Farm gates

SHALER · Mar 18, 2019

I am replacing a few pipe gates around the place. Old ones rusted out, damaged, bent, etc. I think the old ones lasted 30 years or so. You can buy pipe gates for like $7 or $8 bucks a foot at the farm supply store but I wonder if I would be just buying replacements in 5 or 10 years because these gates failed. What to look for? Brands? Gauges?

Texasmark1 · Mar 18, 2019

I bought some of the popular galvanized sheet steel 40 years ago. Only thing that failed was the hinge which is a slide in piece of metal that could be fabricated personally, or might be able to buy OEM replacements. Have some more modern tubular as are popular today. Bought in 2005. Paint faded but otherwise in good condition. Galvanized versions still ok.

DoubleR · Mar 18, 2019

If you go with the Farm Store pipe gates you will be much better off with the two inch pipe as opposed to the 1 5/8 pipe that the cheaper ones are. Cattle can bend them smaller pipe gates pretty easy. The 2 inch will cost more though.

MJMJ · Mar 18, 2019

Depends on usage. I have a range from light duty gates to heavy bull gates. All do what they need to do and none show any signs of rust except for a couple 40 year old gates. I tend to use mostly "medium" duty gates from your typical farm store brand like Tarter for regular pasture gates.
If you're not keeping animals in, the light duty ones work fine. I've yet to see one rust out.

TomA in CA · Mar 18, 2019

I have some Tartar gates and panels, the cows have turned them
into pretzels. Never again.

MJMJ · Mar 18, 2019

If cows are pushing gates so hard they're bending them, the gates aren't the problem. But for high pressure areas like corrals, I would agree they aren't the right choice. Growing up we made most of our pasture gates with nothing but a bit of fence and two poles.

rrlund · Mar 18, 2019

You get what you pay for. Different gates have different uses. There's a guy from Liberty KY who stops in here. He gets them from Green River Gate down by Dunnville. We use the big 2 inch ones in the corrals and feedlots,they hold up fine. The smaller inch and a half or whatever they are work good in the pastures and lanes. Trick is to get them up on the hinges and keep them out of the dirt and manure. Tarter's not the only game in town. Last I knew there were 17 gate companies in Casey County.

ADB-Ia · Mar 18, 2019

If you are holding livestock, you will spend more money buying cheap gates than if you pay more for good gates. Plus your cattle will learn to try out a gate if they succeed at breaking one down. If the gate holds them once they aren't as likely to try again. In a sense you train your cattle to break down gates by having weak gates.

1130Leo · Mar 18, 2019

The only gates I have found to hold up to cattle are from Priefert the Tarter crap is just that. spend a few extra bucks and buy and install once, instead of yearly....

rrlund · Mar 18, 2019

Some other ones that came to mind,and I thought somebody else would bring it up by now,Sioux uses a thicker tube than most. I've got two or three or them here that I've picked up on auctions over the years that seem to be indestructible. They're heavy though. If you need to move one alone,you'd better have a loader handy.

fixerupper · Mar 18, 2019

We used to have some Powder River gates. Heavy and they flexed a bit but they seemed to hold up well enough. I liked their slide latches but if the cattle we're abusive a chain was more trustworthy than the slide latch.

BarnyardEngineering · Mar 18, 2019

I dunno. Seemed to me like the animals would wreck 'em no matter if they were the cheap ones or the expensive ones, so may as well buy the cheap ones.

The ones I'm buying now are just to back up an electric fence in the yard, so it looks like there's something solid behind the wire until they realize the wire bites.

4520BW · Mar 18, 2019

We make our own out of stainless tubing,same for the round bale feeders.

newhollandnut · Mar 18, 2019

Ben buying 2? galvanized at our local feed store and really happy with them

JD Seller · Mar 18, 2019

I only buy Sioux Gates. A good gate will cost $20 a foot. The Sioux gates have a life time warranty. There best gate is the Victory model. They make them in 60 and 50 inch tall gates. They have 2 inch x 16 gauge steel tubes. A 16 foot tall Victory gate weights 186 lbs. Not light at all.

If I have time I build mine. Not as cheap as you can buy them but I use heavier tubing and gusset the corners and middles. All our sorting gates we build. I make them a full 70 inches tall and use 2 inch x 3/16ths square tubing. I have never had a steer/bull/cow break one. I have had them break the hinges but never bend the gate in the middle. My home built 16 foot gates weight just under 300 lbs. If I hang one on a single post I usually put a support wheel on the free end. Keeps them from sagging.

jm. · Mar 20, 2019

R that is for sure the GATE capital of the world right there. YEARS ago I delivered a loader to mr. Tarder at a saw mill there as you go into town. He was showing me how he had developed this system to roll tubing from metal. Said he though he would get where he could roll maybe 5 miles a day.. No telling now how many miles of tubing they roll now days. Sure has come a long way in my life. His original business was making gates from wood he sawed at the sawmill. One can drive thru up there now and one day maybe see 30 to 50 trucks loaded there ready to go.

Farm gates

SHALER

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Texasmark1

Well-known Member

DoubleR

Well-known Member

MJMJ

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TomA in CA

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MJMJ

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rrlund

Well-known Member

ADB-Ia

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1130Leo

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rrlund

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fixerupper

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BarnyardEngineering

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4520BW

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newhollandnut

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JD Seller

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jm.

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