Here is the problem: The top hinge keeps rotating allowing the gate to fall off the hinge.
The 16' gate is hung on a 6" round fence post. The hinge is threaded and goes all the way through the post. I have a washer and bolt near the hinge, and a washer and bolt where the threaded portion comes out of the post. I tighten these bolts to the point the washers are sinking into both sides of the post. For some reason the hinge is still able to rotate with time and movement.
How do I stop the hinge from rotating and allowing the gate to fall off the hinge?
Well, if the post is metal, spot weld your hinge onto the post. If your post is wooden you can take a short piece of 6" ID pipe and slide it over your wooden post and run the hinge bolt through it and then do your spot weld.
Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helps. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Joe, I have a gate like that but mine is set to a 6x6 and it has not been a problem. I don't know if it makes a difference but I set mine with the top hinge pin pointing down and the bottom one pointing up so the gate can not be lifted off the hinge. I am not sure if that would help your situation or not. The other thought I had was to pull the offending hinge and put a good shot of "Gorilla Glue" in the hole and remount. If you are not familiar with this glue it expands as it dries and should lock in the bolt. Home Depot sells the stuff though it isn't cheap and you might have a hard time removing in the future.
It would sound like the top hinge pin that is bolted to the gate post does not have enough vetical length or the hinge on the gate is not deep enough .
The other possibilty may be the top hinge pin is set a little to low on the gate post and there is enough slop on the fittings to allow the gate to ride up and exert horizontal pressure on the gate post hinge pin thus turning it.
Tie a rope from the botom of the post to the top of the gate and keep iy tight. Might help ????
Or are there other circumstances allowing animals to rub on the fence or is it locked impeedind someones access?
Wow! Lots of good ideas... The Gorilla Glue seems the easiest, the metal weld is probably the most permanent, and egon may have pointed out a problem with the lack of slop in the hinge. Now I am going to go back and investigate with these ideas in mind.
Drill a hole near the end of the part of the hinge pin that the gate slips over. This can be done before the hinge pin is mounted to the post or afterward. Insert a cotter key or hair pin. I use this method to prevent cattle from lifting the gate off the hinge. As stated by someone else, you can also turn the top hinge pin down.
Get yourself 2 6 or 8 inch long 1/4 in lag screws. Position the gate as you want it and then put a lag screw on each side of the hinge. The lag screws will keep the hinge from rotating from rotating.