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Need some input from "barnstock"/"hoofstock" folk...

UR20Z

UR20Z

Dumpster Diver
Looking for some input (or maybe verification would be the better word) from those of you who deal with "barnstock" or "hoofstock", depending on where you hail from - horses, cattle, goats, sheep, etc - any critter that normally resides in a barn/barn-like structure.

The reason I'm being so specific is that I want to hear from anybody who deals with barns, and more specifically, barn doors, and even MORE specifically, track-mounted, sliding barn doors.

Is it my imagination, or is it right on the edge of (if not actually) impossible to find a latching (not locking - I'm not talking security, just the ability to latch) mechanism for a track-hung sliding barn door that can be engaged or disengaged *NO MATTER WHICH SIDE OF THE DOOR YOU'RE ON*?

Over the 50-odd years I've been a "barn-rat", I've seen (and probably used) a zillion methods that can latch such doors in the closed position, but NOT ONE of them has ever been a "can be operated from both sides of the door" arrangement. Most common is a hook-and-eye or equivalent on one side or the other, or even both. Those work fine, so long as you only ever expect to be operating the latch from the side it's on, but if you're on the wrong side of the door when it's latched, you're stuck with "go around and unlatch from the other side".

But what happens if some sort of SHTF when the door is latched on the side you're NOT on, and for whatever reason you can dream up, you're standing there on the "wrong" side of it? I'm thinking in terms of a situation where, for whatever reason, "running around to another door, going in, and unlatching the sliding door" is an unacceptable delay - maybe fire, whether real or only suspected, maybe an intruder or predator, maybe the sound of a pair of horses fighting inside, or ANY other reason you can come up with where you might want/need to get through that door, and you want/need it to happen *RIGHT NOW*.

So far as I can find, there's no such mechanism available on the market, from any source, at any price, and I can find no indication that there ever has been. Am I wrong in that observation? Have any of you EVER even heard of a latching mechanism for a sliding barn door that can be unlatched from whichever side of the door you happen to be on? Or have I just not flipped over the correct rock to find a treasure-trove of them waiting to be picked up and installed?
 
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There should be many options available for dual access latches. Most are available at tractor supply. My old place had sliding and pivoting barn doors but did not have or need that kind of latch. I do know what you are talking about. Let me see if I can find a product
 
Oh, and try and rv parts store. Lots of RV's use sliding doors so they should definitely have dual access latches and locks.
 
Oldman said:
There should be many options available for dual access latches. Most are available at tractor supply. My old place had sliding and pivoting barn doors but did not have or need that kind of latch. I do know what you are talking about. Let me see if I can find a product
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Indeed, one would think that there SHOULD be many available, considering how many umpty-hundred years such doors have been in use, but to date, at least by my success (or lack thereof so far), such a concept appears to be made of solid unobtanium.

That 4th one you show in a later message looks like it COULD be what I'm hoping for. Got any further info on it? Assuming the price isn't ridiculous, I may have to give it a try. The others are all great for (and I've seen/used several variations of them through the years) "swing on hinges" doors, but are totally useless for sliders - the catch just "slides out" when the door is shoved along the track.
 
If you using a sliding door setup, be sure to install travel limiter to stop the doors from moving past the closed position. Somebody got into my barn/storage outbuilding by sliding both locked-together doors off the end of the track and stole some lawn tools and outdoor power tools. I feel very lucky my new ATV/snowplow was in the garage or else they would have ridden it away.
 
Sorry to hear that. Yeah, I do have a stop for it. Now that you mention it I think Ima weld it on lol. As it stands it's removable by Allen key.
 
Oldman said:
Available here on amazon

Can also search for "pocket door lock" or latch on amazon. Will get you a few options.

Well shit, you'll see this when you get back.
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YOUCH!!!! That price tag!!! Guess I'll finish my "invention" - Got something I've been tinkering with that I'm pretty certain will work but isn't exactly an "off-the-shelf solution"
 
K9Duke697 said:
If you using a sliding door setup, be sure to install travel limiter to stop the doors from moving past the closed position. Somebody got into my barn/storage outbuilding by sliding both locked-together doors off the end of the track and stole some lawn tools and outdoor power tools. I feel very lucky my new ATV/snowplow was in the garage or else they would have ridden it away.
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Yep, *ALWAYS* have to put a "stop the trolleys from walking off the end of the track" widget *ON BOTH ENDS* of a sliding door. Even if it's just driving a nail or a lag-bolt across the track. Might not be perfect, but will at least slow down, if not outright stop, somebody that's just doing the "Wonder what tmight be in here that I can swipe?" thing.

