# Pipe gate hinges.



## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

I'm trying to hang some 16 foot Gates for my cattle and I'm having one heck of a Time getting the hinges to stay still. The hinges I'm talking about are the threaded rods you put through the post with a nut and washer on each end. It seems when you have a heavy enough gate when you open the gate the hinge just turns and dumps the gate on the ground. Has anybody found a good way to keep that from happening. I'm gone so far as to get an impact wrench on it to try and tighten them down but it doesn't seem to work. I have taken to just getting the metal straps hinges and lag bolting those to the posts


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Usually the two nuts will hold it pretty tight. Level it with the nut on one side of the post and then tighten the nut on the other side and that hinge should never spin and dump the gate. Are the holes you drilled for the threaded rod part oversized? Mine are usually quite snug after I'm done drilling.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

We only have two places locally that sell gates. One sells Sioux brand the other sells HiQual. I really hate the hinges on the Sioux gates, I prefer the HiQual ones as its all one piece. No cow can pop it off the hinges like they can with a Sioux gate.


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

I usually have to tap them in with a hammer. So there snug before I put the nuts on. I have them work for gates 10ft or less but the longer gates not so much.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

You could try getting the hinge set where you like, then drilling a hole thru the strap of it and install a sheetmetal screw.


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

Trying to picture what's happening. When you installed the gate, I assume you oriented the bottom hinge with the pin facing up and the top hinge with the pin facing down - correct? And now the top hinge is spinning and dropping the gate.

One possible solution would be re-orient the top hinge so both pins are facing up. Of course, this would require re-drilling holes and/or possibly replacing your hinge post. But I think this would eliminate the problem you're having. Not sure if it would cause any other problems.

I installed a 14.5-foot and a 12-foot gate at my operation back in 1998. Both gates are fiberglass and are very heavy. I used galvanized steel pipes set in concrete for the hinge & latch posts. In this case, the pin portion of each hinge clamps onto the post and cannot spin around. Another advantage of this design is the gate's height can be adjusted by simply loosening the hinge clamps and sliding them up or down the post. The gates haven't given me any trouble in 20 years and they still look new as all materials are impervious to weather.

If you end up replacing your hinge post, you my want to go this route. More trouble to install but no hassles down the road.


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

These are the type of hinges I'm talking about. I never thought of putting both of them facing up that may work. I'm trying to hang 16 foot heavy duty Gates off of telephone poles. The gates are just heavier than all get-out.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Those type of hinges are for light to med duty gates. Never worked well imo. A heavy duty gate has a pipe sleeve over the the end riser and the through bolt welded to the sleeve and reinforced with gussets. I quit buying 16' gates anyway because its a lot of weight hanging on a post. If i need an opening that big i just put two 10' gates in. Then the opening can be any distance between 16-20 feet.


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

I'm building a pen for my bull. So I figured pipe gates would be easier in the long run. The telephone poles are 5 feet in the ground and concrete so I don't think the weights much of an issue. This is what I've come up with for a solution which I've used in the past on a 20 foot gate I have.


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

I see from your photo in post #7 that the gate's hinges can be adjusted and it looks like you already re-oriented the top hinge so the pin faces up. Hopefully that solves your problem.


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

Those straps only come with a hole so I had to bolt them together.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Here is what I did to a couple of the 'cheap' gates I have (and the fix is not necessarily pretty by any means). I just used some scrap material, I suppose the could be done much better. 

Larry

Top view




  








Gate 01




__
r82230


__
Jun 29, 2018








Side view




  








Gate 02




__
r82230


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Jun 29, 2018


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Weld a large washer or nut on the end of the pin to seal it.


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## jr in va (Apr 15, 2015)

WEld a washer onto one of the nuts with a hole drilled in the washer.After it's where you want it,weld the washer to the pin.Drive a nail in the hole.A little lock tite on the threads might work,too.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

This is what we hang pipe gates with. The hangers can’t get independent of each other if they’re all one piece. Bolt or lag tight. Fortunately the shop that builds the pipe gates includes these with purchase but they are easy to build.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

8350HiTech said:


> This is what we hang pipe gates with. The hangers can't get independent of each other if they're all one piece. Bolt or lag tight. Fortunately the shop that builds the pipe gates includes these with purchase but they are easy to build.


I like it....alls it needs is a hole drilled through the top of the top pin to put a key in to prevent the gate from being lifted off accidentally by stock.

I guess you could use twine though.... .

Regards, Mike


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Vol said:


> I like it....alls it needs is a hole drilled through the top of the top pin to put a key in to prevent the gate from being lifted off accidentally by stock.
> 
> I guess you could use twine though.... .
> 
> Regards, Mike


There is a hole. I just threw a twine on "temporarily" when I hung that one and it has become a bit more permanent. I swear, the rest of them have pins ... or bent nails. Or something.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

8350HiTech said:


> This is what we hang pipe gates with. The hangers can't get independent of each other if they're all one piece. Bolt or lag tight. Fortunately the shop that builds the pipe gates includes these with purchase but they are easy to build.


Is that a custom gate or a store purchase?

Regards, Mike


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Vol said:


> Is that a custom gate or a store purchase?
> 
> Regards, Mike


Local welding shop. They have a standard design but everything is built to order. Crazy cheap. $90 for 10' gates with the hanger.


