What size gate?

[DayBird]

We'll be fencing in our property with our tax refund. We'll be using cattle panels and T-posts. We have one entrance to our property. We have no large equipment. Just standard passenger cars and pickup trucks of our friends and family. What size gate would you use? Would 12' be too narrow? Would 16' be too big?

[DaleK]

Go as wide as the travelled part of your driveway is. Don't want to limit yourself in future. Split it in two gates to make them easier to deal with. I would go with at least two 10' gates, overlapping 2'. But more if you can.

[DayBird]

I think I'd rather have just one gate. I want to eventually put an automatic opener on it and I think it would be easier to just have the one gate.

[MWG]

One thing to consider is the turning radius of a trailer. How close are you putting the gate to the road? If it is close and you want to / ever had to bring in a goose neck trailer you might consider 2 12 footers. I have a straight shot into my property and use a 16 foot single. I angled the posts so the gate opens when I let go of it... guess I have an automatic one way opener?

[rambler]

Can't imagine less than 16 foot. Can see doing a pair of 12', you only need the opener on one gate which you use with your car, leave the other manual. But if you ever bring a trailer or truck in, narrow gate is a terrible pain.

--->Paul

[Ole Man Legrand]

The gates to all my fields are 14 foot. It takes this much to get a hay rake, ahaybine and a cuttaway thru. The main gate in the driveway is two 8 foot gates for a 16 foot opening.Make sure the gate is not to small.

[wogglebug]

You don't want anything less than 12 feet, and that's if, as others have said, a wide load can get a straight run at the opening. More is better. Here the legal limit where something becomes a "wide load" that requires escort vehicles with flashing lights and warning signs is 8'. However, a load of hay often slops over the sides a bit, so 12' just leaves you a comfortable clearance each side if you can come straight through the opening. If that's the way you go, set up a movable panel of fencing (bushman's gate, Taranaki gate, whatever you call it there) at least 24' wide beside the gate, maybe with droppers along it and a t-post you can pull near the middle, so REALLY wide loads can come through if necessary. Picture that really long low-loader with a bulldozer on it that you've hired to do some earthmoving. Side-by-side gates, one of which only rarely gets opened, is the way to go if you can afford it, but you want something to accomodate a wide load or a load which swings wide; without having to destroy the integrity of your fence.

Who can afford to do their fence all in cattle panels, anyway? Is it a real small property, or am I misunderstanding the way you're fencing it?

[Scrounger]

Don't go smaller then 16'! I have one gate that is 10' and wish it were wider, but it was the only thing I had at the time. So far, I've only had to drive a pickup and small tractor through it, but could have used it bigger. It's a LOT easier to shorten the gate then it is to widen it. In this case - size DOES matter. The bigger the better. You can always have a 60/40 gate. I built one at our old house. Use a 12' for one side and a 6' or 8', for the other. Put a removeable post in where they meet. If you need to go bigger, them slide the post out and open the second gate.

To make the post removeable:

Dig a hole (or drill one) about 14" across and 24" deep. Use a galvanized Chain-link post (the larger ones. Put about 5" of 3/4" rock in the bottom of the hole. Stand the post in the center of the hole and place concrete around the post. Mix the concrete "stiff" so it holds shape better. Let concrete harden.
***NOTE***
Every few minutes as the concrete is hardening, turn the post to "wallow" out the hole slightly. You can also cover the post with grease to help it slip. The main thing it to make the hole a little larger then the post so the post will come out but still stand straight when it's in the hole. Just don't pull the post and allow concrete under it. If you do, it will block drainage. It's pretty simple to do.

[the mama]

Contact the county and ask how wide the gate needs to be for their Rescue and fire trucks.