The gate is the hardest-working part of any fence. The fence stands still. The gate swings, slides, latches, and gets used every day, and it is the first place a cheap install shows its age.
We have been building fences and gates across Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma since 1955. We build wood fence gates and custom welded ornamental gates in-house, and we install manufacturer-built gate systems across the rest of our product lines. Here is how to choose the right gates for your property, and the construction details that keep them swinging straight for decades.
Most Properties Need More Gate Than They Think
When we walk a property, gate planning comes down to three questions.
- What has to fit through? A person, a mower, a zero-turn, a trailer, or a truck. The widest thing that will ever pass through sets your minimum width.
- How often will it be used? Daily-use gates justify better hardware and heavier frames. Occasional-access gates can be simpler.
- Where should it go? Gates belong where the traffic actually flows: near driveways, patios, trash cart routes, and equipment storage, not just wherever the fence panels happen to end.
The most common regret we hear from Tulsa homeowners is a gate that is too narrow. Planning one gate wide enough for your mower or a future project trailer is far cheaper during the build than after it.
Fence Gate Types Compared
| Gate Type | Typical Width | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk gate | 4 to 5 feet | Everyday foot traffic, mowers | The standard gate on nearly every residential fence |
| Double yard gate | 8 to 10 feet | Trailers, large mowers | Double gate to allow larger access |
| Single drive gate | Up to ~6 feet | Wide equipment, side-yard access | One leaf; heavier frame and hinges required |
| Double drive gate | 10 to 16 feet | Vehicles, trailers, backyard projects | Two leaves meeting in the middle; drop rod anchors one side |
| Cantilever slide gate | Wide openings | Commercial drive entries | Rolls parallel to the fence with no ground track to jam |
| Automated gate (commercial) | Varies | Business sites with daily vehicle traffic | Operator plus access control on slide or swing gates |
For the width numbers in more depth, our fence guide covers how wide a standard fence gate is and how wide a double fence gate is.
Walk Gates: Get the Daily Driver Right
A walk gate opens and closes thousands of times over the life of a fence. That duty cycle is why we recommend our in-house welded steel frames for wood gates.
On wood privacy fences especially, the steel frame is the difference-maker. Wood is a great fence material and a poor gate structure: an all-wood frame racks and sags under its own weight. A welded steel frame, built in our shop and clad with matching pickets, gives you the look of the fence with the geometry of steel.
Think about your routes before we set posts. A gate near the driveway for trash carts, plus a second gate on the far side yard, saves years of walking the long way around.
Where a gate serves a pool area, self-closing and self-latching hardware is added where needed. Pool barrier requirements vary, so confirm the specifics with your city, HOA, and insurer; the CPSC’s pool safety guidelines are a good starting point for what barrier standards typically cover.
Drive Gates: Plan for the Biggest Thing You Will Ever Move
Double drive gates are the workhorse for residential vehicle access. Two leaves swing open to clear 10 to 16 feet, wide enough for a truck, a trailer, or a future shed delivery, and a drop rod pins one leaf so the other works as a daily gate.
The engineering matters more as gates get wider. Every foot of leaf width multiplies the load on hinges and posts, so drive gate posts need bigger footings, deeper concrete, and heavier hardware than the fence line around them. That is exactly the kind of detail our inspection process exists to catch.
Commercial Gates: Cantilever Slides and Automation
Commercial sites live and die by access control. For business drive entries we typically recommend a cantilever slide gate: it rolls parallel to the fence line on track wheels with no ground track, so gravel, ice, and debris cannot jam it, and it handles wide openings without the swing radius a drive gate needs.
For commercial properties with daily traffic, we pair slide and swing gates with automated gate operators and access controls. A recent Tulsa commercial install of ours combined a cantilever gate and operator for vehicles with a dedicated pedestrian walk gate for employees and visitors, which is the layout we recommend for most secured business sites. Our guide on how automatic gate openers work explains the components.
Planning a full commercial perimeter? Start with our commercial fencing page.
Matching the Gate to the Fence
Every gate is matched to its fence, from chain link to ornamental steel, so the gate belongs to the fence instead of looking bolted on.
- Wood privacy fences get our steel-framed wood gates: a welded steel frame, fabricated in our own shop, clad with pickets and trim to match the fence. See our wood fence options.
- Chain link fences get welded-frame gates with matching galvanized or vinyl-coated mesh. See our chain link options.
- Ornamental steel fences get matching Ameristar Montage-style gates for a continuous, high-end look. See our ornamental options.
- Round rail and ranch fences get rail-style gates that carry the fence line through the opening.
Pet owners: yes, a gate can accommodate a dog door. We covered the options in our answer on adding a dog door to a fence or gate.
How Many Gates, and Where: A Quick Planning Walkthrough
Before an estimate, walk your property and trace the routes you actually travel. The gate plan falls out of the answers.
- The trash route. Carts roll from the garage or side yard to the curb every week. A walk gate on that path, wide enough for the cart, is the single most-used gate on most Tulsa properties.
