Gate Assist?

I am considering getting a "Gate Assist " .
I have looked at the " Back Saver & the Easy Gate " what is the preferred brand. Are their any other brands out there. Also do you have the one sided or two sided . I will most likely get the two sided because my rear gate is so heavy. Thank you for the information....

 

I made my own for $37. fense post, pulleys, garage door spring. Do a Search and you will find some pics of some nice ones. I love mine. I thought I was going to need two... but with one the gate is lifted about 1" off the ground on one side. If I had both sides the entire gate would most likely be 3" off and a P.I.T.A.

good luck

 

I have one. A fellow LCO gave it to me when he got a new trailor. Works great. no noise from dropping the gate. I dont have to worry about pulling my back out on a cold morning.
Worth the money! o yea.

 

I use the gate assist made by Mattman. Only $60 for the pair.....and work great.

 

Thats the problem for me , I am having back pain and thought this would help. A friend of mine has one and it looks ok , It is a Back Saver but I dont like how it is in two pieces.
How are you mounting it on the trailer? I have a pole saw on one side and don't think it will fit. This is the reason I am asking about the one sided gate assist. Pleas give any further advice it will all help.....

 

I made my own also.less than 50 bucks in parts for the pair.No more bending over.Just kick it with your toe and it comes up.

 

Exactly. That's the thing with the homemade ones. They work so much better than all those that you buy.

 

Walker- Talker
What do mean "Mattman" is this a company?

 

I made one for less than $20.

Piece of 1/8” 1 ½” angle iron 24” long, couple dollars at my source, maybe $6 or 7 at Lowe’s.
140# pull garage door spring, $12.xx at Lowe’s.
Two U-bolts to attach spring to trailer rail and angle iron, few bucks.
Welded the angle iron to the gate (be sure of the strength of your welds and weld it on every possible joint, make a good weld or have it done at a shop).
Then ran the cable that came with the spring through the spring on the inside, tied one end, dropped gate gave it a few more inches slack and tied other end for a safety feature if spring bursts the cable will slow it down/stop it from injuring someone.

It is just on one side of the gate and it does lift it a couple inches on that side, but all you do is flip it up with your toe and it comes up, you catch it or let it shut itself and latch it your done. It’s great… no injured back here.. and I have a weak back too for a 16 y.o. guy.

Here’s how you do it: with your gate shut and latched, clamp the angle iron to the gate side so it lays flat on the top rail of the trailer side where you want it, but then raise it a inch and a half or so, clamp it good. Then weld it strongly at all joints. Drill holes in the end of it for the U-bolt and attach the spring with the U-bolt to the angle iron. Then with the spring relaxed still, lay it out on the rail, mark the holes for the U-bolt and drill two holes for U-bolt on the trailer rail, then bolt that end of the spring down with the U-bolt. Then run your safety cable through the spring and tie to the U-bolt on one end, lower gate while letting cable stretch along with spring, then give it a couple inches of slack and tie the other end to the U-bolt on the gate end of the spring. Cut off leftover cable and you’re done. My gate is a 4’ angle iron one, not square tube. If yours is square tube you may need to change your holes on the trailer rail so the spring is stretched a couple inches with the gate shut. It works really well, nothing to break on it and it was cheap, didn’t take very long either. Don’t attach the safety cable until you have the tension adjusted like you want. When you life the gate the cable will bunch up inside and part of it will poke through the spring because it has nowhere to go, don’t worry about this. You can also put a PVC pipe over it for looks, but it won’t help you safety wise it will just shatter. Could use steel pipe though.
The gate will even suspend itself at a certain point.
This one uses no pulleys, doesn’t take very long, is very simple and you don’t have to be an engineer to do it either.
Here’s a pic before i put on the cable.

 

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