Wanted to share some progress on a sliding gate project I've been building. Had a few neighbors that added one to their driveways, and it really opens up their yards. We've wanted one, but have a short, wide, driveway, so the gate is pretty long (34' opening, 38' frame). I've mulled it over for some time and finally decided how I wanted to build it.

I went ahead and got a bid on the frame, but wasn't happy with the design or cost. So I decided to learn how to weld, which is an area I've wanted to grow in for a while. Due to the length of the gate and the wind in our area, I went ahead and beefed up the frame design vs what my neighbor's. ETA - Here's the sketch, with updates



Welding the first half:



Lining up the two halves:



Boxing the frame in:



Finishing up the welds:



Fully primed:



Showing off some welds:



Very redneck post-pulling method for old fence, but it works:



Support and catch fab wrapping up (on it's side). You can see the guide rollers where it keeps the gate upright:

Wow, that thing is a beast. Cool project.

Impressive!

The floor jack post puller. Holy *****

Love the ingenuity. Good job. Who knew pipe wrenches were so multifunctional.

Make sure you close your garage door.

Couple mil worth of wood sitting there.

Sort of, you can see the wheels on the bottom of the gate in the diagram and one of the photos. They're not at the ends, but this will help spread out the load and help with wind deflection performance. Here's the track and wheel:



Here's the result of a weekend's worth of work. Getting set up to pour the slab for the gate to slide on. It was no fun digging this out by shovel.

You want to make another one, by chance? I need exactly this for my place. Have dimensions

Updates for today - supports and posts are in place. Next step is to use a compactor, lay down sand, then form up! Will be pouring concrete next Saturday.

It's pour day! Glad to be almost done with this part. It was a nail-biter if I was gonna get everything ready last night.

I should have hired you instead of that idiot who took 8 weeks to do a "2-3 day" job.

Thanks!

Here's a few, some of these I've posted here before. Let me know if you have any questions:
A couple things you can't see - around that corner, I've got a utility sink and a set of filing cabinets (for filing sandpaper, saw blades, etc. I've also got a cubby for a future dust collector for the miter saw.



Inside of the shed where I keep my air compressor and big tools. Getting the air compressor in particular out of the garage has been awesome for noise and space. This shed is adjacent to the back corner of the garage.

Feast your eyes! I am so pleased with how well the gate moves, and all the measuring/final fit. Next step is to paint the gate frame black, and then to start installing the wood for the fence and gate. I'm probably going to go get a 10x20 fabric carport to use as a paint booth for the gate and spray it in halves.

Concrete:


Gate in position!:

My garage is nothing but kids stuff now. Can't get to the table saw or bandsaw without moving 15 things

That gate doesn't seem to offer a lot of security!

I used a forklift to get it set, which was a good call.

I've flipped it a couple times for welding access, and the last time I had 6 other guys help. Glad I didn't have to do that to get it on the track.

Lots of updates to share. Really excited for how the fence is looking:

Getting the paint booth set up (Really glad I did, multiple days with sudden rainy weather):


Paint booth in action:


Starting to install the wood:


Progress by end of tonight:



Other side:


Next steps will be to add the catch on the other end of the gate, fill in the concrete, and then start working on replacing fencing all around.

Some weekend updates. Got the motor installed. The gate moves really well and is so quiet, which is nice. Set up and poured my second corner of the driveway, which is one the last items I needed to start working on the remainder of the fence. Thanks all for the comments/reviews.

Motor (wiring is just temporary):



Concrete set to pour: