Cheap DIY gate hinge

There are some great examples of non-metal hinges, in what we might call a "peasant" category, in the junkpole fence thread.  One utilizes a chunk of wood with a depression carved into it, which serves as the bottom hinge point.  One concern was that the bowl thus created would collect water, leading eventually to rot and decay.

I went out this morning to start a gate for the fence around our garden, and lo and behold, there sat a brick in the very spot I needed the bottom hinge.

The inside (hinge side) post of the gate was whittled on each end using a chainsaw, resulting in a crude sharpened-pencil point at top and bottom.  The bottom point was stuck in the middle hole of the brick, which was anchored with a short piece of rebar that was bent into what amounts to a giant staple.  (See last photo.)  The top point was inserted into a depression in a small chunk of wood (made with a 1/2" drill bit, wiggled around to expand the hole size), which itself was screwed to the adjacent walnut tree (see second photo) which serves more or less as my hinge post.  The gate basically floats between these two hinge points, so that it can be lifted slightly to open; when closed the 'latch' end of the gate simply sits on the ground.

As is evident in the first photo, only the frame of the gate is completed; I'll add the uprights (1x2 lumber) shortly.  The entire thing is made of eastern red cedar.

I'd love to see other similar gate hinge ideas that don't require purchased materials, or specialized metal- and/or wood-working equipment.

There were some good examples here. I think it was about wheaton labs junk.pole fence. Either way, pretty ingenious stuff. Thanks for posting.

And... completed gate.  It creaks a fair bit while opening and closing (I'm guessing due to the weight), but it swings quite freely.

Awesome, Wes! I love to see people creating stuff like this, showing that not everything needs to be built with store-bought stuff. Just using what you have can work, too.

Well done!

And the second gate of the day is finished, this one a bit different than the first.

For the hinge, I reused two bent up screw-in hinge pins from a gate-less post in the corral.  Those were screwed into the hinge post, and the horizontal rails of the gate were drilled from underneath, with the holes set on top of the pins.  Like the first gate, the latch end just rests on the ground.  Likely I'll devise some sort of wire latch that just slips over the top of the latch post to keep the gate shut.

More photos.

Great job, Wes.
LargeLars from PeKK Permaculture Kirchhorst in Northern Germany

Beautiful and functional. What more could a person want? Nicely done! What are you using to attach your round poles to the horizontals? Screws? Nails?

Laura Sweany wrote:Beautiful and functional. What more could a person want? Nicely done! What are you using to attach your round poles to the horizontals? Screws? Nails?

Drywall screws.  Easier than nails, both in the putting together and (potentially) eventually taking apart.  Quick, too.

Great reuse of resources.  We have used an upside down bottle that has thumb hold in it to hold the base of the gate as you use the brick.  We dig a hole and place the bottle in upside down.  Backfill being careful not to break the bottle.  Leave the base about 2"(50mm) above the ground level.  The top we use a piece of hoop strap.

Cut pieces of tires make good hinges also.  If you use the tread, they are stiff enough to hold gates that aren't extremely heavy.  On heavy gates, you have to put the bottom of the gate on something as the OP did.  You can use the tire tread for the top hinge.

I'd love to see other similar gate hinge ideas that don't require purchased materials, or specialized metal- and/or wood-working equipment.

From the contrary farmer, Gene Logsdon, in his book Practical Skills written in 1985 and published as an excerpt in his blog:

https://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/an-easy-practical-farm-gate/