warrington":19t62y89 said:
when you say tube steel, do you mean regular pipe. What size pipe do you use. Isnt that going to be heavy. When you use the sucker rod, how do you make the hinges
LOL this is your thread so I won't be hi-jacking when I respond to your question
Pipe is measured by inside diameter (I.D.) until it gets up to 14 inches. The problem is there are many schedules of pipe now that change the inside diameter. The outside diameter is always the same because of threads or because of socket weld fitting size.
Tube (round and square) is measured by outside diameter (O.D.). Most everyone who refers to tube is talking square structural tube. Since refrigeration tube (round) is measured by O.D. too. Plumbing (water tube) goes into the I.D. mode and it confuses everyone who is not familiar with ASME standards.
You can get structural tube in various gauge thicknesses and it is not all that heavy. 14 gauge 1 1/2 inch square tube is sufficient for gates if it is properly gusseted. It is not heavy as you would think. The ends, top and bottom rails should be tube steel. You can place uprights within the frame made out of old scrap bed frame angle iron or even old 3/4 inch galvanized pipe etc.
Wire cattle panel is 52 inches tall. You should make your gate about an inch taller so that you can face it with the panel having a half inch above and below. Once you stitch weld that cattle panel to the gate about every foot or so, the gate will stay square and hold its position. IF you do not stiff back the gate, the heat on the one side you weld the panel to will bow the gate when the metal cools. For a 20 foot gate you'll get about an inch bow. I don't care on my own gates but some folks do. You can pre-stress it with about a 4 or 6 inch bow using C-clamps before you weld the panel on and it comes out about perfect.
I don't use wood posts but I hang gates occasionally for folks that do. When I build the hinges for wood posts, I generally weld 3/4 round stock to 3/4 all thread rod in a 90 degree angle. They can bore a hole through the wood posts and bolt the all thread with a through bolt concept. It is best to put nuts on both sides of the posts with washers so that the gate can be adjusted tight as the wood shrinks. For steel posts I just weld 90 degree round stock to the posts. You can use all thread the same way you do on wood if you'd like. When I use 4 inch square tube brace posts, I weld a 4 inch peice of pipe inside the post for a sleeve before I pour concrete in it. That keeps you from compressing the tube steel in the center when you tighten the gate hinge.
For the gate receivers I cut two pieces of pipe about 6 inches long. If the rod is 3/4, I use 3/4 pipe. If you can weld a 1/2 inch thick piece of flat bar on edge to the pipe and then to the gate, it lets the pipe set off of the gate a little.
I hardly ever use new wire cattle panel for gates. I use the damaged ones and straighten them out as I weld them to the face of the gate. If you go to the farm and ranch store, but the damaged panels for about half price if you are buying them for gates or fencing. They are easy to bend if you clamp them at the points you are going to weld.
The only gates I have ever had damaged is ones placed on roads that cars ran in to. I have built a few hundred. Some were for people who bought store bought gates that cattle crashed through. Some have been sleeved with pipe onto pipe posts for hinges. I don't use that on mine but it is stronger at the hinge point. They can never be adjustable tho if kids start swinging on your 20 foot gate and pull the posts. It takes a few kids to pull the post but 20 foot is a lot of leverage on the end of a gate.
I like 2 inch tube steel for my own gates. I hardly ever build a gate like this longer than 20 foot. My inset gates are 20 foot long and semi's can turn in and out with no problem. For through gates without a turn entry, 16 foot is way more than plenty.
