Self closing garden gate: spring, slam, and the dog
Updated: 23 October 2026
The side gate is already on a latch. The problem is the person, the wind, or the dog that gets there before the latch clicks. A self closing garden gate spring can pull that leaf shut. It cannot time the close, and it cannot create a latch that does not meet. One UK review of an 8 inch spring says a slow close loses the race. Wind the same spring hard enough to win the race and it can slam. Prices sit on the [Door tensioner](/hub/diy-supplies/door-tensioner) comparison. Peter F. used amazon.co.uk listings on 22 October 2026, not a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The side gate is already on a latch. The problem is the person, the wind, or the dog that gets there before the latch clicks. A self closing garden gate spring can pull that leaf shut.
The side gate is already on a latch. The problem is the person, the wind, or the dog that gets there before the latch clicks. A self closing garden gate spring can pull that leaf shut. It cannot time the close, and it cannot create a latch that does not meet. One UK review of an 8 inch spring says a slow close loses the race. Wind the same spring hard enough to win the race and it can slam. Prices sit on the Door tensioner comparison. Peter F. used amazon.co.uk listings on 22 October 2026, not a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Stated job | What UK reviews report | Fixings in the box | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Weielt Weielt 14 inch gate spring | Gates, fences and wooden doors. No kilogram figure | Couriers, dogs and wind. Some could not set tension. One short length. One top end pulled off | 1 spring, 2 pins, 4 screws, 1 adjusting pin | 8.8 | about £12.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  scottchen PRO scottchen PRO 14 inch gate spring | Wooden gates, vinyl doors and fences. No kilogram figure | Sturdy once the right way up. Upside down, the gate opens. A slam at high tension | 1 spring, 4 screws, 1 metal stop, 1 tension tool | 8.6 | about £25.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Infinity Decor Infinity Decor 8 inch spring, black | Garden gates, shed doors, fences, pool gates, side doors | Pegs too small and they fly out. One spring died after 4 months. One called it too slow for a dog | 1 spring and installation hardware. Reviews say two pegs | 7.6 | about £11.95 | View offer |
On this page
The job is a gate that already latches
Start with the latch, not the spring. If the gate sags and the latch misses by a centimetre, a coil will pull the leaf into the post and still leave it unlatched. UK reviews that praise these springs assume the latch was already there. Weielt buyers talk about couriers, dogs, and a northerly wind on a gate that could shut. Hinges and a latch come first.
An internal door closer is the wrong aisle. Once the latch meets, choose a length. If it does not meet, fix the gate first. How the brackets go on is on the how to fit a gate spring page.
What these springs did in UK reviews
The Weielt 14 inch spring is about £12.99 and 4.4 from 419 ratings. That is where couriers, dogs and wind show up most often. It is the top pick because of that star line among listings with at least 100 ratings, not because anyone timed the close.
The black Infinity Decor 8 inch spring has one UK review that calls the close slow enough for a dog to get out. That sentence is about this spring, not every 14 inch coil. The galvanised twin has no review line, so do not copy the black spring's faults onto it. The scottchen PRO, about £25.99 and 4.3 from 330, draws notes about a sail-like gate, a slam, and an upside-down fit that opens the gate.
Slow enough for a dog is fast enough to slam
A coil has one adjustment, and it pulls both ways. Add tension and the gate is more likely to beat a dog and more likely to bang. Take tension off and the bang goes away, and so does the chance of catching a short opening. You cannot set two speeds.
RoSPA's play-area guidance is a close no quicker than about five seconds, with a 12 mm gap. None of these coils states that, so do not call a 14 inch spring a play-gate closer. The GCG2000, about £56 including VAT and outside this set, separates closing and latching speeds for gates up to 50 kg and 1 m wide. Use that shape of closer when the single pull is the problem.
Metal gates, deliveries, and play areas
The screws in these boxes are for wood. Reviewers who moved an 8 inch spring onto metal used bolts and plates. If the gate is metal, budget for fixings that bite. An upside-down coil opens a steel gate too.
The Weielt box does not include a hold-open hook. One UK reviewer added one so a delivery could leave the gate open. A hook or a drop bolt is a second piece of hardware, not a part you should expect in the bag, and it does not make the spring suitable for a playground. If the leaf is a fire door rather than a garden gate, do not transfer any of this. A coil is the wrong object there.
Common questions
Will a spring stop the dog if the courier leaves the gate open?
It might, and one review says an 8 inch spring will not. Weielt's 14 inch reviews are full of dogs, couriers and wind on gates that already latched. The black Infinity Decor review that calls the close too slow for a dog is about that spring, not every coil. No listing here states a closing time. A gentle setting can lose a fast dog. A hard setting may slam. There is no third dial.
What if the gate already has a latch that does not line up?
Fix the latch and the hinges before you buy the spring. A coil pulls along the arc the gate already has. If the latch misses, the spring holds the gate against the post in the wrong place, which looks closed from the house and is not. Sag, a dropped hinge, or a strike in the wrong place is carpentry. Tension will not move the strike plate.
Is 8 inch or 14 inch the better choice for a wooden gate?
In these UK reviews, 14 inch is the length people used when wind and dogs were the story, and the Weielt spring has the larger sample. Eight inch is the shorter spring, with a slow close and loose pegs on the black model. This set has no 10 inch coil. Choose 14 inch when the gate is left open in the wind, and 8 inch only if you are not relying on it to beat a dog.
Can you set it so it latches and does not slam?
Sometimes, on a light wooden gate, by adding and removing one step and testing from fully open and from a short push. The scottchen reviews show the other outcome: high tension and a slam. These coils do not separate closing speed from latching speed. If every step is either too slow or too hard, a hydraulic gate closer is the next object, and it is not in this set.
Is this acceptable on a playground gate?
Treat a coil as the wrong default. RoSPA's play-area guidance is a close no quicker than about five seconds and a gap of about 12 mm. These amazon.co.uk springs do not state either figure, and a UK review of high tension describes a slam. Signet points child-heavy gates towards a hydraulic or gas closer. Safe, on a play gate, is a timed close these listings do not claim.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, plus the amazon.co.uk listings for these ASINs. Updated 22.10.2026.
- GOV.UK fire door guidance (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 10 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Door and Hardware Federation, power size note (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- BSI, BS EN 1154:1997 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- RoSPA Play Safety, gates (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Carlisle Brass fitting note FITCB0217 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- TATE Fencing gate spring closer (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 22.10.2026)