Farm Gate Lock.

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

I thought that was a nice piece of engineering.

I failed to add that to the pictures, because it wasn’t obvious where I could type.

Defense rests.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

That is a neat design!

A lot of farm gates use a bolt held in the locked position by a strong spring, making manipulating even harder when as seems inevitable the hinge-side gate-post sags and lowers the bolt below the hole in its post.

””

Locating text and photos, also quotes, in the same message can be a bit awkward.

 

I find this approach works – note the full-stop on line 2 :

First bit of text, or title. [CRLF]

. [CRLF]

Next words, e.g caption.

Then put the illustration or quote block on line 2, where the full-stop and next-line key act as a place-holder.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Typical of a device designed by someone who never actually uses one  A million gates including mine with the same trivial mistake of a small hole as the target. A few moments thought would make the hole a vertical slot to allow for the long term sag or seasonal movement. I’ve been meaning to modify mine for decades.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Question. How did they galvanise the sliding tube without it sticking to the rest of the gate ?

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Before assembly.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

There is something to be said for having a hole as the keep rather than a vertical slot.

If you have a hole then that will offer support to the unhinged end of the gate when someone climbs over the gate who does not have the common sense to do it near the hinge. If the lock were unsupported their weight would put more load on the hinge post side and cause the gate to drop.

[John Haine]

On John Haine Said:

Before assembly.

So how did they galvanize the rest of the gate after assembly?

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

As long as the tolerances are not tight it is possible to galvanize sliding parts after assembly. Chains are galvanized all the time with no problems. Our local galvy shop does farm gates with sliding locks all the time.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, all these types of gate that a work mate and myself have installed in one of my day jobs, have been adjustable to allow for sag over time, and if fitted correctly will work for many years without any problems, we used to put a blob of weld on the end of the screw threads, so they weren’t so easy to be stolen, and the hinge pins would face each other so they couldn’t just be lifted off. the photo below shows the one I have, but whoever installed it, used a wooden post, which has rotted away at ground level, and hasn’t been shut since before I’ve been here.

Regards Nick.

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

I think that is a good latch secure against vibration letting the bolt work loose.  However, it does nothing to stop unauthorised human entry so not a lock in my view.

Martin

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, like Nigel Graham says, most will have a strong spring which will stop them migrating out, even when they get rusty, and the spring is easily replaced if it gets too weak or broken. Nothing wrong with the one shown by Grizzly Bear, by the way, but would entail extra work to make, and harder to replace if it got badly damaged.

As far as locking the gate, nothing much stops someone with a battery powered angle grinder.

Regards Nick.

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

Thanks to all of you for your replies.

Thank you Nigel for your forum navigation.

I could have called it, ” A gate catch”. Where would that have got me?

As for galvanizing, the lock/catch wasn’t galvanized after assembly, it was constructed

from galvanized tubing, with added rust.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Just to be awkward, gates always sag, and so you have to use 2 hands, one to lift the gate so that the bolt will move,  the other to move the bolt. With this design you appear to need 3 hands, one to lift the gate, one to lift the sliding catch thing, one to slide the bolt</p>
 

[DC31kParticipant @dc31k]

When the vertical tube is in its lock position, a small hole through the inner gate tube would allow use of a long shackle padlock to really lock the gate.

With the design (as opposed to the spring one), as observation above, I think two hands are needed to operate the mechanism. That might be a disbenefit if the gate is installed in a place where people with reduced physical ability want to pass through it.

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

@Duncan,

Did you see the size of the RSJ’s?

The hinges are adjustable too.

The anchor hole  attached to the RSJ could be improved with a vertical slot.

@DC31k,

Point taken.

You have your bright red trousers on and the huge bull is not impressed.

The bull hasn’t had an eye test, so it isn’t aware that its colour blind.

[DodParticipant @dod]

Farm Gate Lock / Latch

Examples shown in photographs are way overengineered

Up in North Scotland baler twine or fence wire tied round post and gate have worked for years.

Easily available on farm, inexpensive, re-use of surplus materials, secure as any other method and is easily replaceable.

What not to like.

[Mark EasingwoodParticipant @markeasingwood33578]

Here in East Yorkshire, those sagging farm gates are commonly known as “Shoulder Gates”

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

Here in South Devon a local farmer has used baler twine for both lock and hinge on a field gate other side of the lane from my house. Bit academic, really, as both posts have rotted and fallen over. Repair consists of a strand of electric fence just inside the gate.

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