On Wed 23 Jul 2003 09:00:03a, (Dick on the James)
wrote in om:

Dan,
I have a non-pulley version of a weight-closed gate. My gate is very
'Williamsburgy', about 48" high and 36" wide, made of 5/4 boards and
with heavy iron strap hinges. The closer is an iron 'cannonball'
about 3-1/2" diameter, hung by an attached eye to a chain. The chain
is affixed to the gate 36" above grade, about 24" from the hinge side
of the gate and the other end to a 4x4 post 16" high sunk vertically


Thanks loads, Dick, that was the sort of thing I was looking for. I think
I'll go with a slightly modified version of that.

Bill, I liked your idea a lot too and a friend of mine has a larger gate
project coming up. I'll mention it to him. I'm going with the chain and
weight because... well, just because I like the gizmo, I guess. Sometimes
I'm not sure why I do things.

JOAT, thanks for the keywords. I kept using the word "weight" in all the
things I tried and never used the word "closer". I don't know why I
understand some things other people tell me are complicated, and other
times can't see something simple right in front of me.

Rising Butt Hinges, eh? Learn something new every day. We've got a front
door could use a set of those. :-)

Of course, now I have a brand new complication. Got home today and the
cedar 4x4 that will hold the gate has started to split right down the
middle. I swear it wasn't there yesterday. If I put the single-strap hinges
on it that I was planning to, all the weight will be on the wrong side of
the split and it looks to me like it'll crack right in two. I'll either
have to take that section apart, pull the post and replace it or add more
wood to the other side and try it with double-strap hinges. Those are the
the only two options I can think of. If it ain't one thing....

Thanks a lot everybody. I learned stuff!

Dan