For my use, it's all about dealing with a "Dratted donkeys are too smart for their (or my) own good, and keep shoving the door open and inviting themselves in to eat anything that isn't nailed down in everybody else's stalls - and while we're here, let's crap all up and down the aisle, and pee on anything we don't eat!!!" situation. They're already doing a damned good impression of Macy's Parade balloons, and I'm trying to keep 'em from exploding - One of 'em is so darn fat she looks like she's wearing a cartoon pack saddle with a "miner forty-niner" pile of gear on it even when she's standing there without so much as a halter on! Needless to say, they don't appreciate being on a diet... Of course, blowing up to the point where they founder so hard they step right out of their hooves would be even less appreciated, I expect.

I've been chaining the door shut from inside, but that's not viable long-term - I absolutely MUST be able to open the door from either side, on a moment's notice. As noted previously, "go around" is completely unacceptable.
 
What about an access hole in the door ?…. it could be covered. Only needing a couple of fingers to release the latches
 
Chiara2003 said:
What about an access hole in the door ?…. it could be covered. Only needing a couple of fingers to release the latches
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Trying to avoid that - It would be an option that would work - no question. But it's "just not cricket" by my standards. (That, and the lack of such hardware has pressed my "By god, I'm gonna fix this lack, come hell or high water!" button) I also want to avoid having to punch holes in either the door or the barn wall.

As mentioned, I've got something in the works that should do the job - When I get it to "functioning prototype" stage, I may even share it around - With what I expect will be minor alterations, it SHOULD be possible to use it as a retrofit for existing "hangs from an overhead track" type doors, barn, warehouse, or otherwise.
 
My barn door experience, weirdly enough, has been in installing various types of sliding doors in peoples’ homes as a carpenter. Rich folks love barn doors in their houses, for some reason. I’ve always made my own latch with two blocks of wood and a dowel. It’s usually some variation of the crappy sketch below. It really depends on how the door is mounted, whether it slides past the opening or butts into it or hits a flat wall or this or that. But, the basic premise is that you’ve got a latch that swivels on a dowel going through the door and the other side can be another matching latch or could just be a knob or handle (it’s usually just a knob or handle because the door jamb conditions rarely allow symmetry). Also, you might need to get creative if the latch system would get in the way for the door to open fully. You could put the latch system on the door jamb and just have a dowel on the door that the latch closes onto.

Anyway, if it works for your setup, it’s pretty simple to make and can look pretty good. You can stain it or burn it or paint it or whatever you have to do to make it match your door. There are ways to make this pretty fancy and classy, too, if you want, where it’s auto-latching and such.

IMG_3857.jpeg
 
GoldenGait said:
My barn door experience, weirdly enough, has been in installing various types of sliding doors in peoples’ homes as a carpenter. Rich folks love barn doors in their houses, for some reason. I’ve always made my own latch with two blocks of wood and a dowel. It’s usually some variation of the crappy sketch below. It really depends on how the door is mounted, whether it slides past the opening or butts into it or hits a flat wall or this or that. But, the basic premise is that you’ve got a latch that swivels on a dowel going through the door and the other side can be another matching latch or could just be a knob or handle (it’s usually just a knob or handle because the door jamb conditions rarely allow symmetry). Also, you might need to get creative if the latch system would get in the way for the door to open fully. You could put the latch system on the door jamb and just have a dowel on the door that the latch closes onto.

Anyway, if it works for your setup, it’s pretty simple to make and can look pretty good. You can stain it or burn it or paint it or whatever you have to do to make it match your door. There are ways to make this pretty fancy and classy, too, if you want, where it’s auto-latching and such.

View attachment 490686
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While that looks like it would indeed do the job, and it ain't a bad idea, it requires punching a hole in either the door or the wall, which puts it near (if not at) the absolute bottom of the list of possibilities.

I've got something I'm working on that would only require two half-inch drill-holes and some angle-grinder work (more holes would make for less grinder work) to cut a strategically-placed slot into the top of the track itself. If things go to plan, it will work much like a conventional door latch (though for reasons of my own, I'm leaning toward having the actuator be some sort of lever, rather than a knob) does, automatically latching when the door is pulled far enough shut, then when you want to open it, run the actuator and sling the door down its track as if there's no latch at all, same as twisting the knob pulls back the latch so you can open a conventional swinging door.

The devil is in the details, but I think I may have it ready to rock-n-roll by the middle of next week.
 
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