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.