Building an easy fence | DIY gates | homemade gate latch

Don't even consider renting the regular one-person posthole digger unless you are Hercules...

Even the two man posthole diggers will bang you and your partner up and make you miserable...

The only posthole digger I, a 55-year-old woman, can actually operate alone is this one.

When you do it, take your time! Dragging the thing around, especially through the woods, is NO FUN and if you're in a hurry it's really miserable.

Try to schedule posthole digging for after some rainy weather so the ground is soft.

2. Use a FOUR-INCH auger, not the six-inch auger they'll try to rent you. Waggle the post-hole digger around in the hole a little to enlarge it. If your dirt is like mine - clay, hard, full of rocks - you will be very thankful you're not trying to dig holes 6" in diameter - AND - you'll need less concrete. (The guy in this picture has an even bigger auger. What a show-off.)

3. Don't bother mixing your concrete with water in a wheelbarrow and shoveling it into the hole. After you've stuck the pole in the hole, put in about four inches of dry concrete mix straight from the bag. Then splash in some water. (I dragged the water around from pole to pole in a little garbage can and ladled it into the hole.) Then another 4" of concrete and more water. If you want, you can pack some of the dirt you dug out of the hole back into it, either at the bottom or the top.

In my opinion, big strong guys tend to over-engineer everything. I've done fences like this for many years and they never fall down!!

You'll need, for every 9'6" run of your fence (measure carefully) -

• One 8' tall landscape timber
  
• Two 10' long boards (I used 5/4" x 6" pressure treated boards)
  
• Either a third board or deer fencing, which you can cut in thirds off the roll and staple it between the rails.
  

5/4 boards are actually 1" thick and nominal 6" wide boards are actually 5-1/2" wide - keep that in mind when measuring the size of your gate.

I make my gates like sandwiches. I lay them out on my front porch and use a t-square to keep them straight. When you decide how long to cut the boards, remember to leave 1 or 1-1/2" of space for the hardware on either side.

If on the "bottom" layer the verticals are the full length of the gate, then the horizontals are the full width MINUS eleven inches (which is twice 5-1/2"). Then on the top layer the verticals will be the full length MINUS eleven inches, and the horizontals will be the full width. That way, the wood laps in the corner.

• Lay out the boards for the bottom layer
  
• staple on the deer fencing
  
• add strap hanger if the gate is wide (see below)
  
• add the top layer and screw the layers together with 2" screws from top and bottom.
  
• mark the position of the strap hinges and drill holes for the carriage bolts.

Click on the picture and you'll be taken to FD & Sons website, where you can get these hinges. I bought mine at a close-out at Southern States. The longer, the more stable. This size strap hinge requires 5/8" carrriage bolts, nuts, and washers. The part that you need to go with this is called a screw hook. You can probably find it in the chain link fence department of your local hardware store - 5" long usually, and make sure it fits inside your strap hinge!

Of course, if you're installing the gate latch on a double gate, the swinging arm goes on the gate that doesn't have the assembly you made above. If it's a single gate, put the swing arm on the post.

I use three washers with the gate latch arm, and whatever size lag screw I find lying around my workbench.