At this point I finally got around to hanging the two main gates for the chicken yard. These gates consist of kits we got from Lowe's which consist of metal frames with which you add 2x4's and pickets to complete the overall gates. The kits come with a turnbuckle and cable to help hold the square of the frame as well as hinge bolts that are screwed into the wood posts of the fence to hold the fence in place. The opening to the yard is approximately 8ft in diameter so each gate will be approximately 4ft wide.
I started off with the first gate, measuring the diameter to approximately 47 inches. Assembling the two main sections of frame, I spaced the bars that go between these two pieces. From there I drilled holes through either end, using the already made holes in the two main sections as guides to poke the holes through the bars. From there sheet metal screws held the bars together with the two main pieces, making the square frame. From there I measured, cut and slid the 2x4's into the slots on either end of the frame, securing them with wood screws. From there I added the turnbuckle and cable. This consisted of a turnbuckle with a hook on one side and an eye bolt on the other, the cable, and a cable clamp with another hook. Holes on the frame allow for the hooking of the turnbuckle and other hook. This whole assembly didn't take no time, just tightening the clamp after putting tension on the cable. After tightening the clamp I tightened the turnbuckle to put the necessary tension on the assembly. Next came the hinge brackets and pickets. The hinge brackets were just a simple clamp with a loop to go over the end of the hinge bolt. This clamp is held with a carriage bolt to tighten it to the gate frame. As with the regular fence panels, the nailgun made fast work of the pickets, tacking them on in no time. With the gate more or less assembled, I had to line the gate up with the fence post so I can mark where the hinge bolts needed to go. From there I used a 1/2" spade bit to drill the holes in the post to allow me to screw the hinge bolts in place. From there We were able to hang the first gate in place. Making sure of the height before putting the bolts in place allowed for the first gate to hang at the right level where it can free swing without hanging on the gravel below it. After hanging the gate I also added one part of the latch pair, the shaft that latches into the actual catch. This was held in place with self tapping screws. Now as for the next gate, I did something a little different. Since the whole complete gate was heavy and took two of us to move it in place easily, I figured I would just assemble the frame with the hinges and hang the frame bare then tack on the pickets with the gate frame in place. This ended up being a way smarter idea. Even though hanging the pickets took no time there was a slight problem with this gate. The ground right under this gate is actually at a slight grade, causing the bottom of the gate to drag when we opened it to the outside of the chicken yard. This ended up requiring me to cut the bottom of the pickets at an angle and testing the opening of the gate to see how the bottom scraped the ground, trimming as necessary to ensure that the gate can open while not removing too much material from the bottom of the pickets since this gate is here to keep chickens in and other animals out, for the most part. After a few trims I managed to get the gate set up where it can open properly about 80% of the way to the outside but can open all the way to the inside for when we have to move something large like one of the car coops or something of similar width in or out. Lastly I added the other half of the latch pair so the gates can be latched closed, plus I took a couple of handles that were actually salvaged from the one chicken coop that was falling apart, and screwed them to the gates at the point where the 2x4's were to allow us to be able to open them with ease. The only things left to do at this point were to reinforce the fence posts so they don't move under the weight of the gates especially during opening/closing. I had some leftover fence posts, approximately 2" in diameter that would serve the purpose of reinforcing the wood fence posts. Using large pipe clamps with some extra 2x4s' for spacers would hold the posts up against the wood fence posts. I pushed each post into the ground just outside of the cement anchor of the wood posts and pounded each metal post in further with a sledgehammer. I probably hammered each post in a good 2 ft to ensure a good solid anchoring. From there I nailed a short piece of 2x4 to the wood fence post then the clamps pulled the wood posts against the metal posts, ensuring they won't swing and move around with the use of the gates. This will ensure that the gates will close properly and not bind up. With the main gates hung now the next course of action is to start installing the sections of wood fence to close in the opposite side of the chicken yard, where the back fence will connect up with the house, fully enclosing the chicken yard. Lastly, a small rear access gate will need to be installed that will allow for anyone to be able to access the chicken yard for tending to the chickens without having to pass through the main yard. This is important as once the main fencing is up, we will have yard dogs roaming the grounds within (minus the chicken yard) so this gate will allow for anyone we have watching our chickens in our absence to be able to access the yard without having to worry about the dogs.
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