Afternoon all!
I'm going to put up some large gates at the end of the drive. I'll be welding frames up from steel, which will then take timber T&G panels. The gates will be around 2m high and 2m wide (each) to cover a 4m wide entrance. One of them will have a pedestrian door built into it, to allow foot traffic without open the big'uns.
So, they'll have some weight.
What sort of size posts should I be using. Instinct says 100mm square section with a 3mm or 4mm wall. That said, you wouldn't believe it, but space is of an issue here - mainly because the gates will sit at and angle to the run of the drive. The drive is actually shared, and then you peel off left at the end into our property. Given the angle of things, the passable gap with a car is going to be closer to 2m, which is exactly the width of one of my cars, wheel to wheel.
So, I want to keep the widths of things down. Firstly, I'll be putting the hinges on the outward faces of the posts (ie not on the internal faces, but the next face round by 90 degrees).
Then I considered going for a 100mm x 50mm box section, but having run some calcs, even going for solid bar
wouldn't return the same moment of inertia of a 100mm square section with 3mm wall.
So, would 100mm X 50mm be beefy enough. I know it's hard without knowing exact weights, so that might be a starting point
I would also run a beam across the top of the posts anyway, for it to bolt into, and of course when closed, the gates would be supported underneath where they naturally sit.
Wheels aren't really an option, as there is a fall as you go through the gates, as well as a fall across them - ie the bottom of the gates will not be square. Fortunately the fall through the gates is greater than the fall across them, so there will be no issues of the bottom (of one) fouling.
Finally, the gates open across grass.
ideas?
I'm going to put up some large gates at the end of the drive. I'll be welding frames up from steel, which will then take timber T&G panels. The gates will be around 2m high and 2m wide (each) to cover a 4m wide entrance. One of them will have a pedestrian door built into it, to allow foot traffic without open the big'uns.
So, they'll have some weight.
What sort of size posts should I be using. Instinct says 100mm square section with a 3mm or 4mm wall. That said, you wouldn't believe it, but space is of an issue here - mainly because the gates will sit at and angle to the run of the drive. The drive is actually shared, and then you peel off left at the end into our property. Given the angle of things, the passable gap with a car is going to be closer to 2m, which is exactly the width of one of my cars, wheel to wheel.
So, I want to keep the widths of things down. Firstly, I'll be putting the hinges on the outward faces of the posts (ie not on the internal faces, but the next face round by 90 degrees).
Then I considered going for a 100mm x 50mm box section, but having run some calcs, even going for solid bar
wouldn't return the same moment of inertia of a 100mm square section with 3mm wall.So, would 100mm X 50mm be beefy enough. I know it's hard without knowing exact weights, so that might be a starting point
I would also run a beam across the top of the posts anyway, for it to bolt into, and of course when closed, the gates would be supported underneath where they naturally sit.
Wheels aren't really an option, as there is a fall as you go through the gates, as well as a fall across them - ie the bottom of the gates will not be square. Fortunately the fall through the gates is greater than the fall across them, so there will be no issues of the bottom (of one) fouling.
Finally, the gates open across grass.
ideas?
