Yeah, this is really my big thing. It feels sooooo unsafe to have that opening in the corner.
Why?
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹For gates that swing through, there’s no other place in the fence where they can be secured back along a fence line. You can hang them like the third drawing, but need to know you’re doing that when you set the posts, and lose the option to have them swing both ways.
I just had a gate installed in the middle of a fenceline that swings entirely open and can be chained to the fence. The posts are set slightly closer than typical so the gate can settle against the post when horses push on it (you know they will). Of course it doesnt swing both ways tho.
None of my gates swing both ways. They all swing into the pasture or into the sacrifice paddock. I get a gate that isn’t likely to be pushed through to a space I don’t want the horses going and I get a gate that will swing all the way back to the fence line should I need the entire opening. None of mine are in a true corner. I have 2 paddocks either side of my barn and the fence line juts out in front of the barn 3 or so feet. This allows an easy angle to enter and exit with equipment. The gates in the sacrifice area are along the middle of that space.
I wouldn’t want a gate that can only go perpendicular to the fence line. That seems like an accident waiting to happen.
I prefer B.
I had my horse in a field with option A at a boarding facility and it was fine, because the place wasn’t mine. My horse lived with one other in a huge field and I didn’t have any major gate crowding issues, but it always felt awkward to me. Said horse knows to walk through a gate when told and stand and wait for me on the other side. So it was easier with him as I’d manage the gate/his fieldmate if needed, and he’d exit. If my horse did not have this feature installed and there was a big group by the gate, it would have been a pain in the arse.
I’m surprised to hear how many people have gates hanging like the third option! Yeah, agree that’s a cool way to go, but just have never seen it anywhere :lol:
We really can’t do that with the posts in place, but I do think I’ll have the fence guys flip the gates around so they don’t open into the corner. It does just feel so unsafe, and I’m relieved to hear that’s not just me being paranoid! Thank you all for your input!
Do a slant so that horses can’t trap another one in the corner and ruin your gate. Gates swing open both ways.
A slant?? A slant of what??
If you’re talking about rounding the corners of the fence rather than making them 90 degrees, no, I can’t do that. Posts are set. This is largely runs off the barn into other areas and …yeah, rounding those corners really isn’t even possible.
But I’m really not sure if that’s even what you mean by “slant”…? 
because of you do that, you have no corners for gates, so if they swing both ways, they’re sure not going to secure back along the fence, which is crappy.
I have 1 gate that closes against a post (latch and hinge ends both in concrete).
2 other gates swing either way, and both swing freely open to the downhill side, and enough open to the uphill side for people and wheelbarrows to go through if desired. I use it that way on one of the gates when putting hay out in the Winter. I can also move a single horse through 1 of those when needed, and used to on a regular basis, even while mounted. I’ve also carefully moved a couple horses, one at a time, as I could funnel them through and not have any opening wide enough for another horse to think they could squeeze by.
All 3 are in the middle of a fence line.
The only one which ever stays open at any point is the one that only swings 1 way. When I need to secure it open, I rest the latch end on a piece of wood, and tie it to the nearest fence post which is’t that far away.
It really is nice having a gate that swings both ways if you are moving horses in and out of that gate on a regular basis. That way, while it’s nice to think you’ll never have an issue, you’re never forced to swing the gate into where you and the horse are.
For you, since you still have your corner, I would definitely choose the 2nd option, and even better if it can swing both ways since you’re still in a corner situation. With sane horses, it’s typically not a big deal. But if you’ve got something snorty or fractious going on, it’s nice to be able to push a gate away from you and not pull it into you.
The issue with reversing the gates is that you remove the straight pull on the braced hinge post. Hanging gate the other way puts gate weight on an unbraced post. Swinging the gate open and closed over time, will make gate start to sag without the bracing Can’t change gravity! A support wheel of some type, can prevent all the weight pulling hinge post over and letting gate sag much. Not sure what kind of gated you have, maybe they are not as heavy as my pipe gates. But any bit of gate sag prevents those latches from locking well. I can tell the difference when wire is pulled tight in the cold or looser in the heat, because gate latch does not lock.
I hate sagging gates, so ours hang from braced posts, have support wheels, so I don’t have to muscle them open or closed. We do have two “gate intersections” like Bluey, though in a different configuration. They let me route horses out to the pasture or paddock from the barnyards. Changing destination is just swing the gates to close off or open the new pasture. They are really handy.
