Making a field gate with a complete laying tree - Kempens Veken - Part 9 - Fixing the problems 

Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Fab On. Weld On. Keep forge lit. Keep Making. God Bless.

To save a lot of aggravation, just cut a short length of 3/4" pipe the length you need it, and drive the nail/screw through the board, down the middle of that stand-off pipe section, and in to the style. This is how we do rain gutters here in the States and it works perfectly. Lasts nearly forever, too. As for the counterweight, I remember seeing a very old design where they made a "basket" from iron straps all nicely riveted together, and filled it with small rocks. That was then fastened to the end of the cantilever with an eye hook, if memory serves. It was antique when I saw it, so I'm sure it was original to the build. The benefit of it was that you weren't limited to just one big boulder and trying to find a way to secure it in place. With the smaller rocks, you could add and subtract whatever you needed until the weight was just right for an easy opening, and there was no worry about ice forming in the winter because rain and snow could drain through quite easily. Making the "bucket" from thin strapping wouldn't take much work, I don't think, since you really only need a few of them and they can be welded to each other. As long as the gaps are small enough that fist-sized rocks won't fall through, you're golden. Plus, it's match the rustic design of the gate and show a bit of ingenuity that'll have passersby smiling. 😁

good good good