Metalwork · Gates
Metal gate calculator
A 3 m opening, 1.8 m high, closed by two swing leaves framed in 40 × 40 × 2 tube with 16 mm square bars at 100 mm at most, takes 24 bars: 56.91 m of steel, about 120.3 kg, 60.1 kg each leaf. The weight of each leaf is what you choose the hinges, the wheels or the motor for. Change the sizes and the profiles and send the cut list to the bar optimizer.
Cut list
| Profile | Piece | Length (mm) | Qty |
|---|
How it is worked out
For the gate above: each leaf is (3000 − 3 × 10) / 2 = 1485 mm wide and 1485 − 2 × 40 = 1405 mm clear. 16 mm bars at 100 mm at most: ⌈(1405 − 100) / 116⌉ = 12 per leaf, at (1405 − 12 × 16) / 13 = 93.3 mm, each 1800 − 80 = 1720 mm long. Frame: 4 stiles of 1800 and 6 rails of 1405, 15.63 m of tube at 2.386 kg/m; bars: 24 × 1.72 = 41.28 m at 2.010 kg/m (256 mm² × 7850 / 10⁶). Weight: 120.3 kg, 60.1 kg each leaf. The sections are sharp-cornered, as in the metal weight calculator.
What this page does not do
- It does not choose hinges, wheels or a motor. It gives the weight of each leaf to choose them by, from the maker's data.
- It does not count the track, the posts, the lock or the paint.
- It does not check the safety of a powered gate, which has its own standards: check the code in your country.
Questions people ask
- How much does a steel gate weigh?
- A 3 m two-leaf gate, 1.8 m high, in 40 × 40 × 2 tube with 16 mm square bars weighs about 120.3 kg, 60.1 kg each leaf. Type your sizes and profiles above for yours.
- How many bars does a gate need?
- Take each leaf's clear width minus the largest gap, divide by the bar width plus the gap and round up: 1405 mm clear with 16 mm bars at 100 mm at most takes 12 bars, 93.3 mm apart.
- How wide is each leaf of a double gate?
- The opening minus three clearances (two at the hinges, one between the leaves), halved: a 3000 mm opening with 10 mm clearances makes two leaves of 1485 mm.