Wired Magazine

Nick and Amy Peacock switched from solid satisfying rural careers to building a new fencing contracting business in Waipukurau from scratch. 

The change required “a big mental step”. Nick says it has been worth it.

“We are creating something for ourselves, and we are in charge of our own destiny.” 

Nick sports several years of corporate and hands-on experience working in farm and hill country station manager roles across the Hawke’s Bay; Amy has a background in rural training and sales. Ultimately the couple were working towards a dream goal of farm ownership but avenues such as leasing and equity partnership seemed difficult to achieve given the scale they wanted to work at. 

“We were creeping up towards our 40s. For a long time, we were seeing the kinds of farms that we managed and good first-farms being put to other land uses. We were seeing what was happening with older managers who had worked their whole lives growing someone else’s business.”

We didn’t want to end up at retirement age and it be a case of should’a, could’a, would’a. We started looking outside the box to work to our strengths.

Nick had fenced with contractors in Australia, the UK and the Hawke’s Bay and throughout his farming career and both were no stranger to running businesses for other people. After throwing the idea of fencing contracting around for a couple of years, the couple started Ridgeline Fencing in September 2019 specialising in rural, lifestyle and horticultural fencing. 

Nick says he misses the challenge of running larger scale breeding businesses, his dogs and skill involved in being a good stockman, but life as a fencing contractor delivers other advantages: working for himself, creating rural career paths for others in the local community, completing a job to the highest standard that they can do, and making more quality time for family.

Starting up, the biggest challenge has been finding good staff. Ridgeline Fencing runs three fulltime staff who work alongside Nick. Amy runs the finance and administration side of the business. Then, they have a couple of young lads who come in every school holidays, and they’ve just taken on a 16-year old school leaver. 

“All our current guys have come to Ridgeline Fencing via word of mouth. They have approached us saying ‘we hear you are good to work with’. That is really cool for us because we are passionate about creating a good work environment.”

The most important thing new staff can bring to the Ridgeline Fencing, over and above any fencing skills, is that they are good people and they fit well with the team. Shouldering that team fit goes both ways. 

“We have been both staff and the boss at the same time,” says Nick. “Now we are business owners. We’re the employers. We need to make our team feel welcome. Whether they are young, or new to fencing, they know they can talk to us about anything.” 

Nick says they’re lucky. “We are still a young business. We have a really good crew, and we are looking forward to growing our staff and growing a happy team. They are our most important asset. There’s an expectation in the industry that if you develop your staff, and you do your job right, they will fly the nest. For us, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing all of them go on and do great things with their lives.”

Taking on a large fencing project for Waka Kotahi, New Zealand’s national transport agency, has been a way to expand and challenge the team.

It’s all conventional fences sectioning off the roadside planting along the Woodville-Ashhurst Highway. This first stage is close to 20kms. Nick says the project has taken a lot of pre-planning going on before even putting a post in the ground, a lot of forward planning, logistics, making sure everything up to spec, managing staff and travel. Getting the posts in the ground was another story.

“It’s quite steep country, very rocky. For about a third of the fencing we were actually above the windmills and looking down. Sometimes you thought you didn’t need a staple to hold the wire on to the fence. The winter has been very wet. It’s been tough on the guys and the equipment. There were some pretty trying conditions for a while.”

“The biggest thing for us is making sure that the job doesn’t get monotonous for the crew. We were able to work it with the guys dipping in and out to other jobs, providing some variety, avoiding burnout, and ensuring no one gets fatigued from the same thing day in and day out.”

Amy and Nick approach fencing the same as farming, looking at ways to be innovative, to learn and grow. That’s where their motto of working smarter rather than harder comes in.

“Jobs like the Woodville-Ashhurst Highway are a really great example of just how important it is to have the right gear: our Stockade tools, post and batten staplers, our two rammers, the tracked Evo Protech rammer and our dozer set up with the Kinghitter Series 5 rammer” 

“We had a Stockade pneumatic batten stapler from right at the start. Obviously, it is miles better than hand stapling. It wasn’t until one of the guys who works for me said ‘have you tried the Stockade post stapler?’ I looked at it and I thought it would be a nice tool, but it would be another expense on a young business – but by three weeks later I had bought my second one. That’s how good they are. They have saved so much time and effort. They are a brilliant invention.” 