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## swall01 (Jun 10, 2018)

ive never had any luck with 16ft gates. they tip posts easily, sag, drag and bend easily. i replaced all mine with a pair of 8 footers on each side. hinges posts and everything else works much better.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

swall01 said:


> ive never had any luck with 16ft gates. they tip posts easily, sag, drag and bend easily. i replaced all mine with a pair of 8 footers on each side. hinges posts and everything else works much better.


It takes a big post(I use utility pole sections) buried deep and well tamped to hang a 16 foot gate right without sagging.

Regards, Mike


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Vol said:


> It takes a big post(I use utility pole sections) buried deep and well tamped to hang a 16 foot gate right without sagging.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I like at least a 10 ft post to hang any gate on. I like them deep whether I dig them or pound them in.


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## Supa Dexta (May 28, 2014)

I like having a 'hole' on both sides with either one long pin down thru both hinges, or having 2 on top and bottom with the gate hole sandwiched in between and a pin down thru the 3 holes at once. Over build stuff and forget about it.


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## KYhaymaker (Jun 7, 2018)

If you have a 16ft gate the easy way to prevent sagging is to just screw in a gate hanger at the bottom for it to rest on. When you close it, just set it on the peg and forget about it, the hinges and post it is hanging on dont have to take all the weight- it eliminates 16ft of leverage. Makes it stonger if anything pushes on it too.


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## KYhaymaker (Jun 7, 2018)

Also if you have a post thawill have a lot of force in one direction trying to pull it over, then put a “dead man” in...put a big flat rock sideways in the bottom of the hole on the opposite side of the gate , and bury a 4 ft section of treated post horizontally about a foot below ground level against the post on the side it is being pulled towards. It will chock it, and that post will break or bend before it leans.


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## siscofarms (Nov 23, 2010)

4" pipe and concrete . put you gate bolts in it , hang your gate , get everything adjusted and then tack them suckers off . perm fix . By the way , I HATE WOODEN POST ! Everything Ive done in the last 8 yrs or so is 7' t post . 16' panels ,and gates have the pipe on them . The initial cost seems overwhelming but if you figure anything for labor of installation and up keep its cheapest thing out there


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

No post of any size or planted to any reasonable depth will stay straight with any force on it in some of the high shrink and expanding clay soil here. With H braces and a deadman you can do all right but barb wire will show slack within 5 years. From my limited soil science learning my county has more soil types than whole midwest states. Other soils not much problem.

I am with you siscofarm about any wood post I would buy today. I have a few hoarded 50 to 75 year old redwood posts I will us and expect to out last me if it is not broken. They never were the strongest post but don't rot.

If scrap steel price goes up the price of oilfield pipe will increase,but a year ago 2 7/8 pipe was within a dollar a post of 5 to 6 inch treated posts. Here you can never tell what was legal to treat woods post with and if they will last.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

siscofarms said:


> 4" pipe and concrete . put you gate bolts in it , hang your gate , get everything adjusted and then tack them suckers off . perm fix . By the way , I HATE WOODEN POST ! Everything Ive done in the last 8 yrs or so is 7' t post . 16' panels ,and gates have the pipe on them . The initial cost seems overwhelming but if you figure anything for labor of installation and up keep its cheapest thing out there


Agree wood posts are CRAP now that they've gotten rid of creosote and arsenical treatments... That "Yellarwood" is just utter sh!t...

The power company had to switch to the new "greenie friendly" non-creosote non-arsenic poles here a few years ago. Well, first off they had to wrap the friggin' poles in hardware cloth down to within about 6 feet of the ground to keep the darn woodpeckers from eating them up... which was never much of a problem with the creosote poles (a few would have a woodpecker hole in them but not many). Then of course they rot off in about 5 years in our saturated clay soils.

Evidently they figured that out in short order, because they put a new 3 phase power line in across the far end of the farm to supply the new pipeline substation with power, and they ripped all the poles back out and redid it after only about 3-4 years... I hear they're buying good ol' creosote poles from Mexico now and using them and ditched the Yellarwood crap... I know the new poles are black and covered in thick tarry creosote secretions...  Smells GOOD!!!

Heck I miss Creomulsion cough syrup, back when it had REAL CREOSOTE in it... if that stuff didn't cure a cough, it didn't matter because you were on the way out anyway...

Later! OL J R


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## farmersamm (Nov 2, 2017)

I really don't like most, actually *any *of the commercial gates out there. Especially when it comes to a long gate.

Most are made with something on the order of 20-18ga, with the so called better gates running at 16ga.

For a medium pressure area (ie not a crowding area) I prefer to fabricate gates using stock panels, and 2" 14ga square tubing. Mondo cheaper, and sturdier. Cow hits this type of gate, and the force is spread across the panel, and it will rebound instead of bending. (By rebound....I mean up to a point.....can't drive a truck into it, and expect it to survive  )









For a crowding area like the pen we cube in, I use the same basic design, but with more vertical square tubing, and no diagonals. These work very well when anchored to t posts. Drive the t posts in, then simply wire the panel to the t posts. About 3 t posts per panel. You have a fight in the pen, and they'll just literally bounce offa the corral panels. The t posts give enough that they spread the force. The panels are hooked together like a conventional panel on the ends, further moving the force long the entire length of the corral.


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