greybeard
Well-known member
I've been tasked with setting a pre-made cattle guard my sister bought somewhere. I've driven over lots of them, but never set one. This one is to be placed in the main drive so they don't have to open a gate in the middle of the 1/2 mile long drive--sis is in her early 70s, her husband is over 75 and has alziemers. Her leaser was supposed to install this for her but never has, so she has asked me to do it. It won't get a lot of heavy traffic, just regular pickups and cars except for the occassional power company bucket truck, or one of her kids' travel trailers.
I've driven over lots of them, never paid much attention how they were set.
The guard seems heavy enough, but is built just on a single rectangular frame of 6"x 2"x 1/4" channel with 2" heavywall pipe welded on top of that frame. Cross bracing under the pipe is the same channel the outer frame is made from. That 6" depth will fill with dirt and sand quickly, so I know I need to do something about that. There is no pre-existing ditch or drain where this one will go, and I know I have to have something besides a dirt step for it to rest on, and I ain't sure which way to go with it.
I prefer NOT to pour a cement foundation wall.
1. How deep, does the cavity under the cattlegaurd realistically need to be?
2. Should I just weld on another set of 6" channels to give the thing some more depth? Weld some legs on with flat feet on the legs?
3. My options for something to rest the thing on are:
a. Cross tie frame work.
b. A rectangle wall of solid 9"x9"X13" concrete blocks. (I already have a big pile of those.)
c. Dig post holes along the outer perimeter of the cavity and set some 8" posts in cement.
It looks something like this:
The soil type is red clay and iron ore, with about 6" of sand on top. It's had 40 years of traffic on it. It doesn't have to "last a lifetime" just has to last the rest of their lives.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!
I've driven over lots of them, never paid much attention how they were set.
The guard seems heavy enough, but is built just on a single rectangular frame of 6"x 2"x 1/4" channel with 2" heavywall pipe welded on top of that frame. Cross bracing under the pipe is the same channel the outer frame is made from. That 6" depth will fill with dirt and sand quickly, so I know I need to do something about that. There is no pre-existing ditch or drain where this one will go, and I know I have to have something besides a dirt step for it to rest on, and I ain't sure which way to go with it.
I prefer NOT to pour a cement foundation wall.
1. How deep, does the cavity under the cattlegaurd realistically need to be?
2. Should I just weld on another set of 6" channels to give the thing some more depth? Weld some legs on with flat feet on the legs?
3. My options for something to rest the thing on are:
a. Cross tie frame work.
b. A rectangle wall of solid 9"x9"X13" concrete blocks. (I already have a big pile of those.)
c. Dig post holes along the outer perimeter of the cavity and set some 8" posts in cement.
It looks something like this:
The soil type is red clay and iron ore, with about 6" of sand on top. It's had 40 years of traffic on it. It doesn't have to "last a lifetime" just has to last the rest of their lives.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!