 

 

Article supplied by Stockadewww.stockade.com/nz/

Read WIRED online

Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

Chris Bullmore has been a fencing contractor for 25 years located around the Queanbeyan area in Southern NSW. Chris has been an integral part of the Wandiyali-Environa wildlife sanctuary, helping to erect the 10km fox and cat proof fence enclosing the 1000-acre property.

However, the fence line ran through some creek gaps, one that was 30m across and another that was 25m across. Due to the sensitive nature of the enclosure, these needed to be fenced.

After seeing the Waratah flood posts in market and having used Waratah products in many jobs before, Chris was keen to explore how he could use the flood posts in exclusion fencing applications to help protect the enclosure and prevent any rising costs they might encounter from future whether events.

Chris installed Ezypipe® strainer posts on each side of the creek, followed by a cable wire to install the multiple Waratah flood posts. Finishing off the fence with clipping on Longlife Blue® netting to enclose the waterway with the existing fence line.

This design meant that as flood waters raised, the flood posts pushed the netting up and allowed logs and other debris to pass under the netting. This helps to allow the fence to stay intact during whether events.

Chris explained that this has saved the project a massive amount of money, “Without the flood posts the netting would have been destroyed, and to replace that portion of the fence would be roughly about $2,000 per creek crossing, and with the number of events we have had over the last year, the cost adds up to about $24,000 in the last two years alone. And this doesn’t account for the time it takes to go back and mend these crossings.”

“Every Creek is different, but the Waratah flood posts really work, there is no comparable alternative to them.”

“As a contractor it is important to use products that are consistent, the Waratah products are honestly the best I’ve used.”  

Article supplied by:

www.waratahfencing.co.nz

Published in the Difficult & Demanding Fenclines Feature in WIRED Issue 67 / December 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online
Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

Tim Garrick of T Garrick Fencing (Whakatutu) represents much needed younger blood into the industry. Working in good genuine Gisborne hill country Tim tackles this type of work as a backbone to his business. 

The job 

This was a recent job, carried out in late September/ October this year, having booked it in to fit around larger jobs that were looming with summer approaching. It was priced on a metre rate, factoring the travelling to the back of the job and the augering required due to the varying ground conditions.

This job was located 45min north of Gisborne, a Matawai conservation area or locally known as Block 93. The Job was a boundary between farmland and Department of Conservation land bush. It was a kilometre of 2100 mm H deer fencing, the last portion of a three-kilometre job.

The fence line was on the back of the property, about a 30 minute ride out on quad bikes when conditions were good. The ridgeline is about 1000m altitude and quite exposed, on the edge of bushland with big bluffs and signs of upheaval from tectonic plates.

The tools 

The fence line was put in by another bulldozer operator who the farmer uses and a Excavator, mainly wiping scrub 

off and the excavator clearing the line (Tim has a Komatsu 31P with a rear mounted FENCEQUIP that he normally clears lines with).

The farmer carted in and laid out the material. Post spacings were closed up to 3 metres, as requested by the farmer to help with pressure from the deer and to allow for following the ground contour better. The fence was erected as the farm runs commercial deer and the fence would also be used to trap wild deer. 

The challenge

Ground conditions varied greatly with rim rock, compromising of sandstone and fossilised rock, pumice and everything in between. Tim drilled it with a Revolution planetary Auger kit and FENCEQUIP 100 mm Auger for inline posts and 150 mm Auger for angles and strainers.

Footing and staying was adapted to suit ground conditions. Some tie backs were necessary due to needing access up and down line. Some footing was not needed in the solid rock otherwise swinging foots were used in normal soil. 

While Tim and his team were up there working a weather bomb came through – it snowed throughout the day and the area got a good dump overnight, slowing things down momentarily!  

Written by Debbie White and Tim Garrick
www.facebook.com/T-Garrick-Fencing

Published in the Difficult & Demanding Fencelines Feature in WIRED Issue 67 / December 2022 by Fencing Contacts Association NZ

Read WIRED online

Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

Naming your business High Country Fencing indicates your intent; big country, big jobs, the type of work whose environment challenges you on even the most mundane of days.

High Country Fencing has been working at Mt Alford Station for past 4 years on various High Country jobs including re-fencing flat country. Mt Alford Station is a 2,291 hectare cattle and sheep breeding and finishing venture, operating on four distinctly different classes of land. All but 75 hectares has been purchased over the past 5 years and are either completely or currently being re-developed. More than 350 hectares of indigenous vegetation and wetlands have been fenced off permanently from livestock and over 100 hectares of exotic forestry planted. 

