Sliding Wood Gate

[Pat Meyer]

Figured I'd throw this up here. It's by no means the most pretty thing ever built but i couldn't find anything like it out there so me being me i had to build one.

I just recently bought this house and knew i wanted a privacy fence but problem was is i needed a place to park my lifted F350 so i needed a gate into the yard(which will eventually have a concrete pad.) I didn't want to have to get out and swing the gate open and close every time i left and came back, along with the fact that i didn't want a huge swinging gate that would just take up more yard or be in the alley when opened.

So i decided to go with a sliding gate. Problem was most sliding gates have a track to ride on and i didn't want to do that since i wont have concrete there until the next year or so. So until then i needed it to float over the ground. Most cantilever gates are metal and not having the ability/resources to fabricate a metal gate i decided to make an all wood one. Plus it would have looked weird with the rest of the fence being wood.

I still have to run the conduit and hook up the motor but that's the easy part so let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions

http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b538/Rammstein1224/20160628_185432_zpsydc7n7pz.jpg (http://s1290.photobucket.com/user/Rammstein1224/media/20160628_185432_zpsydc7n7pz.jpg.html)
http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b538/Rammstein1224/20160628_185600_zpsyid6x9zp.jpg (http://s1290.photobucket.com/user/Rammstein1224/media/20160628_185600_zpsyid6x9zp.jpg.html)
http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b538/Rammstein1224/20160628_190100_zpsoruzfnup.jpg (http://s1290.photobucket.com/user/Rammstein1224/media/20160628_190100_zpsoruzfnup.jpg.html)

[Adam Herman]

looks great. what did you use for the rollers? is there a "track" in the top and bottom members?

[Pat Meyer]

looks great. what did you use for the rollers? is there a "track" in the top and bottom members?

I used some 6"x1.5" iron core/rubber tread wheels i got from mcmaster carr. As for the tracks i used a 2x4 sandwiched between 2 2x6s so it created a channel for the wheels to ride in on the top and bottom. This kinda shows how the frame work was before i put pickets on
http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b538/Rammstein1224/20160607_205755_zpscf6nwbcd.jpg (http://s1290.photobucket.com/user/Rammstein1224/media/20160607_205755_zpscf6nwbcd.jpg.html)

[Mel Fulks]

Looks like a nice convienient clever solution. I think I'd dress up the narrow section that looks like a gate arbor to be a little taller. And put some lattice on the face exposed to the street ito indicate it is not a pass through.

[Andrew Hughes]

I like it. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in the long haul.There a lot of wood there that needs to behave.


Aj

[Pat Meyer]

Looks like a nice convienient clever solution. I think I'd dress up the narrow section that looks like a gate arbor to be a little taller. And put some lattice on the face exposed to the street ito indicate it is not a pass through.

Please elaborate, why would you want it to be taller? i kind of thought it was almost too tall haha.


I like it. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in the long haul.There a lot of wood there that needs to behave.


Aj

Yes it is and we will see. I already have some better ideas if i have to build a new gate in the future. The 4x4s are the only thing i worry about but thats why i sunk them 3 1/2 ft in the ground to hopefully prevent any shifting.

[Mel Fulks]

Pat, when it is seen as a utilitarian necessity it can look too tall. But as a decorative object it is too short,and arbors of old were much bigger than the wood saving carry it home in your car stuff commonly sold today. Lots of old drawings show people walking through arbors nearly twice their height. Unattached to the fence the "arbor" might be tall enough. As part of the fence it is too short. The height increase could be done using just lattice without additional structure.

[Pat Meyer]

Pat, when it is seen as a utilitarian necessity it can look too tall. But as a decorative object it is too short,and arbors of old were much bigger than the wood saving carry it home in your car stuff commonly sold today. Lots of old drawings show people walking through arbors nearly twice their height. Unattached to the fence the "arbor" might be tall enough. As part of the fence it is too short. The height increase could be done using just lattice without additional structure.

I'm very utilitarian by nature... guess that's why I'm an engineer haha. If it doesn't have a purpose its unnecessary. Curious if i was to cut them down to be slightly shorter to just above the gate would that look better?

[Mel Fulks]

Wouldn't look better to me and it would be highly unusual to find any art work showing traditional decorative lattice work shorter than surrounding utilitarian stuff.

[Pat Meyer]

Wouldn't look better to me and it would be highly unusual to find any art work showing traditional decorative lattice work shorter than surrounding utilitarian stuff.

Is there a good alternative to lattice? I guess my aversion is more to lattice than the height.

[Jim Becker]

Wow...what a great idea! I have seen so many properties that could benefit from something like that for "real access" by vehicles while maintaining a normal look, well...normally. :) Great job!

[John TenEyck]

Awesome job! I too would be concerned about all that mass cantilevered out there. Did you think about making the gate "park" on a bracket on the side or base of the building it butts against? That would take the bending moment off the gate, and reduce a lot of load off of the posts now supporting it.

John

[Pat Meyer]

Awesome job! I too would be concerned about all that mass cantilevered out there. Did you think about making the gate "park" on a bracket on the side or base of the building it butts against? That would take the bending moment off the gate, and reduce a lot of load off of the posts now supporting it.

John

I ran all the calculations in my cad program and all passed with plenty of meat left. The only thing i couldnt account on is the how much the posts will shift. Thats why i sunk them way farther than probably needed.

[bryan w]

That looks nicely engineered to me. I have a 48" wide by 72" tall fence and gate mounted on concrete between our driveway and garage. The gate swings alright, but it gets in the way and a sliding option sounds like an improvement. What are some of the ideas you had to make the design better?

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I think that center section holding the gate could use some diagonals.

[Cody Colston]

The gate looks good and I like that it doesn't take up space in your back yard when opening/closing. The sliding idea was a good one.

I do think I would consider mounting a wheel under the end of the gate to help support the load when it is cantilevered out all the way.

[Pat Meyer]

Well a little update. Got the gate moving under its own power and it worked great. I dont know if i can upload a video here or not.


That looks nicely engineered to me. I have a 48" wide by 72" tall fence and gate mounted on concrete between our driveway and garage. The gate swings alright, but it gets in the way and a sliding option sounds like an improvement. What are some of the ideas you had to make the design better?

Just a better way to connect the cross bracing between the two tracks. The top track is starting to warp a little causing the wheel to rub a little but not terrible. Plus i used wood that was sitting outside for a few months before i made the gate so that was my fault.


I think that center section holding the gate could use some diagonals.

It wouldnt hurt but in reality 95% of the force is being directed in a up/down rather than any horizontal direction.


The gate looks good and I like that it doesn't take up space in your back yard when opening/closing. The sliding idea was a good one.

I do think I would consider mounting a wheel under the end of the gate to help support the load when it is cantilevered out all the way.

Space in the backyard(or in the alley) was my main concern. And it would be nice but if you look in my original post i said why i couldnt do that.