Stop letting your double gate get thrashed and broken in the wind.

It's very windy at my house and my double gate keeps getting blown open. At first, I just used the gravel and didn't have a stop for the drop rods. This was almost disastrous for my gate. Next I had a cheap cement drop rod stop that wasn't reinforced and during one severe wind storm it broke apart because of the beating it took.

This project uses some old parts I had laying around and the drop rod stop turned out great.

Step 1: Material Required

12 in. x 12 in. paver
6 to 8 in. piece of vinyl fence top rail

Tool Required

Hammer
Chisel
Shovel

Step 2: Prepare the Paver

I used an old paver with a broken corner because I planned to bury it.

Use a hammer drill and or a hammer and chisel (I used an old screw driver that had the tip worn off) to knock out the middle of the paver. Make the hole so that the piece of vinyl fence fits snuggly inside.

Notes:

Be careful not to crack the paver in half.
Keep checking the fit of the piece of vinyl fence so that it barely fits and isn't loose

Step 3: Position the Drop Rod Stop

Close the gate, position the paver in the correct location, and mark the position.

Dig down as deep as your piece of fence rail length. Try not to disturb the soil around the hole so that it remains as compact as possible to provide strength during any strong movement of the gate.

Place the paver with the piece of fence rail down in the hole and make the paver level with the fence rail sticking straight up.

Close the gate and put the drop rods down the holes in the end of the fence rail.

Make positional adjustments as required so both drop rods fit into the end of the fence rail.

Step 4: Bury the Gate Drop Rod Stop

Bury the gate drop rod stop leaving about 1/4 in. above the ground so that dirt or rocks won't fall into the hole.

Close the gate and check positioning again.

Pack the dirt and rock in around the stop to make it as solid as possible.

All done and it looks pretty good.

I haven't had any problems with wind moving it yet. if I do have problems, I plan to pound some rebar down right next to the paver to give it some more stability.