The job

In late summer/autumn 2021 High Country Fencing undertook a boundary fence for the Department of Conservation and Mt Alford Station Conservation Fence – fencing off  native bush. 

The job was planned for that time of year to ensure it was dry enough to have the bulldozer working and for environmental and health and safety reasons.

The tools

The equipment used was a Bulldozer with a side mounted Fencepro post driver, creating no need to back up to install posts. The operator is always behind the dozer for safety but it’s also good for keeping away from the cliff edge/loose terrain. A 13.5 T Excavator was used for some areas with a Waratah Post Driver and Rock Drill. Access was via ATVs and explosives was used in the rock.

The challenge

The terrain was steep even by High Country Fencing’s standards and it was thought a helicopter would be required to drop gear onto the hill sides, but they managed with a sledge on the dozer – making the job cheaper for the client. 

There was distance and inaccessibility to parts of the jobsite, with an hour’s drive out the back of the station to get to the job site, then having to get onto ATV to get out to the fence line, with the track not suitable for vehicles.

The ground varied greatly with areas of clay that were greasy and very sticky when wet, like giant skid pads. And the rock! Lots of rock, with rock drilling using the Excavator required and T irons used in places where posts couldn’t get to. Explosives were used for blasting rock on some areas.

The weather had its say, with early snow, and wind up to 150 kms/ph causing suspension and disruptions to work.

The big flood of June 2021 washed the tracks out to the jobsite, luckily the job had just been finished and the bulldozer was still warm from having been brought out to the front of the station.

Health & Safety

Dealing with the risks on this type of  job involved: 

• Communication systems;
• A good emergency plan with workers well briefed in scenarios; 
• Keeping the dozer operator seated at the controls and with blade down at all times to help take the pressure off the handbrake; 
• No ground crew working below the dozer in case of loose rocks and/or machinery slippage; 
• Always accessing the terrain on foot first – looking for rocks that dozer tracks could slide and skate down; 
• Planning for access with a plan that allowed for viable weather changes during the day; and
• Fire risk: two readily positioned fire extinguishers on every piece of machinery, including ATVS.  

 

Article by Debbie White and Geoff Rogers

www.highcountryfencing.co.nz

Published in the Difficult & Demanding Fencelines Feature in WIRED Issue 67 / December 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online
Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

Having gained a lifetime of tractor experience in various locations around the country as a sharemilker and now fencing waterways, swamps and wet areas, Shane Beets from A1Fenceworx could be called a bit of an expert when it comes to fencing in wet areas. He says the most important thing is to be prepared. 

Know your soils

“Know your soil type, recognise what the weather has been doing and how it might impact your ability to put machinery across wet ground and what the weather is likely to do while you are on the job,” is Shane’s advice. “Consider what materials will be suitable, especially for boundary fencing. When you are quoting the job, build in an extra margin for ‘what ifs’.”

Shane thinks heavier soils like clay can be easier to get stuck in, but if you put down longer posts they are more likely to stay there. He says heavy soil doesn’t move much, and you get a suction effect. 

“Lighter soils like peat and light volcanic are easier to fence but give it a few years and the fence may start to lean over. Longer droughts are making it worse by further drying out light soils making them crumbly and unstable. Soils on a pan are hard to get a post in, but they don’t move once through the pan” says Shane. 

Shane thinks swamp fencing is probably the most difficult to do. Longer, heavier strainers and bigger blocked stays are essential, footings are harder to do. 

“We find it more cost-effective, with a better result to put down longer posts. We always have spare 2.4 or 2.7 posts on hand. Longer posts are also a better option on moving ground.”

Shane says managing the tractor driver is critical. The guy on the post driver can see what is happening with the tractor tyres better than the driver. They approach each post from an angle and drive in and out on each set of tracks once. He says keeping up on rushes and other vegetation helps reduce sinking. They have been known to cut branches off a handy Willow tree and lay them where the tractor will drive. “It’s always easier to prepare and lay the branches before you get stuck. And if you do get stuck, stop early” says Shane.  

