Gate post, this a good idea or bad idea?

[scorpiox1]

I have just done my drive in sleepers and just the last 2 left but before these goes down i want to redo the garage gate posts. i have some reclaimed heavy hard wood sleepers that i think will do the job nicely. they about about 260 cms tall first i know these would be very good at doing this but what you guys think and i plan on 70cm on the total length of the sleeper in the deck is that enough? i don't think i would need a spreader bar at the top as a sleeper on the drive would be wedged in-between the posts. also the size of the hole what size?

thanks

 

[scorpiox1]

no one?

 

[john4703]

Just how high do you want your gates? 2.6 metre posts could be well over a metre into the ground and still leave you with a decent height for a gate post. I's say that if you dig a neat hole 1200mm deep and put the post into that and back fill correctly it will never move with a normal weight of gate on it.

 

[r896neo]

You are mental 1.2m into the ground is way ott i'd normally say 600mm in good ground. Size wise the most important thing is the shape of the hole it needs to have good tight vertical sides, not tapering towards the top.

I'd make it about 18 inches square and as deep as it feasible. At least 600mm deep but 800 if its not too bad.

Oh and don't use postcrete.

Any chance of a pic i'd be interested to see a driveway of sleepers??

 

[john4703]

You are mental 1.2m into the ground is way ott i'd normally say 600mm in good ground. Size wise the most important thing is the shape of the hole it needs to have good tight vertical sides, not tapering towards the top.

It all depends. I used to live next to a building used by HGVs and I got fed up with them knocking down my wooden fence post. I bought a 3.5m long RSJ (it was about 300 x 200 H section) from a scrap yard and dug a hole 2m deep and about 500mm square, stood the post in it and backfilled with concrete, it was never knocked down again. Make the hole as ridiculously deep as is needed for the situation.

 

[scorpiox1]

Cheers guys for your help. I'll make the hole between 700-800mm deep and then around 18 inches square when it stops ****ing down. the 2 sleepers i plan on using apart from the ends which i will make dead flat level the end that going into the ground are heavy and very square. I'll put a picture up in mo tho its not completed as i gotta lay the slate bricks in and and cut some for the corners once the post are in. if i cant use postcrete what mix should i use?

thanks for your help

 

[scorpiox1]

This was taken last month after i did stage one they are level as they will ever be and they ain't going nowhere. even this stage it looks better than grey concrete and the slate bricks look nice just wont put them all down till its finished but they will be level with the sleepers. the end you cant see is the same as the end you can see. will load a completed pic when the post are in and bricks down.
View media item 48179

 

[r896neo]

Good on you! its nice to see something different.

Personally i think postcrete is really handy but because of the lack of stone in it it's inherantly much weaker than proper concrete.

As well for a gate post which needs to be perfectly plumb concrete will aloow for more checking and adjusting.

standard 3:2:1 mix is fine. 3 clean stone 2 sand 1 cement

 

[scorpiox1]

r896neo thanks lucky i nearly brought the post mix. the best thing was when doing this i had dug it all out then we had rain for week, if it had been concrete we was using i wouldn't of been able to use garage but cos of sleepers i put then length ways to make 2 tracks. just cant wait till its finished