How to Hang Farm Gates
Hanging a fence gate requires planning. If a gate is not properly installed it may cause the entire section of your fence to weaken. Understanding the forces at play for a hanging gate helps in developing an appropriate size and strength gate. A properly hung gate adds to the security and safety to your property, as well as ensures that it swings correctly and will not sag over time.
Materials
- Gate
- Gate Posts
- Braces
- Brace Posts
- Drill
- Drill Bit
- Concrete (quick-set)
- Hinge Bolts
Procedure
- Put up strong hinge posts and ensure that they are well sunk in the ground. Here you should take the local climate conditions into consideration, as cold climates require that you dig deeper postholes so as to avoid damage by frost.
- Ensure that the gateposts are set at correct distances for the gate and that the hinges are correct since the hinges that come with gates sag over time.
- Align the gate with the hinge post by use of the vertical center line of the post. Here make sure you mark the location of the bottom most hinge and incase the ground is not level ensure that the far end of the gate is high enough to allow free swinging of the gate. Ensure that there are no other obstructions to prevent the gate from swinging freely in all directions once it has been installed.
- Drill a hole for the bottom most hinge and mark the position of the next hinge and drill it. Accuracy is needed in doing this, as this ensures that the drill hole made is not misplaced. If this is not the case, then the drilled place weakens the posts more, and may cause further weakening with time.
- Install the lower hinge bolt and ensure it’s well tightened and then you can put up the upper hinge bolt.
- Set the gate at the bottom hinge and align the tip hinge bolt with the hinge and ensure that the gate swings freely.