Experience pays off for Shane

Having once been one, Shane says a farmer is going to be happier to pull a fencer out that has not made a big mess and bellied his tractor. He says that he has experienced the embarrassment of making an ‘I’m stuck again’ call 15 minutes after being pulled out. 

He says they slowly “feel” their way into a swamp and fence downhill. The tractor is less likely to get stuck going backwards down a swamp. If you have a compressor handy, let some air out of the tyres.

“We do a lot of road driving with the tractors so don’t have cleats or duals. That’s never stopped us though. The whole team just have a chat about it and make a plan, then get the job done.”

Shane also suggests that when fencing along or across waterways, fencing contractors put some thought into how the fence will perform if it floods. 

“Ask the landowner how high the water comes up and suggest an additional margin for serious flooding.” 

Shane remembers fencing all the waterways on a local dairy farm. “The farmer was an old chap that would not spare a blade of grass and he was so angry that Fonterra was making him fence them all. I advised him that the fence should be installed further back. The farmer said “no way.” 6 months later, after 2 big floods, kilometers of fencing were gone.”

Shane says when the team fence across a stream, they set up break away points so that if a flood were to take out a fence, it will take out a small section only, making it quick and cheap to fix. They install a decent strainer each side of the waterway, but out of the main flow zone and tie weaker ties that will give in a flood, as well as staple the wires on the downstream side to further assist with the fence breaking away, but hopefully leaving the posts in place.

People have lots of small dams in Northland, and it is not an unusual request to build a jetty on a dam. The team usually do 3-4 each year and with A1fenceworx life styler client base, these types of requests are becoming more common. Shane picks his time and does them in the driest part of summer, getting out as far as possible for the client.

A recent job that A1fenceworx did, was interesting, says Shane, but not one that he would want to do every day. 

“The client requested a 100-meter retaining wall, on the boundary, in the estuary, on peat soil with tree stumps underneath. A fair challenge, so I accepted the job and did our planning with the guys. We had a second tractor on site just in case.”

When they started it was nice and dry, and the client had laid tree mulch from gum trees he had cut down, but unfortunately, it started raining the second day in and it didn’t stop. “The job turned into a bog, the mulch pushed under the mud, and it was very unpleasant going. We got the tractor stuck – it wedged on a buried tree stump – but with a bit of planning and the second tractor, it popped right out” says Shane. 

Because it was peat, Shane said he decided to use 3.6m long building poles with a SED (small end diameter) of 225mm. And they were heavy. The team had to slide them off the tractor forks onto place and lift them with two and sometimes three of the guys. The rails were 200x50mm and also a challenge to fit in the mud. 

“Even though our best laid plans were put to the test, if we hadn’t planned for the worst, the job would have been a disaster. As it turned out, the wall is very strong and looks great and the client is super happy” Shane says. 

“Northland is notorious for having wet and difficult ground to fence, especially in the winter and even though the team are used to it we still plan and approach wet areas with caution” says Shane. “We hadn’t had a tractor stuck for about 3 years until the retaining wall job. A bit of common sense always pays off and we never just charge on in.” 

 

Article written by Shane Beets and Heather Kawan
www.a1fenceworx.co.nz

Published in the Difficult & Demanding Fencelines Feature in WIRED Issue 67 / December 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online
Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

NorthTec | Te Pūkenga is launching the NZ Certificate in Fencing (Level 4) in 2023. The course will be aimed at those who are currently managing or want to manage a fencing crew.

The certificate builds on the foundations of the NZ Certificate in Fencing (Level 3) with a focus on fence and stockyard design and construction, managing staff and client relationships, and leadership skills.

“We’re excited to be offering the next step for our graduates and those who have been working in the fencing industry,” says Jim Smith, Pathway Manager for Agriculture at NorthTec | Te Pūkenga. “With this new qualification, learners will be able to take the next step in their careers and open up the pathway to management or solo business ownership.”

The programme is designed to suit the needs of people already working in the industry. It’s no secret that people are busy with full-time work and need to shape learning and assessments around their jobs. We can’t all commit to full-time study.

With this in mind, NorthTec | Te Pūkenga has created a programme where most of the assessments can be done on the job, as part of the workday, rather than taking time outside work to complete. That way you can still gain new skills and gain qualifications without sacrificing part of your paycheck or your valuable free time.

The programme will be delivered using online zoom tutorials, online learning, and one-on-one worksite visits, so learners will need access to a computer and a stable internet connection. However, the majority of the work will be done on the job through a hands-on learning approach.

