Grandpa's Gates

We saved the best for last. On Grandpa's old corral network, he had several rusty red gates that led him and his critters in and out. Though they didn't work for us on the main part of the cattle corral, they did us just fine on our horse pen. 

This 12'er was the main gate into the old corrals. If there's any gate that needed to be rehung, it was this guy.

But all these gates were too short for our new horse pen. Beings we ran a top rail around, we needed a pretty solid 5' gate. The old red gates were just above 4'. 

So with a couple old gates that weren't useable hanging around, we sought to extend our three good gates. 

Basically we just added 8" to the bottom of the gates. Though some took a bit more and other's needed to be narrowed as well, the end product was acceptable. 

First gate out was this guy. Probably the most useable gate, as this will be the main place to drop off a horse and pick him up for work. I like the way the gate hung.  

This 10'er opens good either way. We don't plan to drive in here because inside is where our septic tank and leach field reside. I expect some good use come this summer. 

This guy was the toughest to get right. Residing on a hillside with a crooked pivot post, we just made do with what we had. I'm content. Likely, it won't get used much. Though, it has a good 180 degree of travel.

Here's the one we had been waiting for. Easy, straight forward fit. 

Because of the hill, it doesn't open much to the inside.

But the outside is free and clear. Should work well for the horses to go in and out to pasture, and also if we need to back something up to the barn. 

Here's to you, Grandps.

This was our last gate to hang. The first to take off and the last to be put back up. The ole' Circle Eight was Grandpa's brand. Though he's gone, his memory remains eternal. I know he's tickled about our new corrals. Grandpa had colts in this pen when he died. There's no use in letting the weeds take over, let's grab some critters and get to ranching!