Quick Fix for a Dragging Gate

Do you ever have a few annoying things that you keep meaning to get done, but they are low priority items and never get scratched off the list?  I do.  Today was a day for taking care of a few odds and ends like this that I wanted to fix.  The 12 foot gate leading into the pasture has sagged over the years.  Now when I open it to bring the round bales to the cows, it drags in the dirt.  I have to pick it up when pushing it or it digs a trench in the ground and is difficult to open.

Digging a trench

Should be an easy fix.  I had an old wheel in a box in the barn that was going to fix the dragging gate problem.

Wheel for the Gate

After putting the gate up on a brick and measuring exactly where the wheel needed to go, I used my drill to drill a hole in the pipe frame of the gate.

Drilling

For the gate wheel's axle, I used a long bolt with washers and a nut.  I ran the bolt through the wheel and then on through the hole I had drilled in the gate frame and tightened the nut.

Tightening it down

And that's all there is to it.  Now instead of lifting and pushing and struggling with the gate, all I have to to is give it a little kick and it glides open.

The new wheeled gate

Ah, the simple little things that make life easier.