Quote Originally Posted by Talroth View Post
Every portcullis I have ever read about that was in working order was counter balanced so a single man could raise or lower it. (Note, this has not been a lot of material. It is an oddly lacking detail from a lot of books on fortifications.) This means that you can't really 'crash the gate shut' in general design, because there is a nearly equal weight that you have to raise up to lower the gate.
Hmmm. Just to clarify, you're talking about raising/lowering it properly, with the crank (or whatever mechanism one uses). Not raise/lower as you would a garage door, correct?