you definitely have something wrong with the spring. Looking at mine (if it is the same as posted above), I bet that if you used a pair of pliers and cranked that knurled knob (counter clockwise would be my guess), it will unscrew from the gate, allowing the gate to come out. See if there is a little spring back there that got kinked. Probably not repairable though, unless you have access to lots of little springs to test out. Call Bison and see if they will exchange it for you.