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We just moved into a new house with some iron fencing around the backyard and a large double gate to allow access to the backyard. Unfortunately one side of the gate was damaged at some point in the past and the two sides don't meet anymore and the latch doesn't close. Even worse the gap is big enough for my dog to slip through.

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How can I bend that one bar back closer to true so that the two sides meet and my dog won't be able to run away? Trying to save myself the large expense of having to get a whole new gate.

My first thought was to use my car's scissor jack as recommended in this answer to a very similar question, but I don't think I could get it to fit in between the two bars in the right spot. The clamp spreader I feel is probably a good option, but I'm not sure how to use anything that spreads while preventing the bar next to it from bending instead -- which seems like the most likely outcome given the inward bent.

Mordred
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    It's funny how sometimes we get the same questions so close to each other... Look at this question from yesterday. – JPhi1618 Jul 03 '19 at 14:16
  • @JPhi1618 That's wild. I searched yesterday morning and I don't think that question had been posted yet. I'll edit to address those answers. – Mordred Jul 03 '19 at 14:22
  • I can't imagine you'd have to get a whole new gate, but even after bending straight both end bars, you might have to add an extension to keep a dog in. What is the (inside to inside) spacing of the bars in the gate? How big is your dog? – Jim Stewart Jul 03 '19 at 14:27
  • @JimStewart Dog is 75lbs, so I don't think he could fit through if it were straight. – Mordred Jul 03 '19 at 14:29
  • I would pull from the hinge supports of the right hand gate. Use a hand winch or use a rope as a "spanish windlass". – Solar Mike Jul 03 '19 at 14:51

3 Answers3

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You can use what's called a "come along", it's a portable hand operated winch-like tool for moving things short distances with a lot of force. The thing is, you will need to find a point at which to anchor one end that is significantly stronger than the bar, like a fence post, otherwise if you just connect to another bar just like it, you bend them both.

Come along tool

This video shows the general operation of it, you would need to adapt to your situation. Small light duty ones are inexpensive or in many cases you can rent one from a rental yard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FfVsfto7-g

JRaef
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Since it’s on the end, you might try attaching a length of sturdier steel pipe (schedule 40?) to the bent bar, maybe even with duct tape. Then use clamps/straps to bend towards the steel pipe. This would avoid bending any adjacent bars and doesn’t put too much additional stress on the hinges besides the added weight of the pipe.

thesnow
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Believe it or not, we were able to fix the gate just by pulling on it. We opened the gate to a point where it was sitting on the ground, then I braced it with just a foot on the bottom edge and yanked as hard as I could, twice. It surprisingly bent pretty easily. I hadn't noticed before but the gate was also bent on both sides where it connected to the hinges, which contributed to the big gap. Pulling out and upward on both gates straightened those edge pieces out as well.

Mordred
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