MAKER
Shut the Gate
The boys repair a broken gate
Welp, the boys are back on the job. We’re currently at the tail end of the second innings in a flooding double tap; with day-cares and schools closed locally again. So time to get the old repair crew back together, dust the tools off and gets stuck in. Today’s damage, a broken gate drop bolt.
This was a temporary permanent job when I originally put in it a few years ago; so really, I’m surprised that it’s lasted this long. It was only a matter of time for that fence paling to crack; as they’re all only pine and a little past their prime years. For this repair, we’re not getting too far past what was there, but will be making something slightly more robust. Firstly, another stick of wood to mount the drop bolt on.
A piece of hardwood dunnage dressed up just fine and this time, the piece is cut longer with a rebate at the top. The rebate clears gate frame so that the new mount will be affixed to the paling and the frame. Creating a stronger joint and directing the forces into the steel frame. Let’s load up and head out.
The current paling is no good for re-mounting the drop bolt onto to so we’re going to swap it out for one of the other ones on the fence. Because the bottom has nearly completely cracked off, this is really only going to work with a paling on a post. Any other position has the cracked portion of the paling above the lowest fence rail, floating in the breeze. As (mis)fortune would have it, our resident brushtail possum and joey use the top rail of the fence as a thoroughfare; so half of the palings are already hanging loose. There’s a post one nearby that looks like it’s putting the hand up, so we’ll go with that one. Pull it off fully and swap them over.
While just swapping the two is easy and allows the broken paling to be re-used instead of wasted, I will concede that looks were not front and centre in this consideration. The cracked bottom is fixed to the post, so it isn’t going anywhere now and is mostly hidden.
However, the half cut-out, previously for accessing the D-Latch, sticks out like nobody’s business in the new spot. Some touchup paint once the weather is a little more copacetic will go towards blending it in but for now that’s that. Onto the business end of it.
There’s already a steel pipe driven into the ground for the bolt. The block gets tack screwed into place to line everything up. Metal tapping screws for the gate frame and wood screws through the paling into the block hold the mount secure. Then It’s just a case of closing the gate, securing the drop bolt into position, and screwing everything off. Packup the gear and we’re done until next time.
Looks good from my place anyway.
Thanks for reading.
Kind Regards,
Walker
March 2022
