Using Better Manufacturing Practices

Remember when you were young and you loved to swing back and forth and around on the old front gate in front of your house or your grandparents' house? It was so simple an activity, but yet, oddly amusing and entertaining. Nowadays, you can hardly find front gates as it is, let alone any gate upon which you can swing. As an adult, you really would not want to anymore, but that does not mean that your kids or grandkids would not enjoy this pastime.

If you are putting a new fence in around your property, and you are also installing a front gate, there are accessories you can buy to make swinging on front gates a thing again. These accessories are both decorative and functional. Check off the following list of necessities for gate swinging fun.

Steel Post and Reinforced Hinges

Rather than install your gate on a wooden or vinyl post, choose a steel bollard and reinforced hinges instead. A bollard will help support a kid's weight on a swinging gate such that the gate will not break or lean in one direction and crack. The reinforced hinges will make sure that the last panel of either wood or thick plastic will hold tight to both the bollard and the rest of the gate. Additionally, the hinges on the bollard should allow the gate to open and close a full two-hundred-seventy degrees, for maximum width opening and closing (and maximum gate-swinging fun).

Reinforcing Backplates

These backplates are either boards of wood or flat, decorative, cast iron plates that are secured to the back of the gate. They may be secured in the form of an "x," but it is more common to just place these plates horizontally across and right at the same height as both of the hinges. They make the gate almost indestructible, while supporting the weight of any child who might partake of this age-old activity. 

The Footrest

You cannot swing on a front gate without a footrest! This is a plank of wood or heavy duty vinyl/plastic that is secured horizontally and at a ninety-degree angle to the bottom of the gate. It should be thick enough for a kid to stand on when standing on the balls of his or her feet. Add a slightly abrasive material/strip to the top of the footrest to make it less slippery when wet. There is also a metal bar-style footrest, if you would rather use that.

Contact a gate company, like Incom Inc, for more help.