RowndUp Gate Latches - PBS Animal Health
We have this on our outdoor arena gate so we can be leading a horse and open it one handed. and just push/pull the gate to shut. We have had it for 20 yrs and it’s in daily use. They now make a two way push model.
I remember the old overhead field gate openers that operated like a pulley they had a hand stick you pulled on.
I’ve used the Sure Latches on most of my gates for years, and LOVE them. Never had a real issue with them icing over-- a couple taps on the moving parts has been sufficient (I find spring-loaded snaps to be more difficult with icing, actually). If we have a major ice storm coming (for which you’d generally have plenty of advance notice), I might slip a plastic baggie over the top of the latch and secure with a rubber band, or drape a shop rag over it.
As others have said, it’s important to keep your gate posts plumb, but these latches help make that happen because whenever the gate is closed, its weight is fully supported by the latch. Eliminates the need for toe blocks under the gate. (And regardless what kind of latch, if you have a gate that’s normally left open for any length of time, it should rest on a block/tire/log or you’ll pull your post out of plumb quickly).
They’re not without complexities–as others have mentioned, there’s only about 1.5" of acceptable variation in your gate-to-post distance. But you can usually give the gate hangers a few turns to increase or decrease that gap as needed. Beyond that, if the gap is still too wide, I’ll use a spacer board bolted into the post. Not much you can do about a gap that’s too narrow.
For me, the convenience is totally worth the initial complexity of installation. Just one hand to open and no hands needed to re-close.
All that said, I would not use them with committed fence / gate testers or fencelines with undersized / wobbly posts.
oooohhhh checkout this new fancy-but-simple gate latch I just came across:
I like how there’s nothing poking out to injure when you walk thru with that one, it looks “safe”
I do plan to pickup a Sure Latch and try it, based on the feedback here
thanks everyone for your comments 
That one looks interesting @BarnField. I think I would find it frustrating to latch. The gate has to be aligned just right and then lift the catch…
true, true, you couldn’t simply push the gate closed
argh!! they all have their downfalls! 
some latches don’t look pony-proof for a Houdini, some have pokey parts that could be treacherous, some look impossible to install, I guess that’s why I have my Kiwi hooks and chains 
I have the fast latches on all my gates and they are so easy and handy. Open and close one handed and fast. I’ve used them for years and none of the horses have figured them out…until my newest horse, last spring. Clever boy…so on his gate, he has that same latch, only with a carabiner snap in addition, snapped to the ring. Oh…and a bungee electric gate over the top, because he also started playing with the snap. So far, he has remained contained.
For those who don’t trust the weld on the fast latch/bucket holder types, you can bypass that problem by buying a J hook and a tie ring and mount them as the pics. That’s what I’ve done and it works just great, with no worries about broken welds.
(as an aside, a livestock gate really only needs to swing to the inside, and butting the latch side up against the post makes it more secure, plus it’s harder for a horse to push through it. No real reason to have it swing both in and out, at least that I can see.)
I love that all my gates swing both ways. I use them going both ways frequently.
Me too. How I open the gate depends where the loose horses are, but basically I tend to avoid creating a wide open lane from the horses’ visual perspective. Not that any of mine are so ill-behaved that they’d rush the gate, but it’s an ingrained instinct for me (just like crossing behind a horse safely even though we know that horse doesn’t kick). Years ago I managed a stable that boarded a committed, sneaky gate-rusher-- and hoo boy that bull-necked, pig-eyed beast installed some defensive gate instincts in me.
So if the loose horse is standing on the latchpost side of the gate, I’ll open it outward. If they’re loitering around the hinge side, I"ll open inward. Because in each case, the horse would have to make a hard turn to get through the open gate. As opposed to creating (from the horse’s perspective) a straight, wide open path that would require no turns to get through.
Hard to explain because it’s not some planned, deliberate decision, just instinct on my part as to what swing direction reduces the chance that an opportunistic bolter would even think to give it a shot.
That makes sense @EssexFells.
Last night I pulled my full wheelbarrow right up to the gate and opened it out, which allows me to push the wheel barrow past the swing of the gate all while still having my body blocking the visual (and physical) opening.
Thankfully they make latches for those of us who like our gates to swing both ways.
How I envy you! On our farm almost nothing is level. We’re lucky to find enough level ground post to post to hang a gate. I think there are only one or two gates of the 16 we have that could possibly swing either way. The rest face too much grade change. Sometimes if we have to bring in a bigger piece of equipment ( say an 8 ft cultipacker) we put the horses elsewhere and just take the gate off.
We use these, similar to the ones above but more heavy duty. In think it depends on the size of your gates which ones fit best
This is why I have my own portable gate opener, my husband, who prefers a 15h horse, and whose body hasn’t endured decades of sports related damage. So his ass is getting off and doing gates. And I’ll double check his girth. That’s our pact.
Looks good, may try some.
I had a friend tell me she knew of a terrible injury from a horse catching itself on a latch like mine (horse was running by the latch and caught it). So…I took a piece of foam insulation from the plumbing section, cut it in half and wrapped in duct tape. No problem gently moving the gate end around it and solves that potential problem.
The part that my acquaintance’s horse got caught on wasn’t that part but the stick out part on the gate that slides into the gate section of that latch. at least I think it is that latch. a bit of a post sticking off the gate?
Do you mean this? I also have the gate ends covered. Just took that same piece of foam insulation - fits perfectly - easy slide on and off. There is duct tape around the two “rounds” and they slide on and off easily.
Yea that is what I meant! Thanks!
These are the least likely to damage a horse, but they do nothing to aid gate sag.
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