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Texas | We have a 500' or so long concrete driveway coming into our place. It is 15' wide and it butts up to a narrow two lane paved county road. It has small wings at the road but you can barelyturn in with a 24' gooseneck livestock trailer without getting off the concrete.
We want to be able to get semis in here so I need to widen the wings at the road. We also are going to place an electric gate and fence at the entry way.
How far back from the county road should the gate be and how wide does the entry way need to be at the county road? I was planning on just angling the concrete from full width at the road to the 15' back at the gate. |
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| I am lazy
60 to 70 feet wide here
gate would have to be like 20 foot wide at least 50 feet from the road
we also have to deal with the white stuff once in awhile |
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Texas | hillfarmer - 11/27/2015 04:36
I am lazy
60 to 70 feet wide here
gate would have to be like 20 foot wide at least 50 feet from the road
we also have to deal with the white stuff once in awhile
The 15' wide part I can't easily change. I am not widening 500' of driveway.
So you think if I had it 65' wide at the road tapering in to a 15' wide gate set 50' in from the road I would be good? |
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SW Ohio | do you need to pull the semi clear off the road to stop and open the gate?, that will determine how far back the gate needs to be. Width is 'depends' on your semi turning radius and trailer setup, but make it plenty big. |
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NW Central Ohio | ...is there a ditch directly across the road from the entryway? If there is...some tile and filling it in level with the road would allow the entryway to be narrower and still able to get in and out.
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Texas | Directly across the road is the neighbors mail box. I can't swing wide off the pavement on the opposite side of my place.
Not worried about opening gate. It will have wireless remote and be open most the time anyway.
As to truck size full size truck with sleeper and 48-53' trailer. |
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central - east central Minnesota - | Drilldo - 11/27/2015 04:48 hillfarmer - 11/27/2015 04:36 I am lazy 60 to 70 feet wide here gate would have to be like 20 foot wide at least 50 feet from the road we also have to deal with the white stuff once in awhile The 15' wide part I can't easily change. I am not widening 500' of driveway. So you think if I had it 65' wide at the road tapering in to a 15' wide gate set 50' in from the road I would be good? I don't think he said to make the whole driveway that wide . . . . . . Just the radius and tapered to 20ft wide at gate about 50ft from edge of road and driveway, then down to 15ft drive . That would be easy figuring and comfortable entry / exit . . . . |
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Portland, ND | I would have the gate wider than the 15' driveway. At least 18' or 20'.
Better find out what the easement is. On a paved county road you could be anywhere from 33' to 100' from the center of the road.
Who is going to be driving a semi into your yard? If it is just you, you can probably get by with less than if it is the average driver/steering wheel holder nowadays. |
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Washington, Kansas & Lincoln, Nebraska | the answers to these questions. If not I'd surely want to! - Is your existing concrete designed to repeatedly bear the weight of a loaded semi? If not, you'll tear it up over time.
- Might your neighbor agree to move his/her mailbox a few feet to allow greater turning radius?
- This one's already been asked, but who is going to be making the turn through the gate with a semi?
That said, my semi is a condo sleeper with a 50 foot, tri-axle grain trailer. Spreads will take greater turning room. Ideally, I'd want a gate no less than 20 feet wide, 50 feet from your edge of the roadway and an approach off a narrow road that begins at no less than 60 feet wide. I can likely do it at less and perhaps you could as well. But, again, who is going to be doing the negotiating of the semi into your driveway?
