What size gate are you comfortable driving your rig through?

[Jim]

I stayed at a "Gated RV Park" a couple of months ago. When I booked the site, I was thinking how nice the place probably was going to be. But when we got there, the entrance to the place was so tight I was seriously concerned about scraping the side of my coach.

I need to put up a gate here at my place, and I sure don't want to make the same mistake. First thing to consider is, gates are EXPENSIVE and the wider the gate, the more expensive it gets. So the challenge is to install a gate that is wide enough for comfort but not so wide as to break the bank.

Looking forward to the responses.

 

[Neemer]

Just a note: What I am comfortable driving through and what I can drive through may be two different things. I would be comfortable with 16, but would manage 14 without much sweat. 12 is cutting it close for me.

 

[Jim]

Just a note: What I am comfortable driving through and what I can drive through may be two different things. I would be comfortable with 16, but would manage 14 without much sweat. 12 is cutting it close for me.

That gate I mentioned above as very tight, and to make it worse, I was coming in off of a busy road. So in effect, I was coming in at an angle. Oh, it really sucked! The gate I have at home is 12', but it was designed for an automobile. I drive through, but I do so carefully. I would never expect anyone else to try to make it through.

 

[NWIP]

There have been a few toll booths that I’ve even thru I swear weren’t more than 10’ wide.

 

[Neemer]

There have been a few toll booths that I’ve even thru I swear weren’t more than 10’ wide.

It can be a little unnerving to see where others have scraped mirrors going through.

 

[Scooterfan]

We have a gate at home (installed prior to our RV purchase) that is 14 feet. It's automatic and opens up 90 degrees. Although there's plenty of room I take it slowly as on approach it looks like it's about 10 feet wide ? For me...if I had a choice...I would opt for at least 14 feet (16 would be nice too !) JMHO

 

[MapNerd]

Is a gate really even needed? It’s a false sense of security and that might make some people feel more comfortable and I’m all for it in that sense, but it certainly won’t stop anyone who wants in and is more likely to cause unintended damage and scrapes. Also just another thing to maintain and fix for a park that I think is intended to be relatively low maintenance.

if you were considering replacing it, I’d say just take it out and leave the entrance open. Makes in and out easy and eliminates chance of someone scraping it or someone not being able to get in our out if it’s broken.

 

[Just George]

@Jim I think you made a good point regarding what the approach to the gate is. For example the storage facility I use has a 13' wide door. I'm able to line up straight on so It's not a problem although the mirrors are pretty close. I expect mirrors will not be an issue with your gate. So assuming the gate is set back far enough from the road to get a straight shot at it my opinion is 12' would be an absolute minimum. 14' would be much better.

 

[AbdRahim]

There have been a few toll booths that I’ve even thru I swear weren’t more than 10’ wide.

Yup. Scratched a mirror at one. Thanks Ohio.

 

[Joe Hogan]

in my opinion it has to do with the approach, straight on a 10" gate is relatively easy, add in a turn, obstacles and a TOAD; things get interesting very quickly.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Just a note: What I am comfortable driving through and what I can drive through may be two different things. I would be comfortable with 16, but would manage 14 without much sweat. 12 is cutting it close for me.

Right on the mark!

TJ

 

[Joe Hogan]

Interesting reading on toll booths

"Toll Lanes Design the lanes between the toll booths, the toll lanes, to a minimum width of 11 feet with a preferred width of 12 feet. Where toll lanes exceed 11 feet in width, provide raised pavement markers on both sides in order to emulate 11-feet lane widths. The markers are to discourage drivers from stopping their vehicles too far from the toll window while still allowing larger vehicles to use the lane. Toll lane widths of less than 11 feet will require a design deviation."

The FHWA recommendation indicate if less than 10% truck traffic, 10' lane is OK.

https://wsdot.wa.gov/publications/manuals/fulltext/M3082/510.pdf

4.4.3 Recommended Guidelines - FHWA

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

There have been a few toll booths that I’ve even thru I swear weren’t more than 10’ wide.

Yes, indeed...including the ones we had to go through with our step stuck in the out position!

TJ

 

[Jim]

Is a gate really even needed?

Absolutely ! This is a fairly large place, about 50 acres. You would be surprised at how many people drive up our road thinking this is a remote subdivision or maybe there are some lots for sale. Also, this is going to be a private park. We don't want anyone inside that doesn't have reservations.

 

[MapNerd]

That gate seems plenty big to me already, though a little concerned about the road width unless that’s a one way street (in or out only - not both) as I could see a stand-off happening pretty easily

 

[Jim]

That gate seems plenty big to me already

That's the gate for the cars. No RV's will go through that gate. Just wanted you to see why we have a gate in the first place. There are "No Trespassing" signs around the property, but nobody ever pays any attention to them. Next thing you know, there are people driving all over the place.

 

[MapNerd]

Gotcha. Might wanna check Google Maps and see how it routes folks there. If you want to change the entrance location so that it always defaults to the RV entrance, there is a way to ask them to do that

 

[Jim]

That gate seems plenty big to me already, though a little concerned about the road width unless that’s a one way street (in or out only - not both) as I could see a stand-off happening pretty easily

No standoffs! We widened the road and all incoming traffic goes in on the paved road and the outgoing traffic goes out on the new road. There is plenty of room to unhook/hook up toads.

 

[J&JD]

The size of the car gate looks fine to me. Build the same stone entrance for the rv gate and install a sliding gate. If the stone is low enough mirrors will be a non issue.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Absolutely ! This is a fairly large place, about 50 acres. You would be surprised at how many people drive up our road thinking this is a remote subdivision or maybe there are some lots for sale. Also, this is going to be a private park. We don't want anyone inside that doesn't have reservations.


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With the straight shot through, in either direction, that gate size would be plenty comfortable for us to drive our coach through.

TJ