Like the Level 3 course, the NZ Certificate in Fencing (Level 4) is available across Aotearoa New Zealand and is not limited to the Northland area. This provides training to fencing workers across the country. 

The course aims to provide the fencing industry with people who have the knowledge and practical skills to design and construct fences, interpret a livestock yard design and construct a yard to meet client requirements; and the ability to lead a team and manage client relationships. 

This not only improves outcomes for the learner, giving them the ability to work their way up in the workplace, but it also provides great benefits for the industry by providing highly skilled and knowledgeable workers. 

Five papers make up the course. This includes Fence Line Design and Specifications, Fence Line Construction, Livestock Yard Design and Specifications, Livestock Yard Construction, and Managing Client Relations and Teamwork. Learners will have constructed a set of commercial yards by the end of the course.

Graduates of the programme will be able to manage fencing and yard design and construction both solo and as a team leader or crew manager. 

Applicants must have completed the NZ Certificate in Fencing (Level 3) or have 3+ years experience working in the fencing industry, be managing a crew or can assist in managing a crew or team, and be physically able to do the particle parts of the programme. 

For more information, see northtec.ac.nz/programmes/new-zealand-certificate-in-fencing-level-4  

Article supplied by NorthTec | Te Pūkengawww.northtec.ac.nz

Published in the Training & Events Feature in WIRED Issue 67 / December 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online
Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

Building a new set of stockyards is a huge expense for farmers in this day and age, with prices of both timber and steel increasing more rapidly than ever. It shows the lengths farmers will go to ensure quality of animal health by maintaining farm infrastructure. 

Well built yards make it a lot easier, safer and more efficient for everyone involved in working with the stock including farm workers, vets, technicians and truck drivers. In the last few years we have built several sets of yards, both sheep and cattle in the South Canterbury region. Timber yards with steel gates and concrete floors still seem to be the most popular choice.

When designing a set of yards, concept designs are usually drafted while sitting at the kitchen table. It’s a rough plan, sometimes a coffee cup or even a beer bottle might be used to draw a circle race. I like to take two or three different ideas to a client and then discuss with them what will work for their farm and things usually develop from there. It all depends on how many stock units they are wanting to run, what the purpose of the yards is and how big the pen sizes need to be. I ask if they want a round pen with a backing gate or just a normal forcing pen; how many sliding gates they want in the race and if they want a single or double load out ramp. Generally, clients are very receptive to advice on how to go about things and they welcome suggestions.

Stockyards require a lot of accuracy when driving posts and care needs to be taken with measuring and marking out so that spacings are the correct size. However, the yards are mostly built prior to going through and measuring all of the gateways to ensure perfect accuracy for slam catches. It also makes it a lot easier having the gates fabricated after the posts are driven and yards are built so you’re not trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. 

This does mean there can be a bit of wait time where the yards aren’t able to be used until the gates show up and are installed but in the long run it is more efficient. If we are using pre-fabricated gates, we always make sure the gates are on site prior to post driving to ensure the measurements are dead right. 

In South Canterbury we have some good local engineers building our gates and ramps; Gibson Bros Limited in Fairlie and Agriboss Engineering in Timaru. We use a lot of Te Pari slam catches and also some of their pre-fabricated gates. The Te Pari slam catches are good to use even on the custom-made gates as there is the benefit of being able to purchase both right-handed and left-handed catches and they have 25mm of adjustment if there is any movement with timber shrinkage. In sheep yards, standard gate chains are often used but it is down to the preference of the client.

Cattle Yards

For cattle yards, we tend to use a lot of 2.4m gates. It’s a good size that you can fit enough animals through, but if you want to stop one you still have a reasonably big presence in the gateway when standing in it. It’s also a good size practically as the gates are normally light enough that you can slam them fast and they tend to stand the test of time without sagging too much. They are also easier to transport and hang at this size. We usually go for 1400mm high and have six rails spaced 150mm wide at the bottom, getting further apart at the top. 50mm x 50mm galvanised box section is used. When hanging yard gates, we like the gudgeons to come off the post at a 45° angle so that the gate will swing right back to the boards and you also get a bit of adjustment in the gudgeons to get it sitting right. If your gate isn’t hung right it won’t meet the slam catch and in some cases won’t swing right back (not to mention it looks awful).