It also depends on soil, and whether the posts are concreted in (and how big they are).
y 16’ gate has a pounded in post, but to be fair we’ve got heavy red clay soil. However, the hinge side is braced. And, I put a “foot rest” on the latch side while it’s closed, and if it’s going to remain open for any real length of time.
My 12’ gates - 1 is braced on the hinge side, also pounded post. It isn’t sitting on a rest, and has not sagged in the 14 years it’s been up.
The other 12’ gate is on concreted posts, hinge and latch side, and I only set it on a rest while open simply to keep it from swinging into my tape fence. Mostly it’s closed, no “foot rest”, and hasn’t sagged in the 10+ years it’s been up either.
None of these posts are braced or concreted.
The gate is supported on both ends when closed by the latch.
They will nearly never be left open, but I’d still like to have the option without having the gate just waving in the wind :-/
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
Can you install a permanent (or “permanent”) block of wood or other support for the latch end when the gate is open? That all but negates the need for bracing or concrete.
It doesn’t have to be large, and if it’s just a piece of wood you move as needed, it wouldn’t even be in the way of feet when the gate is closed.
definitely, definitely want the gate to open away from corner. Doesn’t matter how great my horse’s gate manners are, she is still 1300 lbs of instinct-driven animal and I value my ribs and sternum enough to not create a known pinch point. If there’s going to be a conflict where a horse’s emotions override their brain/training, the gate is a prime location for this to happen.
My fencers were going to do the same thing as yours, but luckily I was on site and caught the miscommunication before they’d actually hung the gate. They were (quite rationally) going with the best approach from an engineering / physics standpoint, for best distribution of the gate’s weight, rather than approaching it from a “how is this actually used?” standpoint.
For a gate post that’s not in-line, you do have to consider not only supporting the weight when it’s closed (with either a toe block, or a Sure-Latch kind of latch) but also the forces placed on the post when the gate’s being swung open/closed. Very easy to get that post out of plumb. So I’d also add a wheel to the gate, so it’s always in contact with the ground during the swing. Those wheels can be a pain if it’s thick pasture, and eventually they’ll wear a rut into the ground that allows the gate to sink lower–negates the purpose of the wheel. So consider putting a gravel "pad " down in the gate area, or even just rubber stall mats–something to give the wheel a clean surface that won’t erode.
Wheels are lovely if you’ve got nice level ground :yes: All my gates are on a slope of some degree.
You can also “sister” a post to the main gate post. Sink another sturdy post about a foot away from the gate post and attach the same way you’d do a corner brace on your fenceline: nail a short length of fence board between the two posts at the top, and then run a tensioned wire from the top of the gate post to the bottom of the sister post.
There are all kinds of gate wheels, some have a spring so it will work on uneven ground.
We have some of those, work fine.
Ours are from Northern Tool, but many other places carry those.
Here are some google pictures of all kinds:
But I’m not talking about just uneven ground. I’m talking a 4-8" drop from latch side to fully open. And, a wheel on my gates would mean they could not open the uphill way at all.
My guess, in such places, a shorter and not too heavy gate would fit best, such maybe doesn’t need a wheel?
My gates are what they are. 2 are 8’ and can’t be shorter - have to get a truck, and tractor with bush hog through
My gates don’t need wheels - they are supported either by concrete (1 of the 8’ gates), or bracing and hung on 8" posts. The 14’ gate hangs on a 8" braced post as well, and has a foot rest at either end, open or closed. This is the one with about an 8" drop from close to open.
For an opening that wide, you could do 2 8’ gates if you wanted. I didn’t want to do that for a variety of reasons, including the fact that most of the time, the whole space would be needed and I didn’t want to bother dealing with 2 gates all the time.
I was thinking, we have a cattleguard and gates on both sides we rarely go thru.
One side is 19’ and we could not change the posts or concreted in cattle guard.
We put two 10’ gates and they overlap and still look nice, as if it was done on purpose.
We can open one, the other or both.
On the other side we have 26’.
We put two 14’ overlapping gates there, with a post that pulls out if needed and we welded to it a place to rest the gates on the bottom.
First we had a 12’ and 14’ gates. Either way looks nice, just more stout overlapping, if something hits it.
There are as many ways to hang gates as there are places to hang them and the way we use them.
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