I want to thank you for this video. I had to build a double gate that spanned 17' 6". I used your frame design and it is working awesome. Because of your warning about the dado throwing chips at you on the table saw I purchased a radial arm saw to cut the dados. It still threw chips at me LOL.
Awesome gates man great job!!! Although I have a comment for the bracing, it should have been better from the center of the gate in direction of the center of the horizontal member so that has more efficient way of transferring the load/forces. Besides that I LOVE the robust look of the gates! STRONG LOOK!
Great video and really nice result! You inspired me to go ahead and rebuild my 6ft-wide gate using 4x4s. Curious about the structural screws you used, size and length, maybe supplier? They look they might have a black finish, which looks really nice. Also, did you have any concerns about screwing into end-grain on the lap joints?
I used HeadLOK screws. They say the HeadLOK screws don’t need predrilling, but I would still drill some pilot holes. I did have concerns about screwing into the end grain. The long screws are easy to get off track, so I would be careful about that. I’d say making it, so it doesn’t rely on the screws is best. You may prefer not to use the long end screws or use some angled / pocket hole screws instead. The hinges need to be heavy duty. I ended up replacing the ones in the video with some custom ones that I made out of rod ends. A six foot gate should be easier on the hinges though.
Good gates...I would think a big factor is also the strength of the posts the gates are attached to. The corner post looks like a 6x6 post set into concrete. Is that correct? How deep was the post set into concrete?
Thank You and that is correct, the posts are 6x6 and they are three feet deep with six inches on concrete under that. This video shows installing the posts ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-R1U5yeycFdE.html This video shows the depth of the post hole towards the end ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KTcJqvSQ1tk.html
really enjoyed hearing the walkthrough of your gate build. The more I watch it the more I want to replicate for my own build. If I may ask what what the angle for your braces ? Thanks
Have you thought about a sliding gate on a v track, solves a lot of the issues big gates face like sagging, having room to swing the doors open, stress on post, damage from wind, issues with hinges etc... Also much cheaper to add an automatic opener.
Curious about how you measured where to do the bracing, and how deep you notched to put them into the horizontals. I did see a comment reply from you saying 60° cuts. I'm buidling just your bottom half, w/ cedar 2x4s. Mirroring all your specs and adding casters below to help absorb the load.
I notched them in 3/4 of an inch and used as large of braces I could at that angle of 60 deg. If you’re going to use casters you shouldn’t have much load on the frame or hinges, so that would be great.
I bought my hardware from Lowe’s but Home Depot and some local home improvement stores should have some good hardware. The brand I used was National Hardware but I’d get what looks good and strong. I did end up replacing the hinges with ones I made that are stronger than anything I could find.
It looks like out here they use hem fir. Another good option would be to use cedar. It doesn’t look like yellow pine is all that great, so that’s a bummer.
It’s holding up well. I should make an update video at some point. I made some adjustable heavy duty hinges out of rod ends and made brackets to mount them to the gate. A suggestion I would make is to move the vertical support of the gate a distance from the post that it mounts to, allowing you to drill holes in the post and gate to attach the rod ends to hold and adjust the gate. You could extend the pickets past that point but the space behind it needs to be open for clearance and operation.
The gates have dropped a couple inches on each side but not enough to be noticeable. I did change the hinges to using rod ends and made my own brackets for the rod ends to attach the gate to the post. If I was to do this again, I would move the vertical side rail on the gate that’s next to the post over having the horizontal rails overlap it. This would not only increase the strength of the gate but leave space between the post and the side rail on the gate. This would give you space to drill holes in the post and the gates side rail allowing you to use rod ends for hinges without needing to make custom brackets. The horizontal rails would need to have an angled cuts on them to allow the gate to open freely.
4x2 would work and that’s what most would do. I wanted a beefy gate. The 4x4 construction will need heavy duty hinges and I ended up making my own to replace the ones you see in this video. A 4x2 gate would be lighter. It’s really up to you.
I used a dado set on the table saw. They can be dangerous. Another method is to cut multiple slots next to each other and chipping out the material in between.
