Hi Andy,
"
look at that original gate, rotten through and through" that was a truly neglected gate for sure.
I'm sure your new gate with contemporary design will be much better cared for and last a long time.
It's a bit more clear to me now why you asked the question about end grain on top of framed gates in my
thread.
When you take a look at that original gate you have replaced, it was completely rotten in every location not just the end grain on top of the stile.
You seem to be a bit of a rebel when it comes to woodwork and traditional methods of construction, not to say that there is anything wrong with trying new ideas though. There are a few reasons why we traditionalists use horizontal jointing methods and don't tend to use vertical mortice and tenon joints in gates and doors. The main one is strength. Quite often in the past doors and gates just had the joints painted and wedged, sometimes draw bored as well. Constructing doors using traditional methods was the only time tested way to ensure a door or gate remained rigid and stable.
Of course today we have modern glues which are far superior to anything we had years ago (paint) so jointing methods have, in recent years, been greatly experimented with and now we use biscuits, finger joints, dowels, domino's and of course the vertical mortice and tenon too.
It's hard to really argue that any of these methods will or won't last longer that the other because modern glues are really that good that most joints if constructed correctly will last.
Well done that man for thinking out of the box.
Mark
Mod edit: Link added to your gate thread