Bloody electric gates

[pootlepiglet]

When I bought my house it had a big sliding electric gate, with vertical wood planks (quite thick) a bit like floorboards but much thicker. The gate is approx 4ft high and each section is 6.2 ft (3 sections) so it’s reasonably large.
There is a metal frame top/bottom/sides so the wood screws into that and sits in the frame.
It’s been fine, until now, when repeated rain has destroyed several planks, which have warped and swollen and then affected the board next to them, to the point that many need attention/replacing

If I remove a plank and take it to a timber yard, will they know what wood it is and supply the exact same thickness? I’m a bit concerned over it, in case the gate is then too light/too heavy. I think I might as well replace them all

Failing that would composite work or would that be too heavy? I don’t want to wreck the motor, or have the gate flying around in the wind either.

In an ideal world I’d get a new gate, but I can’t afford it. I have a local person I use, who can do the job, but I want to ensure I get the wood right.

It’s gone from fine, to this in the space of a few weeks of torrential rain.

Can't you contact the manufacture for details of replacement slats?

I’d get a gate man in to give me a quote tbh.

There are lots of places on the internet where you can get stuff cut to size (mdf, polycarbonate sheets etc).

I would probably remove one, measure it and then see whether it corresponds to a normal plank size that you can get (planks normally come in standard sizes) and then have some made up.

If it is standard plank size you could probably do it on the cheap by getting a long plank from B&Q and cutting it up yourself or getting them to do it (they normally do the first cut for free).

Remember to treat it/paint it before you put it in.

I would suggest composite as a replacement as it does not absorb water so is likely to be lighter. Can you get it in the required width/depth?
The only way to get absolutely sure of its suitability is to weigh identical sized pieces of wood & composite planking for comparison.

I’d Leave them to dry out. Most likely they will be ok

I was thinking of composite, i just don’t want to bugger the gate mechanism with it being too heavy, or too light.

Ideally the wood will dry, but lots of panels are splitting and bowed and the wood is tight packed and it’s literally pushing itself out.

The wood is actually cedar wood so I’ve discovered, but even treated I feel this will be an ongoing issue