New Gates

Native Live edge Gate

Three years ago, we had whipped up a few gates out of some birch trees that fell in a storm. Like most property owners, trying to maintain a farm takes tremendous time. .

Birch Limb Gate

Those gates lasted four years and looked great for the first two. Year three they appeared weathered and worn, but still functioned. By year four they were destroyed. We expected this. We liked the look of the limbs with the silver birch bark. We also knew that the oils in the bark would lead to rapid wood decay.

It happened. I went to open the gate and realized it was no longer stable. The bottom limb was in contact with the ground causing it to rot even faster. The rest of the gat was rotted, just not as much.

Suddenly our paddock gates were not a someday project, but a to-day project. We had a decision to make. I could have easily cut down a few small trees to rebuild the limb style gates. But we had done that several times over the years. I also did not want to take the time to fell, buck, and notch the limbs. We also have a saw mill with piles of "first cuts". Off to the piles I went. Finding some nice wide boards, I began laying out the new gate designs. As you see in the gate below, the bottom boards natural taper matched the slope of the ground.

Knowing that Sarah loves the natural flow of the live edge boards, I made every attempt to keep them full thickness for the aesthetics. She also dislikes wasting materials, so the hinges and field fencing from the old gates were re-used in the new one.

The field fencing also served as the template as it was the correct size for the fence opening. I made the gates in reverse, placing the top and bottom boards face down on the ground. The "face" by the way, was the side I liked the best; totally subjective. I placed the fencing over them, accounted for the ground slope, and then placed the vertical boards over the fencing. Everything was screwed together with tan deckmate screws from the backside. The ends and center were necessary, but the gate just looked empty so I added the two slant pieces for looks more than anything else. They do add some strength but it was not necessary. Now we have beautiful gates for our upper and lower fields. They function well and should last us for many years to come.