Starting out a job right will always pay off in the long run. At Gator Power Gates we recently installed a new 4x4 wood gate post to hold up a 16 foot wire mesh style farm gate so that it will stay level and plum. In this application the post will have to stand and support a gate on its own.
We always begin with preparation in the shop before we get to the field. We secured a 2 inch, ¼ inch thick angle iron to serve as a back bone to the gate post which provides great reinforcement to the treated 4 x 4 wood post.
We used an 8 foot gate post with 6 feet of angle iron and securing the iron with ½ inch nuts, bolts and washers. Prior to mounting angle iron; we washed the angle iron in V.M. & P. Naphtha, then 2 coats of gray primer.
We dug a whole about 45 inches (3.75 feet) deep so that we could submerge the gate poll in the ground about halfway.
Before placing the gate post in the ground, you should always place a rock of some sort at the bottom to allow for water drainage. If we didn’t place a rock on the bottom of post the concrete would create a “bowl” effect and hold water in around the post.
It’s also important to fill concrete up a little higher than ground level to allow water to drain off the top away from the post preventing water from pooling around the post.
Using a half inch bolt assembly we mounted the gate using horseshoe hinges. The Horseshoe hinges should be mounted on a 45° angle. By doing this your gate will remain level through-out its turn.
To prevent the horseshoe hinge from sliding you should place a ¼ inch bolt through the center.
As you can see the gate post is built to last, level and plum and ready for the Gator Power Gate installation.
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