resecure the post.
DO NOT HAMMER THE STAPLE IN TOO FAR. You'll never get it back out.
As you can guess, I was overzealous and hammered it in about 1mm too far. It took me the next half hour of prising and hammering to sort it out.
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| The finished product. I'm happy with it. |
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| Friday 22nd June 2012 Oh, nearly forgot this morning's sunrise. Easy to forget! Can you spot the hare in the picture? |
