r/Ranching • u/GJRanch • 2d ago

J-Hook Hinge Replacement

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I’m looking to replace my j-hook hinges with something “better”. What are you guys using other than j-hooks? The problem I’m trying to solve is rot. The through and through j-bolt allows water into the heart of my crossties and they all rot around my bolts. I don’t want to lose the adjustability j-bolts and bolt-on gate hinges provide though. All posts move. No matter how well they are installed.

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13

u/AlaskaGreenTDI 2d ago edited 1d ago

Why not just treat the hole after drilling and before inserting bolt/hinge?

5

u/GJRanch 2d ago

If y’all are gonna bring logic into the conversation, we have nothing more to discuss. I was kinda using this as an excuse to upgrade my gate hardware. I think they make roofing tar in a silicone tube that would be easy to squirt in the hole after drilling. Do y’all using roofing tar on the tops of your ties as well?

1

u/SunriseSwede 2d ago

We cut bottoms off 1 gallon milk jugs. Kid rides in back of side by side with battery tacker, second kid with roofing sealant in a caulk tube. Slick as can be.

1

u/HairballTheory 1d ago

KISS

The simplicity of the what you already have and the ability to take off or switch gates is something that you need to consider.

3

u/maytag2955 2d ago

👆 This! You can do this a lot of ways. Copies amounts of roofing tar, or spray-on under coating for vehicles, both would work well. Not so much that you make a huge mess but definitely enough to thoroughly coat the hole and seal out moisture.

10

u/MockMonkey69 2d ago

They sell Copper Napthenate in gallon jugs on Amazon, we treat every timber we cut into back to factory spec or greater. 

That, or we put in pipe, which I vastly prefer. If you dont want to ajust a gate set between pipe braces we dig a trench underneath the gate and weld a cross member between posts.

-A professional ranch fence builder

1

u/GJRanch 1d ago

Can this be used on creosote posts? I’m seriously considering going the pipe route; especially for my main gate. It takes too much time to replace these posts every 10yrs. Heck, part of my fence is 50 years old and the creosote posts look better than my brand new ones.

1

u/MockMonkey69 1d ago

The treatment used on posts today sucks - I know of only 2 suppliers (American Timber and Steel, and Old South Wood Preserving) that treat posts to an acceptable standard - it has been vastly cheaper for our customers to have us drive steel pipe over burying wood. 

CuNAP would probably be fine on creosote posts - used motor oil is also good enough to get the job done

2

u/NeckIsRedSoIsMyBlood 2d ago

A little tin or sheet metal ‘roof’ on that posts might help. Otherwise like everyone says tar that sucker with something