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CarterKraft's Gates

Tizken said:
We had a rolling gate at a self storage place, somehow it started closing on a car. The dumbass decided to wait until it hit the car then floored it so it fucked up the entire side instead of a small dent. Or they could have just gone when they saw it closing. It also bent the gate sideways damaging a bunch of gate parts. The stupidity of the customers was unlimited.
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Yeah I could see that happening for sure.
Luckily this guy just stopped.

The really funny part is that this was the property owner who did it. I turned the gate on with a lot of warnings and protests, I said lets put a safety edge on it, lets only power it up to open and close it, he denied all that and said it will be fine.
 
On to the next one.
My customer bought a property to convert into a office for his electrical contracting business as well as leasing a part of it to a another contractor.
Security of the yard was going to be important with the amount of traffic the yard would see.
My customer owns another business that does stone/concrete work so that is where these fancy columns and fences come from.
Knowing everything I learned on the last gate I was much more prepared to tackle this much smaller gate with out as many problems.
We start with a idea and a CAD rendering so we are on the same page.

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Back to building more trucks. These are copies of the trucks used at the other location so there is interchangeability between all the parts.
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Combine those trucks and this 4"x4"-1/4" tube catch post we have the guide/drive mechanism.
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Since everyone followed the concrete plan and electrical plan it fit like a glove. No rebar was hit and there were no surprises.

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Didn't see the prices on the link

I have built a small pile of gates for family members (5) They all wanted swing gates, and that is what they got. Not being impressed and thinking about doing a slider for mine, can I ask what ballpark the opening mechanism costs?

good job!
:beer:
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
Didn't see the prices on the link

I have built a small pile of gates for family members (5) They all wanted swing gates, and that is what they got. Not being impressed and thinking about doing a slider for mine, can I ask what ballpark the opening mechanism costs?

good job!
:beer:
Click to expand...
The blue one was $1820. The 3k black one from the big gate I really can't remember but over $2500 I think.

I used the Nice branded photo beams on it too and think they are much easier to install than the Omron or EMX. They have simpler mounting and wiring, only two wires to each sensor and not a hundred options for setup as they are can buss.


We did have a near complete failure of the second gate controller a few months in, the Mean Well 24v power supply fragged killing the driver board.
It was all warrantied but it did make me nervous.

edit: Looking at them now online, they are HIGH$$ I wonder if we got a good deal or if they were cheaper 2 years ago?
We tried to get an account at a local access control supply house but they didn't really seem interested and just sold us everything we have needed on a cash ticket.
 
Last edited:
CarterKraft said:
The blue one was $1820. The 3k black one from the big gate I really can't remember but over $2500 I think.

I used the Nice branded photo beams on it too and think they are much easier to install than the Omron or EMX. They have simpler mounting and wiring, only two wires to each sensor and not a hundred options for setup as they are can buss.


We did have a near complete failure of the second gate controller a few months in, the Mean Well 24v power supply fragged killing the driver board.
It was all warrantied but it did make me nervous.

edit: Looking at them now online, they are HIGH$$ I wonder if we got a good deal or if they were cheaper 2 years ago?
We tried to get an account at a local access control supply house but they didn't really seem interested and just sold us everything we have needed on a cash ticket.
Click to expand...
I should probably say you can get slide openers that are much cheaper. I just consider these to be the best and this customer appreciates the up front investment to prevent down time.

Also would not be scared of swing gates given the correct construction, hinges etc.
They both have their place. In both of these properties there was no where for the "swung" gate to go when open and having them slide allows the best use of space.
 
Back to the owners property he had two more openings framed up for walk gates. One of them was on the side yard to the non PC "China Folk" neighbors. This gate was in case the "China Folk" don't live there forever and he gets new neighbors he would like to hang out with or vice versa.
This fence was already there when he bought the place so it is a mixture of his handyman and pre-existing fence.
4" tube with 3" tube at a 45*. Stainless cable to fill between the runners to keep the pup in and a concrete footer.
When discussing the "look" he wanted vertical bars that I thought was stupid looking....
So I rendered some options to illustrate. I think it's no comparison which one is better looking.

If these look crooked you are right, same slope issues as the large sliding gate has and again sloped gate bottom with level gate post tops... I did my best to make it flow to the eye.


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06h3 said:
Beautiful work, is this your full time gig or a side job?
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VERY side job lol.
I would love to do it full time, but I am not to the point I need to be from a business man standpoint to make it successful.
I underbid, and over estimate how fast I can complete stuff. I also have no interest in building to the lowest price point.
I want to deliver bad ass products, and/or solve problems that most other people won't tackle. It makes it very rewarding to me and worth the trouble.

I am getting A lot better though and hope to one day when my family overhead is lower take a chance.
 
That gets us to a basic frame of 4" tubing and 3" runners, all built at a 1.2* angle.... to match the existing run.
He likes to have the family crest, his face, etc. at each entrance so I cut out a circle of .125" plate and rolled some flat bar to make a hoop.
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Used some 6" block bearing hinges and a two way latch. The latches are my favorite for regular gates.
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The posts still need to be trimmed down to the same level as the gate/fence and painted in this photo.

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On to the rear access gate. This neighbor is a great friend, has kids that hang out daily, car pool etc. They need frequent access as the side road is dangerous as hell so all foot traffic goes through this gate.

The opening was created by building twin posts, one that would be stoned and the other outside of the stone making it easy to weld/attach gate hardware.

This gate was to mimic the large sliding gate in style requiring a arched top. Right out the gate I had trouble, the 14 ga 2x2 wanted nothing to do with being rolled that tight. After fucking with it for an hour I have a ruined piece of tubing but I can better visualize the desired crown.

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I farmed the crown out and it had to be upsized to 1/4" wall to still be useable at this radius.
I rolled another 2"x1/4" ring for the center medallion and cut the circle out with my plasma compass.
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I built these picture frames out of 3/4" tube and welded in one side. I put the cross broke panel in with Urethane adhesive and glued in the other frame so there are no screws etc. and the panel doesn't rattle.

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I wanted a trim frame to sandwich the cedar and not require individual bolts/screws to retain the boards,
The frame was welded on the inside so that there where no visual welds on the outside.
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I had always planned on using a weld in door knob box but I have been worried about hiting the jam spacing to get a convention lock set to work correctly over time.
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I also wanted a spring closer but I wanted some form of
dampening as kids would not be soft closing the gate.
I ran across the Locinox brand and decided I had to use their stuff at least once.
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Maybe this explains how the lock set mounts. The kit comes with to scale decals that you place on the gate, hinge post and latch post. You set the gate gaps to the design spec of 1-1/4" and there is adequate adjustment in the bolts hinges to accommodate for any issues.
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Same setup for the hinge/closer.
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Basically the same setup for the "keep" these bolts they call "quick fix" are glorified riv nuts but they latch upon installation all for the bolt removal and all the components are replaceable if needed. This will give a lifetime time serviceable gate with easily replaceable components.
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72blazer said:
:smokin::smokin::smokin:



It took me three years+ to build the one for my house. 21’ wide and 7’ tall. It’s one of the few things I want to fight for in the big D. Very cool thread. :grinpimp:
Click to expand...
Definitely humbling how long it takes to do a good job, but IMO well worth it because you see it so much.
 
And finally installed, you can barely see this gate in the bottom right of the bottom picture.
The large slider in the left and the bi-fold doors I have not posted about yet.
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