Bumper Gates

Bumper gates are getting pretty scarce these days. Used to be a common sight around Texas but I have not seen very many lately when visiting down around Sonora where I grew up seeing them.

The following two examples are the only two styles that I am familiar. Both were found near Sonora, Texas.

This double style bumper gate was found on the old Highway that run parallel to I-10 east of Sonora before you get to the Baker Road exit. This style is one which I am most familiar. This particular one in the picture is almost all metal but Uncle Ben and Granddad Rode used to build these out of mostly wood. There were several on Baker Road but I think they are all gone now and a couple on the road out to the Old Rode Place.

Riding these can be fun and the challenge is to ride it as far out to the end of the gate as you can. Since the end of the gate will travel the longest arch of the full 180 degrees max then you can pick up some real speed before slamming into the fence post stop on the other side.



This is what I call a single style bumper gate and they too travel around a max of 180 degrees but they do not stop at the fence line. They are more like a flapping door to a kitchen. They open approximately 90 degrees and swing back out another 90 degrees. I have never rode one of these but it looks like it could be fun. I was pretty much grown by the time I first saw a bumper gate of this style.


A lot of the time you will find a bumper gate, especially a single style, over a cattle guard. The reason for this is the fact that goats and possibly sheep can walk over a cattle guard by walking on the rails or pipes. So a bumper gate is placed over them to keep the goats in the pasture. Seems like an after thought on how to run goats in a pasture after a cattle guard was put in place to begin with since if you knew you had both in the pasture then you could just put up a bumper gate by itself to begin with.