Driveway gate

[Muckin_Slusher]

Does the place that mixes and sells concrete rent you that trailer?

Can you rent it then just mix your own on site?

That thing only has 5 bolt wheels?

 

[Duc]

Does the place that mixes and sells concrete rent you that trailer?

Can you rent it then just mix your own on site?

That thing only has 5 bolt wheels?

Does the place that mixes and sells concrete rent you that trailer?

Its a complete package. Includes the trailer, product, tax and a 2 hour window to return the unit. I paid an extra $50 since I had 2 - 1 cu yard loads versus 1 - 2 cu yard load but I also had it for a total of 4 hours versus 2 with out the trips worked out.

Can you rent it then just mix your own on site?
I dont believe so but other companies will allow you to rent mixers but fuck lifting 114 - 80lb bags into a mixer. Plus at the current home depot rate of $6.03/bag, I spent $431 versus $749 before renting a mixer. Plus saved my body untold amount of abuse.

Overall the process was quick for the company loading the mixer. The unit would be parked in front of conveyor belt system that was dumping cement and aggregate mix into the unit along with water. Then away you go.

That thing only has 5 bolt wheels?
Yep but I think the 1.75 and 2 cu yard ones have 6 but they required a 3500 or above truck and the company would include a pintle hitch with it.

 

[CarterKraft]

Does the place that mixes and sells concrete rent you that trailer?

Its a complete package. Includes the trailer, product, tax and a 2 hour window to return the unit. I paid an extra $50 since I had 2 - 1 cu yard loads versus 1 - 2 cu yard load but I also had it for a total of 4 hours versus 2 with out the trips worked out.

Can you rent it then just mix your own on site?
I dont believe so but other companies will allow you to rent mixers but fuck lifting 114 - 80lb bags into a mixer. Plus at the current home depot rate of $6.03/bag, I spent $431 versus $749 before renting a mixer. Plus saved my body untold amount of abuse.

Overall the process was quick for the company loading the mixer. The unit would be parked in front of conveyor belt system that was dumping cement and aggregate mix into the unit along with water. Then away you go.

That thing only has 5 bolt wheels?
Yep but I think the 1.75 and 2 cu yard ones have 6 but they required a 3500 or above truck and the company would include a pintle hitch with it.

These are sweet when available but they are distance limited in my area. I guess the lack of agatation will drop out the aggregate.

 

[PAToyota]

I've never seen one of those. Seems like a pretty cool idea. Then again, I wonder how many people end up getting it stuck in soft soil?

 

[Duc]

What a pain in the ass today was. I had to bore under the driveway with a new pipe since the original 2 pipes were crushed when I suspect the driveway was compacted before pouring. Solar power would work in a pitch but I trust building power more.

I based this boring operation off this video.


Now are few things made mine a tad more difficult.
1. Existing broken pvc under driveway
2. I had a small target about 3ft wide I had to hit since I did this after pouring concrete. Had to beat the weather for concrete pouring.
3. Fuck my aim sucks with hammers. Always has.

I wanted to run the bore thru the old pvc but was unable to get a straight aim at them due to power box, gas, comms.

Dug roughly a 10ft trench to allow for swinging the sledge hammer.

About finished.

30in target area and where it landed.

Lessons learned about fucking with this for 5 hours to bore 19ft.
1. Buy a water pump to remove water from trench
2. Tee fitting will loosen after 3-5 hits. I didnt fully understand this until I broke the threads on 3 pipes. The Tee needs to be tight to avoid bending the threads from a imperfect hit. - critical step. Cant push this enough.
3. Buy extra pipe since you will fuck it up at least one.
4. I didnt run the water the whole time instead I gave the pipe a few hits then let water run till I saw it come out of hole. Then repeat operation a shit ton of times. This avoids blowing out to much dirt under driveway.

Hearing the water flowing against the small wood dam was the best thing ever. Afterwards I went for a steak dinner to celebrate the pain in the ass operation. Now I could barely get out of the car due to a sore back.

 

[Gots_a_sol]

Should have found a crew running around that does utility work.

We would have had that shot in like 30-45 mins

Random YouTube vid

 

[bgaidan]

Should gone with the electric option. Probably coulda turned this out on your lathe and had it done in the time you fucked up your back.



This looks decent too:



And at my old house, then they had to pull new underground power from the transformer to the meter, they used one of these. Dug narrow pits every ~15' or so and at bends and shot it right through. Three mexicans ran probably 100' - dug, shot it and pulled the cable in about 3 hours.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Should gone with the electric option. Probably coulda turned this out on your lathe and had it done in the time you fucked up your back.



This looks decent too:



And at my old house, then they had to pull new underground power from the transformer to the meter, they used one of these. Dug narrow pits every ~15' or so and at bends and shot it right through. Three mexicans ran probably 100' - dug, shot it and pulled the cable in about 3 hours.

How big do those go up to? Any chance I can use an SDS rotary hammer to send 4" through rocky soil?

