Catch Posts and End Stops

The last six inches of travel do more damage than the whole of the rest of it, and the parts absorbing them are the cheapest on the gate. The hardware list kept at Pearland Sliding Gates Freesizer covers the receiving end in as much detail as the drive end, because a sliding leaf in Pearland hits its stop several thousand times a year.

The Catch Post

A post on the far side of the opening receives the nose of the leaf, carries the latch or the strike for the lock, and on a cantilever also takes a support roller that stops the nose dropping when the gate is closed. It is doing three jobs, so it gets a proper footing rather than the leftover hole from the fence run.

Stops at Both Ends

A physical stop at the closed position and another at fully open, both mounted so the leaf strikes the frame rather than the operator. A drive left to act as the end stop is a drive asked to absorb the whole moving mass, and the failures that follow are gearboxes and sheared keys rather than bent brackets.

Rubber, Spring or Steel

A solid steel stop is durable and sends the whole shock into the post. A rubber buffer softens the arrival and needs renewing every few years. A sprung stop suits a heavy leaf and is rarely fitted on a residential one. Whatever is chosen is bolted through rather than tacked on, since a stop that falls off leaves nothing between the leaf and the ground.

Setting the Limits to Suit

The controller should halt the leaf just short of the physical stop, so the stop is a backup rather than a daily component. Limits set to slam the gate into steel each cycle will loosen the catch post footing within a couple of years, and the first sign is a gate that no longer latches cleanly.

Inspecting Them

Look at the buffer for splitting, at the bolts for movement, and at the paint around the strike for the bright ring that says the leaf arrives harder than intended. Any of the three is a ten minute adjustment now and a footing repair later.