Tutorial - Build A Wire Fence Gate

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If you keep stock on your land, you may have barbed wire fencing erected.  Although barbed wire is very effective at controlling slow-moving livestock such as cattle, it can be tricky to navigate when moving around your land.  For this reason, it's important that you incorporate a wire gate into your fencing.  You could ask your fencing contractor to do this for you or you could make your own by following the guidelines in this tutorial.

What you'll need

• wires
• 4 wood stays
• 4 smooth wire stays
• hinge loops
• latch loops
• staples
• spools of barbed and smooth wire

How to do it

1. Before you start, you'll need to decide where you want your gate.  Choose somewhere near to a roadway or track for ease of access.  
2. In order for the gate to open smoothly once it's in place, the fence on either side will need to be firmly reinforced.  When reinforcing the fence, be sure that you get the tension right.  If the tension is too tight, the brace will lean slightly, effectively pulling the gate tight and making it difficult to open.  
3. Fit the hinge loops on the off-side of the gate.  Place the bottom hinge slightly above the bottom strand of wire and the top one just below the top strand.  To make the hinge loops, wrap a piece of smooth wire into a double loop, overlapping the strands to form a double-thickness circle.  Staple the hinges in place.  
4. Now make the latch loops in the same way as the hinges.  Place the bottom latch just slightly off the ground and the top one just below the top of the gate stay.  Staple the latch loops in place.  
5. Next, drop the end gate stays through the loops and tie the bottom wire off on the hinge side.  Fix the intermediate gate stays to each of the fence wires using a piece of smooth wire.  Tie off the wires to remove any slack from the fence.  Staple the wires to the end gate stays.  
6. The completed gate might feel rather tight.  To correct this, push one of the middle stays away at the top and bottom firmly a few times.  The gate should now open freely.

In conclusion

If you have barbed wire stock fencing, you will need an access gate.  Follow the above tutorial to create a wire gate yourself or simply ask your fencing contractor to do the job for you if you prefer.

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13 October 2016