- The mowing route. If a mower lives in the backyard shed but the front yard needs cutting, the gate has to clear the mower deck. Measure the widest deck you might ever own, not the one you have today.
- The project route. Trailers, skid steers for a future pool, lumber deliveries. If a vehicle might ever need backyard access, a double drive gate saves you from cutting the fence open later.
- The far side yard. A second walk gate on the opposite side of the house costs little during the build and saves a thousand walks around.
Most homes are well served by two walk gates plus a drive gate where vehicle access matters. Corner lots and larger properties often justify more.
Common Gate Problems, and What Actually Causes Them
We get asked to look at a lot of failing gates. The symptoms vary, but the causes repeat.
- Sagging. An all-wood gate frame slowly gives in to its own weight, racking out of square a little more every season. This is why we recommend steel-framed gates on wood privacy fences: we weld the steel frame in-house, square and rigid, then clad it in wood, so the gate keeps its shape for the life of the fence.
- Dragging on the ground. Usually a leaning gate post, and in Tulsa that usually traces to a footing too small for our expansive clay. Gate posts need more concrete, set deeper, than any other post on the fence.
- Latches that stop lining up. Small seasonal post movement throws off latch alignment. Quality hardware with adjustment range, installed plumb, tolerates the movement that Oklahoma soil guarantees.
- Gates that will not stay shut in wind. Northeast Oklahoma wind works on a gate like a sail. Positive-latching hardware, and self-closing hinges where needed, keep a gate from becoming a flapping door.
Every one of these is prevention, not repair. A gate built right the first time simply does not develop most of these problems on any reasonable timeline.
The Details That Keep a Gate Working in Oklahoma
Most gate problems trace back to construction shortcuts, and Oklahoma’s clay soil and weather punish those shortcuts quickly.
- Ground clearance. The gap under a gate has to balance clearance for the swing against pet containment and appearance, and sloped ground complicates it. Our most-read article covers gate gaps and ground clearance in detail.
- Post setting. Gate posts carry live, moving loads, so they get larger diameter, deeper footings, and more concrete than line posts. Tulsa’s expansive clay swells and shrinks through the seasons, and a shallow-set gate post is the first thing to lean.
- Frame bracing. A gate is a lever trying to sag from the day it is hung. Proper frame construction and diagonal bracing resist that pull.
- Hardware. Hinges and latches rated for the gate’s weight and use, adjusted so the gate closes cleanly. Self-closing and self-latching hardware is added where needed.
- Slope handling. Gates on grade changes need careful placement so they clear the ground through the full swing. Our guide to building a fence on a slope explains how we handle uneven yards.
What Drives the Cost of a Gate
Gates price out differently than fence panels, and a few drivers explain most of the difference.
- Width. Wider leaves need heavier frames, bigger hinges, and stronger posts. A 16-foot double drive gate is a different build than a 4-foot walk gate.
- Material and style. A chain link gate, a framed cedar gate, and a matching ornamental steel gate sit at different points on the scale, just like the fences they belong to.
- Hardware. Standard latches, keyed locks, drop rods, self-closing hinges, and pool-area hardware each add to the build where they are needed.
- Automation. Operators and access control, for commercial sites, are the largest single upgrade on any gate plan.
- Posts and footings. The concrete you never see. Gate posts are the most heavily loaded posts on the property and are set accordingly.
The practical takeaway: adding a gate during the fence build is always the economical moment. Retrofitting one later means mobilizing a crew for a single opening.
Gate Quality Is Fence Quality
Every fence and gate we install runs through our Quality Assurance Program: a 31-point crew inspection at completion, then a separate review by an independent QA inspector, with any issue corrected before the project closes. Most qualifying new fence installations earn our Gold Seal Certificate of Excellence.
Gate operation is part of that inspection. Swing, latch engagement, clearance, and hardware adjustment all get checked, because a fence with a bad gate is a bad fence.
New installations are backed by our 1-year workmanship warranty, with extended 3-year coverage on eligible steel-post components, subject to the written warranty terms.
The Bottom Line on Fence Gates in Tulsa
Count your gates before the build, size them for the biggest thing that will ever pass through, and put them where your traffic actually flows. Invest in the daily-use gates, brace and hang them properly, and they will work as well in year fifteen as they do on day one.
We build and install gates with new fences across Broken Arrow, Jenks, Bixby, Owasso, and the rest of northeast Oklahoma.
Ready to Plan the Right Gates for Your Fence?
Empire Fence has built fences and custom gates in Tulsa since 1955. Tell us how you use your property and we will map out the gate plan with you at your free estimate.
- Build your fence and get pricing in 60 seconds with our instant quote tool.
- Schedule your free estimate to walk your property with our team.
You can also reach us directly at (918) 437-1671.
Empire Fence builds walk gates, drive gates, and commercial slide gates across Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma. Explore our fence gates page to see what we build.
