Wheelchair friendly gates

[PRL]

The local council has parks with self-closing gates . These are difficult to pull open by a user of a wheelchair or adapted cycle ( and a nuisance for the rest of us).
Does anyone know of a design that can be pushed open in both directions but still close itself slowly ?

[EdT]

Something like this?
https://centrewire.com/products/milton- ... ate-2-way/

[Nearholmer]

^^^

I’m not sure that version is self-closing, but there is a sub-variant of it that is.

I use these gates frequently, and if I remember next time I go along there in daylight, I’ll see if I can find the self-closing ones.

PS: reading the leaflet linked to, that is the self-closing one!

[pwa]

^^^

I’m not sure that version is self-closing, but there is a sub-variant of it that is.

I use these gates frequently, and if I remember next time I go along there in daylight, I’ll see if I can find the self-closing ones.

PS: reading the leaflet linked to, that is the self-closing one!

I used to install gates like that, and the lower hinge arrangement indicates that it is self-closing in both directions. They are not easy to operate from a wheelchair.

[andrew_s]

Something like this?
https://centrewire.com/products/milton- ... ate-2-way/

There used to be some similar gates on one of the cycle tracks here - maybe only 1 m high rather than 1.2, and with the lever and catch set higher so the lever projected about 30 cm above the top of the gate.

Use on a bike was simple enough - stop with the front wheel touching the gate, reach forward, pull the lever across and give it a shove to open the gate. If you set off promptly, you'd be gone before the gate swung shut, if you were less prompt or didn't shove hard enough, you'd have to use a hand to stop the gate bashing the chainstay or rear wheel as it swung shut.

They succumbed to wear & tear and vandalism after a few years and got replaced by what I call A-frame shoulder trappers, with a mini cattle grid below. These aren't as tight as some, and I normally just aim carefully and ride straight through, even with fairly wide drop bars (On-One Midge, 57 cm overall). Confidence is the key - hesitation or braking often gives enough wobble to catch a knuckle on the frame.

[Nearholmer]

The gates highlighted by EdT are used within MK at boundaries between big fields along river floodplains, to stop livestock wandering off, and there are similar ones “out in the country” where bridleway gates have been renewed in recent years. As said, on a bike they’re not bad, and on the country ones the latch-handles are taller, so that horse riders can use them more easily but, also as said, I’d have my doubts about them from a wheelchair user’s perspective, because the handle is a bit high-up, and needs a fair force to pull against the spring, which must make them awkward to use from a seated position.

[Paulatic]

I’d have my doubts about them from a wheelchair user’s perspective, because the handle is a bit high-up, and needs a fair force to pull against the spring, which must make them awkward to use from a seated position.

They usually have a latch as well. Push or pull , depending which side the bolt is, the gate to take the pressure off if needed and lift the latch.

[Nearholmer]

I’m fairly sure that if you lift the latch, which is a very not-obvious thing anyway, the gate will only open towards you if it has previously closed from the side you are on, that pulling the big lever is what withdraws the bolt far enough to allow the gate swing open away from you. If you are standing, you can reach over and deal with the latch on the other side, if that’s where the bolt has come to rest, but that won’t be possible for a person seated in a wheelchair.

But, all this tells me that I can use a gate a hundred times, and have no really clear memory of how the latch works, so I’m going to have another look tomorrow!

[Paulatic]

If you are standing, you can reach over and deal with the latch on the other side, if that’s where the bolt has come to rest, but that won’t be possible for a person seated in a wheelchair.

Yes the bolt could be on your side of the striker post. A door in the home could also need opening towards you so I’d say yes it is possible. My mother was a wheelchair user her last 20 years.

[pwa]

The gates highlighted by EdT are used within MK at boundaries between big fields along river floodplains, to stop livestock wandering off, and there are similar ones “out in the country” where bridleway gates have been renewed in recent years. As said, on a bike they’re not bad, and on the country ones the latch-handles are taller, so that horse riders can use them more easily but, also as said, I’d have my doubts about them from a wheelchair user’s perspective, because the handle is a bit high-up, and needs a fair force to pull against the spring, which must make them awkward to use from a seated position.

In a previous job I worked with this sort of stuff and got a friend who was a wheelchair / mobility scooter user to test various gates and access barriers. It is a long time ago, but my recollection is that he could get through the Centrewire two-way self-closers, but awkwardly. They tend to rub against the wheel as you exit. The man in question was in his fifties, with reasonably strong arms.

Some farmers don't like them because when they malfunction and fail to close, as they do, they let the stock out. Some users also prop them open and let stock out.

[pwa]

The local council has parks with self-closing gates . These are difficult to pull open by a user of a wheelchair or adapted cycle ( and a nuisance for the rest of us).
Does anyone know of a design that can be pushed open in both directions but still close itself slowly ?

The Centrewire two-way self closers do work in both directions, so that they always open in the direction you are going. But they do tend to want to close too quickly. I haven't yet seen anything better.

[gaz]

[burroc]

I wonder if it is worth taking a step back and asking why these gates are there in the first place? If it is a council park then it is obviously not to prevent escape of livestock. Perhaps there could be a valid reason in terms of child safety, preventing a youngster dashing out onto a road.
On a more general note, I do get frustrated at the number of obstacles installed on so-called cycle paths. Some are supposidly to deter motorcyclists but inadvertantly deter cyclists at the same time. Barriers/gates on disused rail lines to cross a cart track are difficult to fathom. When the rail line was used by trains the gates (if any) would have been on the cart track, not the rail route.

[Nearholmer]

it is a council park then it is obviously not to prevent escape of livestock

Don’t take that completely as a given. The reason they exist in MK, which the particular ones linked to are named after, is exactly that. We have sheep and beef cattle in most parks at various times of year.

[axel_knutt]

When I opened this I thought it was going to be a thread about Granny Stoppers.

Farming Today were talking about them yesterday morning with a guy who used to be in the mountain rescue until a paragliding accident put him in a wheelchair. Apparently, it's deliberate policy to put awkward gates & stiles at the beginnings of walks in order to deter people who are likely to have difficulties with the terrain higher up, and the ex-mountain rescue guy was now backpedalling on his views, and supporting their removal.