Caveman Jim wrote:
If it was me, I'd just take the old 2 by 4's off and put new ones on. And it's my thinking if it broke once it will break again. But I over build everything I touch with a hammer.
This wouldn't be so easy to do (and I thought I'd both over-built and over-designed it, but I was wrong). The whole thing was put together with 3/4" x 8" dowels & Gorilla Glue. Now it's reinforced with steel triangular gussets (after the wind blew it off it's hinges twice). I took some pictures last night that I'll post in a while.
I talked to Dunn Lumber, and I can get a 2x6x12' pressure treated for about $17 (or a cedar one for about $50). Since it won't be seen (it's on the back of the gate), I'm thinking pressure treated. I plan to glue & screw the whole thing back together while holding it in place with clamps. I'll use Gorilla glue again, I'll extend the 1/2" bolts holding the gusset plates to accommodate the extra 1-1/2" inch thickness where it's appropriate.
The problem is getting a warm enough and not windy day to work on it, even cold & dry would work. 72-ish square feet of sail area doesn't sound like much, until the wind hits it. I've been hit & pinned against the bumper of my truck by it before, and it wasn't pleasant.