In the last year or two we have built three sets of yards for a large client in South Canterbury. We built some sale pens on a station for a calf sale venue, and a set of cattle yards on a dairy farm for young stock. The other set were large scale yards on their run-off block which were built to manage about one thousand cows. They have large holding pens, a large round forcing pen, a 20m long race split into three with sliding gates and a double load out ramp. When building the large set of yards we stripped an old set of cattle yards which was being pulled down and salvaged what was still in good condition in terms of steel gates. It was good to be able to re-use some of the materials without them going to waste and some of the original gates were also modified by the engineers to get them to suit the new yards. The double load out ramp and 32 new gates were made by Gibson Bros Limited.

Sheep Yards

Sheep yards have more variation in gate size usually, ranging from 450mm x 900mm to 3000mm x 900mm. When building sheep yards, generally you are working around more of what is already there, including building a load in race into a woolshed. Recently we built a completely new set of sheep yards, again with custom steel gates from Gibson Bros Limited. For this project the gates were galvanized steel frames made from angle iron and box section. We then bolted in three 150mm x 25mm boards inside the angle iron frame so they were a combination of timber and steel. The top board needs to be flush with the top of the steel so that there is no gap in which a sheep dog could get a paw stuck and get hurt.

Building yards is a rewarding aspect of fencing because the finished product is quite an art. It’s always great to get a few photos from above when you have finished a set so that you can appreciate the full capacity of the project. The process of building yards forces you to think and calculate a bit more than your standard fence so it can be a good challenge at times. Just like with fencing, it’s good to be able to drive past and see the yards working well when the job is finished.  

Article written by Dan Douglass 

www.facebook.com/dandouglassfencing

Published in the Gates Feature in WIRED Issue 66 / September 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online

Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)

WIREMARK® Golden Pliers winner, 10 x Fieldays Silver Spades winner and former FCANZ Chairman Wayne Newdick, provides a quick hanging a gate how-to using best practice techniques. 

Make an effort to level the top of the strainer distance 3660mm gate inside measurement usually minus 40mm assuming the gate opens 180 degrees.

Tools

–  2 short levels 250mm one of which is magnetic
–  30mm ring spanner
–  Small sledge
–  Drill and bit 19-20 mm
–  Tape
–  Spade

Method

1.  Stand the gate in position on the ground, check for slam ie: 30mm and make sure the gudgeon position will not cause binding.
2.  At this stage, I simply put a vertical pencil mark above the top hinge to determine the entry point to drill through the centre of the strainer in line with a hinge.
3.  Lie the gate on the ground.
4.  Most top hinges line up with the bottom of the top bar of the gate. Simply measure from the top of the gate to the bottom of the top bar and add 15mm for the centre of your top gudgeon.
5.  Transfer that mark to the strainer and with a short level transfer the mark that you put above the hinge to the horizontal mark indicating the centre of your gudgeon.
6.  If using a lock thru, hold this across the face below the mark you have just put on the strainer.
7.  Then mark the top of the lock and this will give you the centres. Now drill both at the same time using a short level to ensure the drill bit is level.
8.  Fit the gudgeon and lift the gate on, then put a spade under the latch end of the gate, sometimes on the top of the blade, if it’s too far off the ground put the handle of the spade under the pipe on the top of the gate, or you can use a straight handled spade with a holder (as per photo below).
9.  Sit the top of the gate above the slam. The amount depends on the gate, a Standard gate is 20-30mm. 
10.  Then put the magnetic level just above the bottom hinge to get plumb. Try to keep both gudgeons in line.
11.  Once the gate is plumb drill the bottom gudgeon hole using the second same as the top.
12.  Generally, long pin is used on the bottom, making it easier to fit the gate.
13.  All gates are different with drop. Standard gates with a brace don’t drop much, 20-30mm.
14.  Plastic inserted hinges drop less.
15.  Some heavier gates and those without a brace can drop anything from 30-50mm or more

Most of the time it’s just practise mixed with a good guess.

I only use blocks of wood or wedges to lift a gate if I’m on concrete or hard metal. This same system is how I swing gates to ground as well.  

Article written by Wayne Newdick

Published in the Gates Feature in WIRED Issue 66 / September 2022 by Fencing Contractors NZ

Read WIRED online
Follow us on Facebook

© Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ)