Fixing gate hinges – how to fit the band and gudgeon gate hinges
The hinges we recommend (and supply) are cranked band and gudgeon hinges (pictured below the gudgeon is marked as ‘A’ and the band marked with a ‘B’), these come in two pieces – the band (or strap) which fits to the gates and the gudgeon (the hook or pin) which fits to the posts.
As you can see the band hooks over the gudgeon enabling the gates to be lifted off if both hinges are fitted in the traditional way. If you are worried about the possibility of the gates being lifted off (which is unlikely, as once the hinges are fitted and bolted they tighten up quite considerably) then the top gudgeon can be fitted upside down – this has no detriment to the gates, as even with the hinges fitted the right way around all the weight of the gates is taken by the bottom hinges – the top hinge acts as a lever to pull the gate towards the post and stop the closing stile (vertical upright where the gates meet, opposite to the stile that the hinges are fixed to) dragging on the ground.
The band is fixed using screws (the number of screws required depends on the hinge length) and a bolt (both the screws and bolts are supplied with any ironmongery we have supplied you). The bolt hole is the square hole (the hole nearest the edge of the gates when fitted) and the rest of the holes are for the screws.
What size hinges for a wooden gate?
Hinge size is determined by the width of the gate you’ll be fitting the hinges to. For band & gudgeon hinges, the hinge wants to be one third the width of the gate – so for a 48″ wide (1220mm) gate you need a hinge that is 16″ long.
If you end up with a gate leaf size of say 51″ (1295mm) giving a one third width of 17″ then you have to go for the next nearest size up for the hinges which would be 18″ as the hinges are only manufactured in selected sizes.
Where to fit the band and gudgeon hinges? Front or back of the gates?
If you imagine you are standing at the rear of the gates (with the rails and braces visible) and want the gates to open towards you then you would fit the hinges to the rear of the gates (if you look at the picture on the left, the hinges are fitted on the rear of the gate – this gate will open towards you).
If you want the gates to open away from you then the hinges will be fitted on the front of the gates. (If you want the gates to open both ways then Field gate/wrap around hinges will need to be used.).
Also when fitted, the diagonal bracing on the rear of the gates should always point down (away from the top of the gates) towards the bottom hinge as in the picture on our Arched headed gate (pictured above).
Fit the hinges to the gates
1- Don’t worry to start with about positioning the gate or gates within the gateway that they will be fitted – it makes everything slightly more difficult!
Either lean the gates up against a wall or lie the gate down or a saw block or similar (one saw block at the top of the gate and one at the bottom.
2 – Hinges in almost all cases fit to the rails of the gates, top hinge normally to the top rail (in some cases,as with our curved top gates the top hinge fits to a specially jointed in hinge block).
Position the hinge on the rail/head or hinge block of the gate and line the hinge up so it runs parallel with the rail/head/hinge block (ideally try and centre the hinge on the rail- this looks better once fitted) – you can use a square to do this (as shown in the video). Taking you time over the positioning of the hinge will save you some hassle later in leveling the gate up (if you screw the hinge on running at an angle with the rails, not only will it stand out a mile and look awful when fitted but it will make life difficult in leveling up the gate later.
How to position the hinges correctly upon the gates
3 -With the cranked band and gudgeon gate hinges I’m using in the video, these should be fitted so the start of the cranked part of the hinge is inline with the edge of the gate.
4 – One the hinge is positioned on the gate, pre-drill a couple of holes (at this stage there is no need to fill every hole up with screws – just concentrate on at least two) for the hinge screws and then screw the hinge to the gate.
(If you’re unsure about the size of drill bit required to pre-drill the screw holes, then try a hole on a scrap piece of timber and then try a screw into it – if it doesn’t tighten up then the hole is too lose. If it’s too much of a struggle sending the screw home then try a slightly wider drill bit!)
Once screwed on, double check the hinge is sitting parallel with the rails
(DO NOT AT THIS STAGE DRILL THE BOLT HOLE – sorry for shouting, but at this stage don’t worry about drilling the bolt hole out in the gate. The reason for this is, if you need to adjust anything and the bolt hole has been drilled then you could end up with it showing and no way to hide it).
5 – Repeat the process for the rest of the hinges (remembering NOT to drill the bolt hole out on the gates – I cannot emphasise this enough).
6 – You’ve now fitted the hinges to your wooden gates! You now need to to hang the gates from the posts
Tools required –
Combination square or square (for lining up the hinge),
Cordless drill with small twist drill bit (approx 4mm) for pre-drilling holes,
Screwdriver,
Rule,
Pencil,
Other hinge types
There are various different hinges, the method above assumes you’ll be using standard cranked hook and band hinges and can be followed if you use most hinges that are designed for wooden gates (straight band & gudgeon hinges, adjustable band and gudgeon hinges, reversible hinges and field gate hinges) with a few slight differences.
I’ve not mentioned Tee hinges, these are ok for light duty gates i.e. ledged & braced gates and are simple to fit.
I’ve also made no mention of butt hinges, these are not suitable at all for gates so avoid!
Adjustable hinges
If using adjustable hinges to hang your gates, then position the hinge so that the the very end of the hinge is sitting flush with the edge of the gate (shown left). Now I mentioned (above) with the cranked band and gudgeon hinges to just attach the hinges using the screws and ignore the bolt hole for the time being – the adjustable bands see in the video have no screw holes (there are many configurations of adjustable bands, some with screw holes etc), so in the case of the configuration shown if you’re not confident of fixing the hinges to the gates using the bolts, then just attach with screws for the time being.
If you’re buying adjustable hinges with your wooden gates from elsewhere and you’ve been told “when your gates sag/settle you can adjust the gates back to level with these hinges” (this is true, as they will allow adjustment), then go elsewhere for your gates – if you buy a well made pair of wooden gates and they are fitted correctly they should not ‘sag’ or ‘settle’.
Field gate hinges
If fitting these then the field gate hinge wraps right around the gate, so it can be seen from both sides of the gates.
Again in the video the hinge fits to the gates solely with bolts, you can for the time being just mount the hinge onto the gate using screws and when the gate is hung replace the screws with bolts.
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34 thoughts on “How to fit band and gudgeon gate hinges”
hi,
I have (unfortunately) bought a gate made with stub tenoned joints and dowels.
my problem is that when I come to fit the band and gudgeon hinges, the BOLT hole sits over the dowel. I can move the hinge down a few mill and back a few mill (which will look a bit) to avoid the dowel, but then ill be drilling a hole and putting pressure right next to the dowel.
im not sure wether to drill right through the dowel, thus making the bolt do the job of the dowel, but risk getting more moisture in to the joint.
or to rerill the hinge to place the bolt on the horizontal bar near the screw holes, rather then were it sits now on the vertical bar, but would this put the weight on the wrong part of the gate, ie all on the horizontal bars.
any ideas whats best please, (other than buying new gates lol)
thanks
sam
If you can avoid drilling the bolt hole through the
dowelpin (lol) then go for it. If not then it doesn’t make all that much difference really so don’t worry too much about as the bolt will be far stronger than the pin/dowel anyway.Hi
I am planning to make and fit a pair of picket gates in my rear garden but my posts are square on but then at an angle to each other. (if that makes sense)
___¤
pair of gates between two square posts
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Hope the attempt at a diagram helps?
What options do I have hinge wise and which post face does the pin fix too for the gates to open best?
Thanks for your how too’s very helpful
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the comments! How much offset are the posts?
Hi I have an old out house that has existing gudgeons built into the stonework, the old bands have rusted badly and need to be replaced. The holes in the bands are 10mm diameter ( 20mm across) Would you have 2nr bands in black that would fit the existing gudgeons?
regards
Ian
Hi Ian,
The measurement needed is the diameter of the pin, if as you say the diameter is 10mm then I know of no band that would fit as its a very small pin. It may be worth double checking the pin diameter again just to be sure!
My new gate now starting to contact the tarmac when opening / closing. The top hinge does not sit onto it’s metal dowel…3mm gap. I don’t know if that was always like that. Can I raise gate with metal washers fitted over the dowels? thanks.
You can do if the pins are long enough, better still would be to remove the gate and refit everything including the hinge pins high enough to give you a decent clearance gap under the gate.
Hi there, i have ordered double driveway gates these are going to be fitted to a wall one side and a gate post the other ,what i would like to know is ,i want the gates to fit as flush as possible to the wall & post ,would i still be able to use the crancked band & gudgeon gate hinges for this or would i have to use another style hinge.
Best regards Deane
Cranked bands and gudgeons would work as would adjustable gate hinges.
I am replacing wooden garage doors this summer however the pin sits only 5mm off the lintel and points up. Is there any easy way round this? Will I be able to cut off the old hinge and open up a hinge to slide it on?
Is it a built in hinge pin or is it screwed/bolted on?
If bolted or screwed to the door frame then you should be able to unscrew/unbolt the plate, the plate should then drop clear – it may need persuading with a tap (or whack!) with a hammer.
If it is built in then yes you would have to cut the hinge away, however if you intend to resuse the built in pins then you’ll have trouble getting a new hinge on. If the hinge is in decent condition then you could unscrew this from the door and then we you get the new doors in place fix the exisiting hinge back to the new doors – this I imagine would be a bit fiddly so patience would be required!
Let us know how you get on!
I have a curve top gate and can’t get normal hinges on the gate I have bought a set of of hook and strap but it seems tricky with the curb top as the middle as criss cross strips I think my gate is called Woodbury can you help
Hi Trevor,
Normally on a gate with a curved top you would have a horizontal rail at some point near the top to fit your top hinge i.e. as on our Curved headed pedestrian gates here > http://www.woodworkersuk.co.uk/wooden-gates/curved-top-gates/
Failing that you can get a curved hinge here > http://www.woodworkersuk.co.uk/hinges/perry-300mm-curved-rail-hinge-sets/
but you would need to check the spec drawing on the page shown to see whether it would do the job?
Other than that and not knowing the gate you’ve got, all I can suggest is getting your tools out and somehow fixing a rail where you need one which to be honest is probably not something you should be doing if you’ve bought a gate somewhere?
