How high off the ground do you all hang gates?

[Hippie Rancher]

Mr. Fence...is there a standard or standards?

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Do you have goats?

I hang mine at 6 inches.

 

[GoWyo]

They're never high enough after a blizzard blows snowdrifts into the gate gaps.

 

[wbvs58]

This is a good question, 6" sounds good but depends on the slope of the land. I'll be interested to hear what Fence says.

Ken

 

[SBMF 2015]

8 - 12" depending on what I'm trying to keep in. If the gate is going somewhere that will be bedded like a calving barn, what ever you hang it at it will be instantly shortened.

 

[Son of Butch]

Whatever height you choose, a step block for the free end of the gate to
rest on helps prevent sagging.
Or I also like a small wheel for support in any position and ease of use.

 

[farmerjan]

It also depends on which direction it swings to... if not a swing through, both ways gate. The slope of the land makes a big difference as stated. We hang then to be 4" to no more than 6 inches off the ground. Sheep and goats will try to get their heads under... and if you have pigs then 4 inches is about all you want.
We have one that about hits the ground when shut, but it swings out and is over 2 ft high because of the slope of the ground. Also hanging straight across or on an "angle" if the gate is in the fenceline that heads up or down a hill. I like the wheels for the 16 ft gates if the ground is fairly level... it does help for not putting the strain on the hinge side.

Have 2 places where the gate rests on a block when it is shut. Most all our gates only open one way because they were put in prior to us.... the ones we put in at places we now own, are usually swing through in both directions... except if there is going to be alot of pressure on them for some reason... but I like the ones that will swing in either direction. You can only be so fussy if you don't own the place.
Do other states have the "catch" that if gates are hung on hinges that they belong to the farm... even if you as a renter put them there when you come? Here we have a couple places that the gates are chained on the "hinge side" because we cannot hang them or they become part of the rented place... and they are just too DA@#ED costly, to leave behind. PITA but when we have a couple hundred in the heavy bull type gates, they are not going to be left behind.... and we usually make do until the gates are so rotten that they fall apart in your hand when you open them... and then we just put them against the fence and put in a gate that we DON'T hang on the hinges.... and take it with us when we leave.... unless we can talk the owners into buying a new gate... even if they buy a "cheaper economy gate"..... to at least have a gate that swings.

 

[greybeard]

4-6" worked well for me but I never had to deal with snow.
I hate wheeled gates but also hate 'pick-up-and-carry' gates. If you gotta drag it or roll it, you didn't built the gateway right or used a cheap ass gate.

 

[M.Magis]

LOL
Some of you forget not all land is as flat as you're used to. Around here you're more likely to find a gate a foot high at the hinge and dragging the ground on the other end than you are to find one hanging level.

 

[shaz]

14 inches or however tall my beer cooler is.

 

[callmefence]

LOL
Some of you forget not all land is as flat as you're used to. Around here you're more likely to find a gate a foot high at the hinge and dragging the ground on the other end than you are to find one hanging level.

That doesn't make sense. If you didn't hang it level why didn't you go ahead and match the slope?

 

[callmefence]

4-8" for cattle and 2" for sheep/goat pets predator etc. Always hinges on the downhill side and swing downhill. the slope. Certain applications call for the gate to be built to match the slope.
String tied on ground at high side pulled tight and level to low side post.measure distance from string to ground. Build your gate that amount out of square and it'll fit like a part of the fence. Has to be hinges on downhill side.

 

[M.Magis]

That doesn't make sense. If you didn't hang it level why didn't you go ahead and match the slope?

If the slope is wide enough for the gate we do. I know it doesn't make sense without seeing the terrain here, but its not uncommon for gates to need to be placed in some very uneven places. Even in the flat ones, once we drive through it during the winter mud season, the mud takes a new shape.

 

[callmefence]

If the slope is wide enough for the gate we do. I know it doesn't make sense without seeing the terrain here, but its not uncommon for gates to need to be placed in some very uneven places. Even in the flat ones, once we drive through it during the winter mud season, the mud takes a new shape.

When you say a foot high at one end and dragging at the other I'm thinking the gates hung level and the ground isn't.
We have slope here. It is called the hill country. You either make the slope fit the gate or the gate fit the slope.

 

[M.Magis]

I'll try to remember to take a pic some day I'm out by one of them. Its not the norm, its usually at a corner where the fence changes directions. Its also made worse because the ground sometimes changes and rises. A gate that swings with a few inches to spare can drag within a year sometimes. Its a PITA.

 

[wbvs58]

4-8" for cattle and 2" for sheep/goat pets predator etc. Always hinges on the downhill side and swing downhill. the slope. Certain applications call for the gate to be built to match the slope.
String tied on ground at high side pulled tight and level to low side post.measure distance from string to ground. Build your gate that amount out of square and it'll fit like a part of the fence. Has to be hinges on downhill side.

How and what do you build the gates out of Fence?

Ken

 

[coachg]

4-6 inches works for us . I have gates that swing open and a couple that swing shut . Didn't plan them that way but I like the ones that swing back shut .

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

10" or so off the ground is what I shoot for. Some are more some are less. That gives room for a little bit of snow to build up and still be able to open them.

But the gates I use all winter for feeding come off the hinges in the fall and get chained or wired on the posts. This allows the gate to rise with the snow. It also allows you to quickly remove the gate when you get 4 foot of snow overnight and you dont feel like digging the entire arc of a swinging gate out.

 

[Silver]

My bottom barbed wire is over a foot above ground, wouldn't make sense to hang a gate lower that that.

 

[Lucky]

4-8" for cattle and 2" for sheep/goat pets predator etc. Always hinges on the downhill side and swing downhill. the slope. Certain applications call for the gate to be built to match the slope.
String tied on ground at high side pulled tight and level to low side post.measure distance from string to ground. Build your gate that amount out of square and it'll fit like a part of the fence. Has to be hinges on downhill side.

Are you saying to hang the gate so it only opens one way? Sometimes I hang a one way but most times I want it to swing both ways.