You might be familiar with having your animals rubbing on the gates until the gate falls to pieces and the cattle escape. This gate latch keeps the gate fiddle string tight and yet anyone can open it but the animals cannot open it. We have had them for more than 5 years and have never had one opened by an animal, remember, our cattle have horns.
Single Gate Latch
Double Gate Latch
Notice that there is an electric fence attached to the post, this is the way to fence. Also notice that the brace post is a 6 inch (15 cm) thick post that is 8 feet (2.4 m) long and is buried 4 feet (1.2 m) into the ground. Then a 4 by 6 inch (10 by 15 cm) by 10 foot (3 m) square beam is placed across the top of the two posts. This makes a very strong corner or end brace, which is a necessity in electric fencing. This method also works with normal barb wire fence too. The braces and fence last a lot longer then if just a 6 foot (1.8 m) post is pounded into the ground.
The gate latch is lag screwed into the post and/or the horizontal cross brace from the top. We have found that the lag bolts hold better if there is a tab welded to the base and the screw is screwed into the side of the post instead of vertically.
Here are some drawings:
Last Updated 22 Apr 2003
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