got caught in the box,,,

Big monster gates,,,, Y’all remember those? One wasn’t as big as the other and its the one that bit me.

Put in the carrier posts for it, and I did it,,, I set them Ten Feet apart, which is a normal thing,,,, Only, it wasn’t a normal gate,,,,

So when I made the gate, I did the ‘normal thing’ which is take the opening you are trying to cover, X 1.5+1′ for the cantilever end.

17’8″ opening. 212″ so, 106″+12″=118″ 10 feet is 120,,, no problem right?

WRONG!!! the Rollers add another 8″ and the stops remove 6″ from the length of the moving gate space. So that added 12″ is ‘not there’ anymore,,,, Had a 17″ gap between the end of the gate and the reciever pole. Had I set the poles for half the width of the actual opening, everything would have been fine: I didn’t do that.

I got caught from two different angles on this ‘box’ : what we normally do in installs, and what we normally do in builds, but the situation was outside of said “Box” and I didn’t account for that.

And today I went back and made it ‘more better’,,, NOT RIGHT, mind you, but usable and not needing a complete overhaul. I add another 18″ onto the opening end of the gate and we will lengthen the wire to fit on a later day.

And I paid my penance for the F!U!,,,, This acrophobic welder was hanging for dear life, 12′ in the air, to add those peices on, and yea, maybe it took longer than it should have (had to take breaks to get my nerves settled down) but its DONE, SOLID, and the welds are flat perfect (considering I was rattled from being up there on a, IMO, too damned tall step ladder.)

And everything had to be made ‘On Site’ as bossman was NOT going to expend the labor to take the gate back down and haul it back to the shop. Pipe cut to length, notches cut with a grinder, stops and B-wire arms removed, ground smooth and relocated to thier new homes. My only problem with it being; it looks like the after thought it is. My preference would have been to extend the cantilever side (would have looked better IMO) but Son of Bossman didn’t want to risk the welds breaking from all the hanging weight they would be subjected to. And they would have an easy thousand pounds to support, so I can’t say as I had much argument. I don’t have the math or engineering skills to show otherwise,,,, (and there is that “time and wear and tear” thing to account for)

I fucked up. I fixed it. And I didn’t gripe about the conditions because there wasn’t an alternative that wasn’t going to cost even more. (not my money, but I do watch the margins as if it were. or try to,,,,)

But I have to tell you; You can take those damnable ladders and send them to hell and I wouldn’t mind a bit,,,, Scissor lifts are even worse for me. Hates to get my feet off terra firma. (unless its into a kayak,,,, ;-P )