Edited by Larry NCKS 11/27/2015 06:58
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Between Omaha and Des Moines, 7 miles South of I80 | Maybe this picture, might help:
 (semi turn radius.png)
Attachments
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 semi turn radius.png (86KB - 467 downloads)
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | The gate would have to be back at least as far as the right of way for the road is. Like others have eluded to, I would want to be able to get the truck off the road and lined up straight before going through a gate. 100' seems like quite aways off the road but just guessing that is where I might put the gate. |
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Wallis, TX | We moved our gate back this past spring. I finally gave up figuring and just went with a little over a 100', mostly because that's where the posts worked out nice. I wouldn't do any less if I could do it over. Its real nice to be able to get a pickup and an 18 wheeler on the drive, out of the traffic. This has happened more than once. Either the 'follow me to the farm' or when locking up at night and the load of grain is leaving. |
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Aberdeen MS | about the swing you need coming out of the drive more so than the swing needed to get in the drive. |
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| of the drive way with the truck and traler empty and see where the wheel tracks of the truck and trailer run. Then widen the drive a little wider for some leeway. |
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Liberty, MO | Being a farmer and grain hauler, I have a Volvo 630, sleeper cab on 221 inch wheelbase and a 40 ft hopper. Lots of places I load are 100 yr old elevators, and on farms also that aren't trucker friendly. If you have any doubts about the drive way, make it BIGGER, lots of truck have a terrible time going where I go because of trailer length, and long wheelbase. 300 inch plus inch set forward steering axles takes lots of room to navigate. Make it big enough so drivers will want to come back to your location. I have known some truckers that after one trip, won't come back because of a tight situation.
edit, Set the gate back far enough to allow a trailer to get off the road, and hinge the gate to go into your field. Just my opinion. Have a GREAT day.
Edited by olwhda 11/27/2015 11:01
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West Union, Illinois | The culvert for a farm entrance should be at least 40 feet long. I just put in a 30 because that was all the state would write the permit for. You need to make your entrance tulip bulb shaped
You have the limiting width at the road entrance. Make your drive wide enough to swing and get back down to the gate width. If you have to hit a 15 foot road entrance then make the drive so the tractor can swing far enough for the trailer to make it. |
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Texas | To answer some questions:
The driveway probably isn't thick enough for a semi but we run a fully loaded tandem dump truck on it all the time. Sometimes it comes and goes a half dozen times a day. I have had probably a dozen loaded concrete trucks in here as well as 16 belly dumps hauling gravel for our area around the shops.The only times we have damaged the concrete is when someone runs off the edge it cracks. This is another reason I want it plenty wide so that people can get in and out without running off the edge.
As far as the easement setback there is an established line of fences along the road with the neighbors and such. I will match that but it is too close to the road. I need a V in to the gate from that fence location.
The main truck going in and out will be me driving but we have other big trucks here delivering things maybe once a month. Currently most of them park on the side of the road and I have to go out there to unload. I want everyone to feel comfortable coming in. There is plenty of room to turn around once you are in the place.
The neighbor with the mailbox is a really nice guy but the area where his mailbox is is his entryway and he has it manicured like a golf course. I don't even want to ask or risk rutting it up.
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Central Minnesota | I'd put that gate at a minimum of 70 feet from the edge of the tar road. 70 feet should cover a 260"wb conventional truck with a 48-52' trailer. I don't think 50' is gonna cover much, and i'd want to be completely off the tar road to stop and get out to open the gate. Grain trailer might be 42', but your crank for your tarp adds another 1' out the back, along with catwalk. |
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| I messed with the 50 foot gate setting
the 80 to 100 would be better
sorry |
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lizton IN | Get a semi and drive in and see where the wheel prints are at then make it just a little bit wider.
Keith |
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southern Illinois | I promise you if you make it a 100ft wide, trucks will still run off the end of it. We have a farm up the rd with a couple of 60 foot tiles and the ends are mashed in on both tiles. Some truckers just turn the tractor in and let the trailer cross the ditch wherever it wants to. 40ft is wide enough for anyone that can drive a truck half way right. |
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south central WI | I would put the gate 100' back, don't want trucks blocking the road waiting for the gate to open. Also 40' is wide enough to make with semis. Make it wide for a decent distance on your land also so the truck can swing in wide and not have to crank it sharp. We just installed a 40' wide driveway and it stays 25-30' width the whole way so manure tankers cab passed each other easily. Any decent driver can easily make the turn, a bad driver will miss it no matter how wide you make it. |
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Entryway design for semi
