project my brother wants

[yammahoppy]

hey guys, my brother wants me to make him some gates for his ranch. he wants them out of 2"x2" 11ga tubing. the gates are to keep cows penned where he wants them. i am a little concerned about getting good penetration with my welder. i am currently using .030 wire and 75/25 mix gas. if i switch to flux core wire will it give me better penetration or should i just crank up the welder and do it w/ gas?

what concerns me is the fact that some of the gates will be 12' wide and i dont want the hinge side to bust loose.

any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

JASON

[Arc Burn]

Assuming your working inside,the gas and .030 wire will be fine.I almost always run my wire feeds alittle hot and fast,even on 1/8.You should not have a problem,12' of nice level floor or workspace on the other hand

[yammahoppy]

i kinda feel obgligated to make em for him. he is gonna buy the material and he is basically giving me a 30'x60' shop to use for my little metal work business.


JASON

[Arc Burn]

Boy if i were you i'd get off the computer and go build them gates

[UncleDannie]

Heck, for a 30' X 60' shop, free gratis, I would take the metal to a fabrication shop and pay to have it done and swear I did it myself!!!! Seriously, your set up is pretty much perfect for what you want done. If you have the clear floor space, even better.

[ChadRat]

Don't forget to add some scrolls to it and take some pics! I am about to start on a small fence for the boss.

[Hobart Expert Rock]

YAMMAHOPPY.........I AGREE A FIEW PIECES OF CUSTOME GATE WORK MIGHT BE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS SOMETIME.... AND BY ALL MEANS TAKE SOME PHOTO'S AND POST THEM HERE....... NOW A 30 X 60 WORK SHOP IS A REAL NICE START......... YOU MIGHT INCLUDE SOME PICTURES OF THAT ALSO AND WE WILL SEE IF ANYONE HAS IDEAS TO HELP SET IT UP FOR YOU..... THIS COULD HELP MAXAMIZE THE AREA FOR MATERIAL (PROJECT) FLOW IN AND OUT OF THE BUILDING........... YOUR CALL.......... HAVE SOME FUN NOW...............ROCK...............
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[Snidley]

yammahoppy..

One of your concerns is having the hinge side to bust loose, so you have a few options to play with.

- One of the issues would be weight. How much tubing/ bars do you want to put on. With a heavier frame you can go to a smaller dia. in between.

- You can really beef (no pun intended) up the hinge side, and if you really really need to you can add a wheel unit at the other end. It's only 12 feet so it shouldn't be that bad.

For some ideas, check out some of the corral fence/gate suppliers.

[bjdenommee]

We did some gates last year that were about the same lenght, I used light weight 2" steel sec 20 they use it for fire sprinklers.

The pipe is the same outside dem as sec 40, so we used 2 1/2" slide over the hinge end and welded to the 3" post.

Worked pretty good, sure was strong enough. I also added the overhead spring return from a garage door to assist in pulling the gate back into position.

Good Luck
Bernie

[Guest]

I built some indestructible hinges for a gate for our church. You use a sch 40 pipe about 4" long...2 required, that slip over the hinge post which in mounted in the ground..then you can attach your gate to the two short pieces and that is your hinge.my gate was 2" 14ga square tubing, but you can mount anything on it. It's bomb proof! I think the pipe I used was 3.5" or 4"...can't remember.

[Arbo]

Regardless of what hinge you decide to go with, here is a solution that a lot of locals use in my area. The cable helps to take alot of stress off of the hinges. Good luck.

[TXBuster]

Brace the gate properly and use adjustable hinges or throughbolts and everything will work out. Some things you might want to consider are

1) 12' 2x2 11 ga. gates are going to be heavy. A Lifetime brand or similar gate of the same size weighs a lot less and still seem to sag because the post leans a little over time. If the new gates are attached to existing gate posts that are already leaning the sag will increase.

2) ranch gates tend to be left partially open which pulls the gate post away from plumb in the direction the gate is opened.

3) cows are basically on the "honor system" as far as staying inside a fence or gate. If they REALLY want to go through or over they will.

suggestion- make gate, install new gate post and two additional posts 4-6 feet apart in fenceline(3" sch 40 pipe, concreted in). Tie posts together laterally with same material as gate and in a way to match or accent gate. Hang and level gate with whatever hinges you choose. Someone also suggested the use of a cable to help support the weight of the gate which will also help. Nothing though, really substitutes for the addition of the extra support posts Have fun- I'll trade a few gates for a shop any day!!

[bjdenommee]

Arbo
What was that gate thing? I looked at your pic and boom
What system was that on, nice job.

Bernie

[Arbo]

Bernie,

All it is, is an extra tall post that the hinge side mounts on. The cable and turnbuckle help to take alot of stress off of the hinges. The turnbuckle alows for some adjustment if the cable stretches over time. I see alot of these that are at the end of hunting camp lanes in the mountains around here.