Timber sliding gate joinery advice

[helvellyn950m]

Hi there,

I'm fairly hands-on and I'm building myself a sliding driveway gate out of timber this winter. My granddad was a joiner and he's taught me a few things, but I'm no expert so wanted to run my plan by the more experienced guys in this group.

My rough plan:

• A 6m wide sliding gate
• Motor, electrics, track, etc. already in place
• Timber frame with feather edge boards to the front, to match the surrounding fence panels

I was going to build the frame from recycled plastic lumber for longer life, but it's pricey! (£400 vs £70 delivered)

The aim is something more functional than beautiful. You see the pro's build some really beautiful gates, but then I love the simplicity of this French one. They don't have to be so complicated I guess!

A few questions if I may:

1) Timber-wise, I was going to go for vac treated CLS timber for the frame rather than the "fencing grade timber" my local merchant has in stock. I'm hoping CLS will be a little straighter over a 6m length. I'm planning to give it some coats of Sikkens in the spring once it's dried out. Is this a good plan?

2) For Joints, I was going to use a pocket hole jig and keep it simple rather than trying to learn how to make more complicated joints. Will they be sufficient, with PU glue too?

3) My plan for the frame looks like this:

Sliding-gate-design-v1.1

• helvellyn950m
• 28 Nov 2020

Not as simple as the French gate, but not overly complex either. It'll be 4"x2" all round, but 6"x2" for the bottom edge that takes the wheels.

At the end of the day I suppose the job of the frame is just to hold the feather edge boards in place! Being supported by wheels means it's less likely to sag than a swing gate I guess, although I'm tempted to run a length of 50mm galvanized steel angle under the bottom edge, as I have one spare.

Is there anything I should improve here?

 

[Tigercubrider]

Personally, I would use a metal frame, it may well be a lot lighter than a wooden one.
If your drawing is acurate it looks like the frame is designed to fold in half. Either stagger the mid way joins or add a third piece over the join.
There are quite a few safety concerns about electric gate so that you don't cut someone in half.

 

[johnny2007]

I built one years ago but without the electric motor.
Simply i built the frame out of 4x2 and fitted a metal strip under the frame.
The welded wheel casing were the kind that wheels could be replaced quite easily.
The runner was already there, encased in concrete.
I finished it off with 6x1 to the front and an inch gap between them.
Worked a treat.
As mentioned by Tigercubrider, there are lots of safety concerns about electric gates of that size.
Maybe a manual one would not keep you awake at night and keep you fit.

 

[helvellyn950m]

Personally, I would use a metal frame, it may well be a lot lighter than a wooden one.

Agreed it would be preferable, but I couldn't make one (I can't weld) and the local gate man quoted a few grand to supply the frame alone!

If your drawing is acurate it looks like the frame is designed to fold in half. Either stagger the mid way joins or add a third piece over the join.

Sorry, I've updated the drawing so it's accurate. There's no join

There are quite a few safety concerns about electric gate so that you don't cut someone in half.

Agreed. The motor kit comes with safety detection edges and laser breaks are necessary. There's some good info here: https://gateauto.uk/blog/automatic-gate-safety-regulations/

 

[helvellyn950m]

As mentioned by Tigercubrider, there are lots of safety concerns about electric gates of that size.
Maybe a manual one would not keep you awake at night and keep you fit.

Thanks Johnny...you're also getting me thinking now!

 

[ETAF]

i have to do a similar thing and
I wondered what wheels / runners you have chosen to take the weight of the timber,
Mine will be enclosed so cannot see through

 

[helvellyn950m]

i have to do a similar thing and
I wondered what wheels / runners you have chosen to take the weight of the timber,
Mine will be enclosed so cannot see through

It was one of these

https://www.theelectricgateshop.co.uk/Sliding-Gate-Hardware-Kits

Seems a well thought out kit, happy with the quality. It's all Italian: http://www.combiarialdo.it/en/home.php

 

[charliegolf]

There are quite a few safety concerns about electric gate so that you don't cut someone in half.

Someone I know personally was fined north of £100,000 for causing the death of a small child in one of these.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gate-crush-death-firms-fined-3680943

Just be careful. Not about the money, poor kid. The guy I reference was never quite the same. I know this is a business, but the liability will still be yours.

To be positive... My sectional garage door has a crush sensor which works perfectly well, so the gear is available. I recommend the ones with a 3-4" wide rubber gasket (would be on the vertical with yours obvs). The sensor kicks in and reverses 300mm before a limb would be crushed, mainly due to the rubber.

CG

 

[Tigercubrider]

When I worked in theatre, the stages and fore stages would go up and down on motorised screwjacks.
Being under one when it moved was unnerving even though you knew it wouldn't come down enough to crush you. It had a touch of Indiana Jones about it.

The edges had a system that looked like a "push bar to open" rail and if that hit anything the stage would stop and need a mechanical reset.

 

[helvellyn950m]

Thanks guys, I'll probably stay away from electric. Not least because doing it safely looks quite expensive! I'm surprised the motors don't have a resistance sensor in though.

Any thoughts about the joinery?

 

[Tigercubrider]

my worry would be getting decent wood that won't warp.
Use a proper timber merchant.