 

[72blazer]

Makes my build look simple and not well thought out

 

[bgaidan]

How big do those go up to? Any chance I can use an SDS rotary hammer to send 4" through rocky soil?

You can probably run in stages to get up to 4" if you get creative. Unless you hit rock....

 

[Duc]

Should have found a crew running around that does utility work.

We would have had that shot in like 30-45 mins

Random YouTube vid

I havent seen shit for crews doing that work around my place for probably 9 months. I wish.

Should gone with the electric option. Probably coulda turned this out on your lathe and had it done in the time you fucked up your back.



This looks decent too:



And at my old house, then they had to pull new underground power from the transformer to the meter, they used one of these. Dug narrow pits every ~15' or so and at bends and shot it right through. Three mexicans ran probably 100' - dug, shot it and pulled the cable in about 3 hours.

I may make or buy one to put on the shelf. I may not use it for 10 years but it would be well worth it.

Makes my build look simple and not well thought out

Thought out...... Dont assume my builds are well thought out. I'm good at improvising on the go.


I'm not sure if yesterday sucked more or today. Tough call in the end. This project has fought me at every step of the process, even for simple things


Started the morning out with digging a 40ft trench to the side of the house. Before running the wiring I decided to tackle the concrete wood form that protected the area for pipe under concrete. This thing was a awesome for being removed. Tried a crowbar, metal stake, sledge, hammer with no progress. I got a 36in metal stake stuck bad enough that I had to use a cherry picker to remove the bitch.

Finally got pissed enough that I turned a solid 2in x 2in bar stock into a huge fucking chisel. I recieved 2 of these bars years ago when a company left them behind when moving a cnc mill out of a factory. Not sure if its mild steel or 4140. Sucked cutting the a angle grinder and sawzall. This thing didnt give a shit about anything when used with a sledge hammer. Mind you I wasted about 3 hours trying to remove this wood before I made this chisel.

Finished hooking up all the pipe and a 23 ft of liquid tight flexible steel conduit. Decide to use the flexible conduit to avoid building a multiple angle pipe layout near the house.

Cleaned up before I filled this back in.

Now you would think the 12/2 romex wire was easy to pull thru with a fish tape, NOPE. Fought me the whole way to the point I had to run it thru each section of pipe. Which means I had to disconnect the whole thing before running the romex thru each section. Not the easier thing alone nor was it fun to rethread the pipes back together. Not my first rodeo for running wire but this was a different beast for some reason.


Fuck this project. Can wait to see how hanging the gate is going to go on friday.

 

[Twankie]

Damn. Non treated wood forms turn to mush here within a year or two with zero effort.

 

[bgaidan]

Now you would think the 12/2 romex wire was easy to pull thru with a fish tape, NOPE. Fought me the whole way to the point I had to run it thru each section of pipe. Which means I had to disconnect the whole thing before running the romex thru each section. Not the easier thing alone nor was it fun to rethread the pipes back together. Not my first rodeo for running wire but this was a different beast for some reason.


Fuck this project. Can wait to see how hanging the gate is going to go on friday.

As I was reading and saw the pic of the conduit, I was wondering if you pulled the wire before you laid it. Or at least, before you backfilled.


Technically I don't think you're supposed to use romex in liquid tight.....but if you already had it sitting on s shelf...

THHN probably would have pulled a lot better.

 

[aczlan]

Technically I don't think you're supposed to use romex in liquid tight.....but if you already had it sitting on s shelf...

THHN probably would have pulled a lot better.

IIRC, not where it could get wet (such as underground), only if the conduit is just used to keep the wire from getting damaged.
3x #12 THHN wires would have pulled in a LOT easier...

Aaron Z

 

[Duc]

As I was reading and saw the pic of the conduit, I was wondering if you pulled the wire before you laid it. Or at least, before you backfilled.


Technically I don't think you're supposed to use romex in liquid tight.....but if you already had it sitting on s shelf...

THHN probably would have pulled a lot better.

IIRC, not where it could get wet (such as underground), only if the conduit is just used to keep the wire from getting damaged.
3x #12 THHN wires would have pulled in a LOT easier...

Aaron Z

I didnt have any romex on the shelf but normally I have no need for THHN but I do regret using it.


Last two days has been shit weather but I still got work done. The day rotated between sun, rain, snow, hail all day.

Installing 7in barrel hinges on the main gate. There was some isssues with the placement of the barrel to the flat plate varying. Spacers on the barrel part fixed the orientation issue.

Fireball tools shim kit works awesome. The whole gate is spaced off the table to avoid rocking due to welds.

I wish this would have worked but I didnt notice the misalignment of the lower surface between the two. The two are off about 1/8 in the vertical but I plan on adding a piano hinge later on so its coming apart anyways.

Hanging the gate alone using a car jack, cherry picker and a few levels. The gate came out perfect. I had to time the welding of the gate between the snow and rain. Not the best weather for hanging gates but I wanted the project done.

Had to weld a plate on to the pole for mounting the control box and to allow the gate to move more towards the wall when opening.

