The right way to prevent twisting on a 8 foot gate that opens over a sloped surface

fencegates

I had an 8 foot gate installed recently. The rails are pressure treated 2×4 and there are 4 hinges attaching it to a post.

We put a spring loaded wheel on the end to hold it up (it opens over a slope so a regular wheel wouldnt work), but unfortunately that is causing the gate to twist a bit (see pictures).

I was thinking of either

  • attaching another spring wheel on the other side, or
  • installing a bolt latch to at least keep it straight while closed, or
  • adjusting the position somehow so that the wheel is closer to the center of gravity of the gate

Whats the right way to do this?

Twisting gate

Best Answer

From the picture it looks as though the wheel is mounted too low as the spring looks completely compressed in the closed position currently. This is causing the twisting as it likely needs an additional 1/2" to an 1" of travel to not cause twisting.

I would suggest mounting the wheel slightly higher and also mounting the wheel on the right side of the upright on the 1.5" face to get the wheel closer to the centerline of the fence. You may need to trim off a bit of the edge most fence board so the wheel can still rotate freely.

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