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Quick question on bolts in oak & gate twist.

AJB Temple

AJB Temple

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Entrance to our house, half way down drive, large pair of Iroko gates made 7 years ago by me. Hung on chunky oak posts with corner beads, also made by me and set in concrete by builder who helped me (gates are heavy). We fitted them with heavy duty galvanised hinges, electric openers etc, using 13mm head galvanised screw bolts into pilot holes, with thread cut first into the oak and Iroko using a sacrificial bolt. All threads greased liberally with vaseline at the outset.

Now, yesterday I needed to adjust the gate closures. One gate has over the years developed a slight twist such that when the bottom is closed the two gate sides meet at the bottom against the electric closure stop, but not the top as one gate leans out a bit. One post may have moved slightly too due to disturbance from a Yew tree next door.

I can't quite fathom how to fix this twist. (Ideas chaps?)

Having adjusted the hinges so the gates are dead on vertical (apart from the slight twist) I decided to ease the bolts on the top right hinge. Two bolts promptly sheared as if they were cheese. So I left well alone for now. I will drill them out.

Q: is anyone aware of any heavy duty coach type bolt suitable for hate hanging that will survive the ravages of oak and be removable when needed?
 
Stainless steel or bronze are your options, but both are pricey. You might be better off just using galvanised, and noting in your diary to replace them in 5 years time.
 
Thanks Mike, thought you might say that. I was hoping there is some brand of bolts that are impervious to oak but wallet friendly.

Work since posting indicates gate is not twisted - post has definitely moved. In fact the entire concrete pad has moved slightly and it is a good metre deep. It's next to neighbours garage, which flooded badly last year whilst they were away. The corner of the garage has moved as well.
 
Stainless coach screws aren't too bad on the wallet as long as you don't need large numbers - a ten pack is between £5 (for 6x50) and £15 (for 10x120) at Screwfix depending on the size you need.
 
I’m not well informed on stainless grades but usually find that 316 ( marine grade )is very tough.
Some of the screws supplied with stainless hinges as a sort of kit are rubbish and about as soft as cheese.
The 316 grade may cost but it’s worth it.
 
Thanks guys. Yes, they have to be strong - I drive them in with a socket wrench and there is a huge amount of pressure on the gates during winter storms - they act like sails when opening and closing in windy conditions. Even though we thought we were sheltered, the driveway acts like a wind tunnel sometimes. The place opposite, just down the road had some softwood ones a bit smaller "professionally" installed by the local fencing bodger. The wind blew their gates and posts over last winter, 3 months after install.

It's an odd story, as they had wanted to copy our gates and asked me if I could make some at "mates rates". I was building my oak framed piano room at the time and still faffing around with the kitchen so he knew what I was up to. I quoted them £8,500 (to put them off frankly) using Iroko gates and Oak posts, with someone else doing fitting of automation and putting the posts in (I hate digging) at their cost. The wood cost is not peanuts and I needed to buy top grade Iroko so I had minimised risk of problems. It would easily take me a solid week to make a pair of gates like that and a weekend to produce nice posts with an acorn top and corner beading. I said the posts would need to go a good metre into the ground, in properly prepared deeper holes, with type 1 in the bottom and plentiful concrete. Because of the wind and weight. Their fencing contractor said this was nonsense, which they accepted and he charged them £6,200 to supply and fit some softwood gates he claimed he made but actually bought from the main fencing wholesaler round here (Jacksons). Roughly I am aware of their trade prices. Jacksons also recommended steel posts as an extra: they always do as they don't supply large section seasoned oak, and steel is reliable.

They make a virtue of cladding the gates on both sides. Excellent marketing as it hides all the so called joinery and they can just nail on thinnish softwood cladding on both sides. Looks quite smart ....for about a year.

The dispute over whether it is contractor's fault or client's fault for allegedly cutting corners, remains unresolved. The gates were wrecked. Quite a sorry tale and the lady of the house who is a teacher, still gets upset about it.
 
Screwfix et al stainless is A2. I need to hunt around for A4 I think. Theoretically I only need 4 right now, but I may end up re-hanging the whole lot as I want to make them 2 or 3 feet taller at some point (by adding a bottom panel). So that's quite a few bolts to do the hangers, hinges, automation brackets and so on.
 
This is the kind of thing the neighbours wanted. But this one has steel posts and decent quality NICE automation (which I also used).

The "professional" contractor did not allow for the fact that he installed his automation brackets into softwood (that he couldn't see as it was inside the gate) with screws. The wind just ripped this straight off.

Screenshot 2022-10-09 at 17.25.48.png
 
Whatever you use, don't be tempted to mix stainless and galvanised. I used s/s screws and galvanised washers and the reaction between the two stripped the zinc from the washers.
 
Thanks Dave, that is exactly it. I will order today.

Thanks Phil. Not sure what the solution is as the brackets are very heavy duty galvanised. So even if I use a stainless steel washer, there may be a reaction between that and the bracket. I could paint the bracket surface I suppose where the bolts go through.
 
Paint the back of the washer, will be neater
Or make a washer from a piece of dpm and place it between the ss washer and the bracket

Mark
 
Yes. Thanks. Will do.

I ordered 10 bolts to check quality. It is amazing how oak destroys metal. I think what must happen is the oak and metal thread fuse together, then torque on the bolt is enough to fracture it close to the head.
 
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