heelpost
The post to which a gate or door is hinged.
heelpost: the pivot point where a gate swings
A heelpost is the vertical timber or post that carries the hinges of a gate or door. It is the stationary member that absorbs the weight and swing of the moving panel, anchoring it to the frame or fence line. In carpentry, it is also called a hanging post or hinge post, though heelpost remains the term most common in traditional joinery and gate work.
The heelpost must be substantial and well-secured because all the dynamic load of the gate falls on it during opening and closing. For a heavy wooden gate, the post is typically a substantial square or rectangular section, often 4 inches by 4 inches or larger depending on gate width and weight. The hinges themselves are lag-bolted or through-bolted to the heelpost, with the upper and lower hinges positioned to distribute stress evenly across the post's height. If the post is undersized or poorly set, the hinges will work loose and the gate will sag.
Installation depth and bracing are critical. The heelpost must be set at least 24 to 30 inches below grade (and deeper for larger gates), either in concrete footings or in a substantial earthwork pocket. The post must be plumb; any tilt toward or away from the gate line will cause binding or drift. Cross-bracing or knee bracing from the heelpost back to a fence post or anchor point prevents the post from racking under the shearing forces that occur when the gate is opened and closed repeatedly. Without such bracing, even a well-set post will gradually tilt forward under load.
The heelpost sits opposite the latching post or latch post, which holds the opposite edge of the gate. These two posts form the functional frame of any gate or hinged door. The terminology comes from the fact that the hinge is positioned near the heel, or bottom corner, of the post, and the post itself carries that load.
In modern construction, heelposts may also be metal tube or channel bolted to a concrete pier, but the principle remains: it is the fixed point from which the entire gate assembly hangs and pivots. Failure here means failure of the whole gate.