Hope that helps!
Jon
I wonder if you can help:
I’m about to fit two pairs of band and gudgeion hinges on a pair of garden store doors.
The hinges have been set, onto the posts, plumb (with a laser). I have the doors wedged into place to create the appropriate gaps on all sides.
The problem I’m having is that there is quite a bit of play between the pins and the band – If I place the band onto the pins and then screw them to the doors, horizontally, they will look perfect. But, the moment I remove the wedges the doors will sag out of line and not function.
It would seem that I have two choices, either a) mount the hinges at an angle such that when the bands are put on the pins the bands are horizontal, or b) mount the hinges plumb but mount the bands at an downward angle so the doors dont drop when the wedges are removed. Either way it won’t look good.
Am I missing something?
With thanks for any assistance.
It’s quite common with all gate hinges that there is a bit of play. To get over this angle the pin plates slightly so the top part is tilting away from the gate – being smaller than the hinge it looks far less obvious than angling the hinge which can look awful!
Hope that helps!
About to fit my adjustable hook and band hinges and realised when looking at the components this would be an issue too. Problem is I don’t want to angle the pin plates because I want to be able to open the gate 180 degrees and think this would cause the gate to open into the ground the further I open it.
All gate hinges have play, if they didn’t then they would soon sieze up after being out doors for a time. If you don’t want to angle the hinge pin plate then you would need to angle the hinge itself, being a longer component than the hinge plate this tends to be more noticable and stands out a mile.
Best practice for hanging timber gates is to keep them up from the ground by at least 50mm, this ensures a longer lifespan of the gates and in doing this the gates would be unlikely to catch on the ground unless you have a severe slope to one side or the other.
Copy, thanks for the quick reply. Planning at least that clearance so shouldn’t be an issue.
Hi Jon,
Just to confirm that I did as you suggested and it worked.
Many thanks.
Great news, glad it worked!
Hello, one of the bolts need tightening, but it’s rusty and every time I try and turn the nut the bolt turns. How can I hold the bolts still from the other side when it’s round?! It just keeps spinning! Help!
Try and loosen the nut if possible and apply some oil or similar and then try tightening it. If it still just turns then from the head side of the bolt, use a pair of pincers (they should just grip it enough) to grab the bolt and whilst holding the head get someone to try tightening the nut (if you’re not able to do both yourself).
Hi Jon
I’m fitting a pair of garden gates, approx 5ft high, each gate approx 3ft wide in an approx 6ft wide opening between house wall and concrete fence post. Is it best to use cranked or straight hinges? Is one better than the other?
Both the cranked hinges and straight hinges will be ok to hang the gates.
However if you’re hanging the gates from posts (and the gates sit within the posts) whilst the hinges are on either the front or rear face of the posts (rather than fitted to the posts within the gate opening), then cranked will allow the gates to sit flush with the posts on the side of the gate and post they are fitted to. using straight hinges in this instance would result in the gate sitting forward of the posts by the thickness of the gate hinge.
Hi, I have an old metal gate that sits on a gudgeon hinge welded to a metal post. I need to lift the gate about 2 or 3 inches. Is there any device I can buy that would slide over the old gudgeon pin and create a new pin 2 or 3 inches higher. The pin is about 20mm in diameter. Need to visit and engineering works I think…. Cheers, John
I’m not too hot on metal gate fittings but pretty sure you’d need someone to either extend the pin or cut off the old fitting and weld a new one on straight away!
Hi Jon,
I am fitting a replacement outside door which is currently hinged using T Hinges. On the replacement I would rather use band and gudgeon hinges, but the challenge is that the door frame to which the hinges will be fixed are very narrow. The issue is that if I position the band on the door with the start of the crank level with the edge of the door, there is not enough room or the gudgeon to fit on the for frame.
My question is, will there be any operational issue with me positioning the bands further into the width of the door, thus allowing room for the gudgeon?
Hope that makes sense
It should work fine!
Awesome, cheers Jon, much appreciated. BTW saw your vid re gate hanging – V useful and helpful vid.
Thanks again
Hi Jon,
Just wanted to say big thanks to your guide and youtube videos as they made my ordering of ironmongery and then hanging a pair of new bifold gates so much easier. I don’t know what I would have done without you. Next time I need gates I’ll make sure to ring you.
Best,
Gary
Manchester
Glad you found it useful! Thanks for the comments.
I am about to fit some replacement wooden garage doors to a prefabricated concrete garage. The previous doors had straight band and pin hinges where the pin is set into the concrete. I intend to use the existing pin and fit a new band on the new door. The problem I foresee is that there seems to be alot of play/slack between the pin and the band, even trying them against the new pins. I would like the bands to look horizontal. How do I stop the door from sagging/dropping once opened? Would it be an idea to fit the top hinge tight to the post but with more of a gap between the bottom hinge and the post?
All you do do is get a tight as fit as possible between hook and eye and the as you say place the door as close to the post as you fit the hinges -just use screws to fit the hinges until you are satisfied everything is where you want it to be.