Ill have to get a picture of the temporary setup that still needs some more work. Thought it would be a nice surprise for my wife when I pick her up from the airport after a traveling back from Italy. Works really well.

 

[Duc]

Dam mismatch. I will fix this when I weld the piano hinge to allow the gate to fold in half when needed.

Temp setup.
1. Antenna is electrical tapped to the top of pole.
2. Romex needs to be put into a pipe.
3. Fill small trench next to pole. Was the target area for the pipe under the driveway.
3. Flap disc on plate to round off edges.
4. Figure out the grease fitting issue on the barrel hinges. My guns are not working on the nipples.
5. Pain setup but that requires decent weather.

 

[Gumbybronco]

I have a heavy metal framed wood paneled gate that seemed like the grease fittings didn’t work. Turned out to be a flush fit inside the hinge with nowhere for the grease to go with all the weight on it. I put a jack under it. Lifted about an inch and greased the hinges. Worked great.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Did the lil brass spacers that go in the middle of the hinge get lost by chance?

 

[Duc]

Did the lil brass spacers that go in the middle of the hinge get lost by chance?

Never had any. There is a ball bearing in the lower section that the shiny part rides on. According to a few youtube videos, the zerk fitting should be on the top but also Im in New mexico where grease will melt out during the summer.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Interesting.

Every hinge like that, that I have been around had a brass like thrust washer that went in between the hinges. Seems like if you were missing that, the pin on the hinge would be bottomed out against the zerk

 

[Duc]

Interesting.

Every hinge like that, that I have been around had a brass like thrust washer that went in between the hinges. Seems like if you were missing that, the pin on the hinge would be bottomed out against the zerk

The silver rod seats on the ball bearing so there is no need for a brass ring

 

[Duc]

Finished off the gate this weekend


Welding on the driveway put a bend in the gate and mismatch between the two pieces. My wife couldnt understand why this would drive me nuts.

The mismatch posted before

Removing the gate alone is fun but was even more fun reinstalling on the two pins.

Setup the welding table outside. 19ft might be excess for my welding table. Still hate flux core welding. I need to order more extensions for the table.

Painting the gate after rehanging the gate. Not sure how I manage 2 days of no wind in NM. Used the trusty old Rust-Oleum Cobalt Blue gloss protective enamel. Never know if I will add more stuff to the gate.

Added reflective tape to the blue gate. While Amazon had tape for cheap but lately shit from there has been cheap crap. Picked up a roll from Tractor Supply for $70 for 2in x 30ft. No excuse if someone doesnt see the gate at night for a car or motorcycle. Part of the reason Im also posting a picture on the internet, prove when it was added.

I might add some pictures of the electrical later one. The 120v power is used to charge the battery by a small transfer while opener pulls its power from the battery I believe when running. The power transformer is to small to be running the arm I think.

Gate is working awesome so far. I did have a chuckle when a neighbor stop by that Ive never seen or talked to. He was hinting about hiring me to build a gate for his business but he was also surprised by the $4k cost for this one. Told him he couldnt afford my cost if I charged my work hourly rate.

 

[WaterH]

I think you went overboard with the tape. Don’t really think someone can sue over hitting something on your property unless it was designed to hurt them. Gate turned out nice.

 

[Duc]

I think you went overboard with the tape. Don’t really think someone can sue over hitting something on your property unless it was designed to hurt them. Gate turned out nice.

You would be amazed at what people can win in this day and age. If people can make millions from police departments for getting shot while committing a crime then why couldnt people sue me for hitting a unmarked gate.

Gate is working out well so far.

 

[gozuki]

Which opener did you choose?

 

[Duc]

Went with mighty mule mm571 for now since I could pick up at home depot.

Happy so far

 

[subybaja]

That's really nice.

 

[Duc]

Well leaving the gate alone lasted almost a week.......I decided to add a post to the other side since the wind is pushing the gate around to much. I can now add the automatic gate lock on the far side. Maybe in the future I'll build a beefy as fuck one but this should do for now.

Bell mouthed the hole some at the bottom. Grey tubes are the crushed pipes under the driveway so worthless. I will probably cut them off tomorrow with sawzall.

12in x 48in concrete tube

Not as deep this time or as massive.

Trimmed the tube to connect the concrete in the bellmouth to the main concrete.

Estimate for how much the gate will need to be extended. Not to bad really.

4in x 4in x .375in steel tube. Same as the main tube. Local steel yard sells in full sticks or half sticks only. $230 for 10ft. Welded a bottom on the tube and some scrap steel to grab into the concrete.

Primed the tube before concrete tomorrow. Still need to trim about a foot off the tube.

 

[Twankie]

Why use a 48" piece of sonotube in a loose hole?

If you want the top to look nice use a ~10" long piece of it at the top of the hole screwed to some 2x4's to hold it in place.

 

[Duc]

Why use a 48" piece of sonotube in a loose hole?

If you want the top to look nice use a ~10" long piece of it at the top of the hole screwed to some 2x4's to hold it in place.

I was asking myself that while in the shower. Why did I even buy the tube when I can end the concrete below the surface. Lack of planning maybe.