What do you do when your fence gate starts dragging on you?

[Don2222]

Hello
If the gate is vinyl or wood it is not “IF” it starts sagging but “When” it starts sagging and dragging!! In my case, the bottom of the door was just dragging on the ground and it was so very hard to open and close!!
Home Depot has 3 anti-sag kits but only for wood fence gates, so between harbor freight and Home Depot, I had to make a custom heavy duty Vinyl fence gate anti-sag kit!
There are vinyl kits on Amazon but they are more expensive and use metal extension bars.
I have done wood gates and they are not so fussy where a cross piece of wood or metal can do the trick.
This time I have a 5 foot wide vinyl fence gate ( to get the tractor 🚜 thru easily) which is a bit wider than the 4 or 3 foot wide gates so a little big for the standard kits. :-( also these kits are probably strong enough but I like heavy duty when possible. Just like wearing suspenders I put them in the front and back. Therefore I put a turnbuckle on the front and back for evenly weighted support distribution.
Here is my custom setup with parts from Home Depot and Harbor Freight.
Parts list
Harbor Freight
$13.99 - 28 inch Jumbo Pry bar
$2.99 - 2pc 1/4” Cargo D-Ring Anchor
$2.99 - 2pc 1/4” Cargo D-Ring Anchor
$9.99 - 5/32 inch X 50 feet rope wire
Home Depot
$7.97 3/8” Zinc-Plated Clamp Set ( Wire Rope Clip - Pack of 3 )
$7.97 3/8” Zinc-Plated Clamp Set ( Wire Rope Clip - Pack of 3 )
$5.26 Turnbuckle Zinc 3/8” X 10-1/2”
$5.26 Turnbuckle Zinc 3/8” X 10-1/2”
$0.72 Hex Bolt Zinc 5/16” X 3-1/2”
$0.72 Hex Bolt Zinc 5/16” X 3-1/2”
$0.72 Hex Bolt Zinc 5/16” X 3-1/2”
$0.72 Hex Bolt Zinc 5/16” X 3-1/2”
$0.23 Lock Washer Zinc 5/16” (ABF)
$0.23 Lock Washer Zinc 5/16” (ABF)
$0.16 Hex Nut Zinc 5/16” (ABC)
$0.16 Hex Nut Zinc 5/16” (ABC)

Total $60.08 but HF has sales and if your an HF ITC member you can get more discounts.
If you have a Prybar then the real total is only $46.09

Steps to Install
1. Using the lever bar and a brick jack up the latch side of gate so it is even, not sagging and will easily slide into the latch when closing.
2. Assure turnbuckle eyelets are loosened and fully extended so then can be tightened up after the rope wire installation
3. Install the cargo D-Ring anchors in the right top corner next to the hinge side. The pre-drilled holes must be reamed out a little with a 5/16” drill bit using Rapid Tap for easier tapping. Also there are long screws inside this fence post gate purchased at Lowe’s. Therefore the top should be taken off to measure how far from the edge and lines can be drawn so the D-Ring flange can be installed on either sides of the screws so there is no interference! Flanges can then be bolted in on both sides with the bolts, lock washers and nuts
4. Connect rope wire to one end of the turnbuckle with wire rope clip.
5. Measure and connect other end of turnbuckle to bottom left D-Ring flange on latch side of gate.
6. Measure and connect other end of turnbuckle to top right D-Ring flange on hinge side of gate.
7. Tighten up the wires by turning the center of the turnbuckle so the eyelets are pulled inwards and wire is taught.
8. Repeat the above steps for the back side of the gate.
All done!!
Note: The rope wire is tough to cut! For the front side I used my metal chop saw, and for the back side I purchased a bolt cutter from Harbor Freight for $19.95

Pic1 - VinylFenceGate1-SaggingGateBackSide1
Pic2 - VinylFenceGate2-SaggingGateBackSide2
Pic3 - VinylFenceGate3-PartsForTutnbucleRopeWireFix
Pic4 - VinylFenceGate4-ReamOutD-RingAnchorFlangeTo5-16Inch
Pic5 - VinylFenceGate5-LeverBarJacksUpBottomRightfor ProperLatching
Pic6 - VinylFenceGate6-Turnbuckle
Pic7 - VinylFenceGate7-TopRightD-RingFlangeAttachedToWireRope
Pic8 - VinylFenceGate8-BackSideGateDoneNoSag
Pic9 - VinylFenceGate9-FrontSideGateDoneNoSag