Super Gate

You might remember the story from a few days ago about my "Heavy Duty Gate". If you don't, you can read about it HERE:

Now, the only reason I'm re-telling you this is because SOMEONE ran into the gate with the trailer the other day. It was while we were collecting "parts" of the corn crib.

All of the bottom sections, the air tunnel, floor, and some "odd-n-ends" were loaded up on a 28' trailer for transport. It was a willy-nilly load that stuck out past the trailer for a good 3' on each side.

Since it protruded from the trailer, when the load passed through the gate, it caught on the very outside end of the gate, causing it to "ride up" on the load. This caused the weld to break on the hinge.

It didn't take much to dislodge the gate from the trailer, just backing up did the trick, but the gate was just dangling from it's post.

It wasn't until today that I got the chance to fix it. I had to chain up the gate, unbolt the hinge mount, and weld the loops back to the mount, then put it all back together.

You'd THINK that it would go back on real quick and easy......

Nope...

It fought me every step of the way. FINALLY, with blocks, chains, my loader, and a tractor jack, I managed to get it back on it's post. I'm just glad it was a nice cool day....

Oh yeah....I can neither confirm, nor deny any knowledge of who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident.....

Speaking of hinges....

Along with the other goodies I got from the homestead next door, came several posts. A good number of these came with "Hinge Bolts" attached. If you are confused - a hinge bolt is the "L" shaped bracket that screws into the post, and fits into a "loop" on the gate. Put both sides together to make a complete hinge.

Anyhoo - I ended up with a lot of these bolts, but not very many loops. I checked online and a couple of stores, but found that the ones I needed were over $10 EACH.
This would NEVER do....

Flash back to 3-4 years ago - I did some tractor work for a friend's sister. I, basically, helped her clean up around her place so she could mow easier. In return, she gave me a few livestock panels that were set in metal frames.

These frames were MASSIVELY heavy, so I removed them and have since been using the metal for all kinds of projects. Part of the metal was 1/8" x 1 1/2" strap. It was kinda twisted and bent, but I ended up keeping a pile of it. I had NO IDEA what I was going to use it for.

Well - yesterday, I decided that it was time to use some of it up. I knew that I will be needing some hinges for a couple of gates in the near future, so I made these:




I'll still clean them up and paint them, but they will work fine. These are called "strap hinges".

I still need to build the gates - but I'm ready to hang them!