Looking for a wide spring loaded wheel for a gate

[pony]

I can find plenty of spring loaded wheels, and plenty of wide wheels, but not the two combined.
I am building some rather substantial double gates that span a 18 foot opening (9 feet each gate). The gate is constructed of 2 inch square tubing and will have some CNC cut pieces in it. I want to offset the weight by putting a wheel on each gate where they meet. My driveway is graded so a regular castor wheel is going to create ruts very quickly.
I'm looking for a spring loaded version of this:

but haven't been able to find anything.

[mdwalker]

With the right hinges and if the gate post are substantial enough you shouldn't need castors if you are only spanning 9'. I have gates up spanning 16' framed with 2x2 11ga. with 2x2 3/16" on the hinge side with artwork in the gate cut from 1/4" plate without castors and have not had any sagging problems. But I will keep my eye out for wide castors for you.

Danny

[pony]

With the right hinges and if the gate post are substantial enough you shouldn't need castors if you are only spanning 9'. I have gates up spanning 16' framed with 2x2 11ga. with 2x2 3/16" on the hinge side with artwork in the gate cut from 1/4" plate without castors and have not had any sagging problems. But I will keep my eye out for wide castors for you.

Danny

My gate posts are only set 3.5 feet deep (thats as deep as my auger will go). They are set in concrete (2 * 80lb bags on each leg), the pipe is 3.5 inch schedule 40 welded to form a H post. I'm more worried about my gate material. I had a load of 2x2 tubing I bought for a fence I never built. It was only after completing the first gate did I realize the weight of the thing. I'm concerned the hinges may distort the tubing over time.
Perhaps I need to redo the hinge side with some thicker tubing, or could I simply reinforce it?
This is my first gate

[mdwalker]

That is why I use the 3/16" material for the hinge side of the gate to give a good solid mounting surface for the hinges. Your gate post sounds sufficient for the gate. The main stress on your H post are going to be when the gate is at 90 degrees to the post. If your H post are inline with the gate when closed then the main stress on the post will be when the gate is open but I would think you will be ok. As far as the casters you can always add them after the gate is mounted if needed.

Danny

[redneckgateart]

I agree with Danny. ...you should be fine. We do single panel gates all the time and span 16 - 20 ft without a problem.

Here's a 20' single gate that we did last year. All of the square tubing is 2"x2"x1/8" wall, except for the hinge side. (3/16"). It's got double top and bottom rails with scrollwork in between, 1"x1" twisted square tubing pickets and a 3' Texas centerpiece cut out of 3/16" .We used 3 of the large block hinges and have never had a problem.

[pony]

So, lets say I have this friend who built his gate out of the same material, not thinking to use a thicker tube for the hinge end. Would you recommend that I, I mean my friend, replace the piece, or could it be reinforced instead?

With 200 feet of 2x2 square tubing on hand it was easy to use what was available, rather than actually think about it

[redneckgateart]

If you're talking about your...I mean "Your friend's" 9ft gates, I would tell him not to worry about it at all! LOL. I would be more worried about your hinge post leaning than distorting the square tubing on the gate. You could always weld your hinges to a piece of 1/4" x 2" flat bar, to distribute the load, and then weld that to the gate. (but I don't think you'll need to)....just my 2 cents! Good luck!

[Eagle Mtn Metal Works]

Hey Pony
I used 1.5 x .095 wall on a 10' rv gate that I did about 10 years ago and still have had no problems with it. I have done a lot of gates and never had any trouble with them, so I don't think you will have trouble with your friend's I did a pair of 1.5" x 12' gates a while back and I used 3"x 3/16" wall for the post and 3' block hinges.

Good luck with yours.


Hey redneckgatert
That's a very nice gate. Are you using 1/8" bar stock for your scrolls?

[redneckgateart]

Eagle Mountain,
Thanks. I don't want to hi-jack Pony's thread, but the scrollwork was 1/2" round bar, from King. #13-33013-138, 12 @ 5 lbs. each
Clark

[Eagle Mtn Metal Works]

Thanks' rn
Hey pony post some pictures when you get them finished. We all like to see nice work.

[pony]

This is my gate so far, sans artwork. I plan to have two identical size gates. The side with the extra horizontal piece (shown left in the photo) is the hinge side and will have a Texas star in that corner, with a matching star on the other side of the other gate. The middle of each gate will have artwork in the middle top panel. The gate is to keep my horses in a pasture, so I am OK leaving the posts open. The gate spans a drive, so I'm not worried the horses will try and graze through the openings - unless they like flex base...
The tube was bought pre-primed, but has spots of rust I need to address.


Not sure what gauge my material is, I bought it a couple of years ago. Its about 1/16 thick, so not too thick at all.

[redneckgateart]

Looks good so far...Keep us posted.
The tubing looks like 14 ga. which is 5/64"thick...or about 0.078".

[SignTorch Vector Art]

that looks pretty rigid from here, put the hinges close to the horizontals to minimize flexing there

I don't think wheels will work too good on dirt

if the post gives, shore it up with an (underground) outrigger post (or two)

[Bigrhamr]

That should be just fine as is. I've built 12'-14' gates with just 2x2x.095 frames even on the hinge side, although I do now use heavier there for peace of mind.
Where gates usually sag is by racking out of square. Take redneckgatearts Texas gate for example, he has an extra crossmember top and bottom, they effectively make it like having a truss top and bottom and it's incredibly strong. Take away those crossmembers and just have a perimeter frame with pickets and that 20 footer would sag big time.
Your posts will probably be okay as well. One trick to avoid having to dig such a big hole is take a couple pieces of pipe, t-posts or whatever scrap you have and after you dig the hole drive them down into it a few feet leaving some up where it will be encased in the concrete. That gives it a lot of extra stability if you're installing in wet ground.