Driveway gate openers ???

DaveNay · Jan 26, 2004

C'mon you guys......this is a tractor forum......we use hydraulics for everything! I'm thinkin' a nice 24" stroke hydraulic cylinder would be the best gate opener you could get! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

jinman · Jan 26, 2004

Okay! You build it and we'll all copy it. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif You are now personally in charge of this research. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

DaveNay · Jan 26, 2004

( Okay! You build it and we'll all copy it. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif You are now personally in charge of this research. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

I don't have the resources (or the need) to build a gate for my driveway, but I'd be happy to lay out the geometry for this type of opener if anyone really wanted it. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Dave

jinman · Jan 26, 2004

( but I'd be happy to lay out the geometry for this type of opener if anyone really wanted it )

I was kidding, of course /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif, but I've actually thought of using a 12 VDC powerpack and a hydraulic cylinder to operate the gate, but the geometry and the operation of the cylinder would not be nearly as hard to design as something which will sense if there is an obstruction to the gate and shut it down. Between that and the radio control of the gate's operation are the two issues I'd find the most challenging. If it was just "push a button and open or close the gate" I think the whole job would be easy. As Harv has pointed out in several of his posts, trying to figure out what can and will go wrong is a real challenge. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif With a gate, you gotta make sure people and vehicles are safe around it.

wroughtn_harv · Jan 27, 2004

Morning Jim,

Your repair looks great.

I'm glad it worked for you.

I once put a set up on a gate where the gate attachment was attached to a rod that slid back and forth. It had a compression spring too.

But it was to provide a deadbolt affect. When the gate hit home the operator moved another two inches. This shoved the rod into a receptacle providing a dead bolt latch. The first couple of inches of travel released the rod from the receptacle and then the gate would open.

It worked. Was fun. And you can't ask for more than that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

TXPOPO · Jan 28, 2004

Hi Harvey, new here. my question is i have a drivewayabout 25-26 ft wide. i need a one direction slide gate. several operators ive looked at ie: eagle, apollo, mention 1000lbs, and 25-30ft gates but only a 20ft opening.

the only one i noticed that said it accomidates up to a 30ft gate was the elite sl3000 at about $1400.00

oh this is a board on board fence.
any recomendations ?

greetings from Garland, TX
Don

powerstroke2000 · Jan 28, 2004

try using kids or grand kids

wroughtn_harv · Jan 28, 2004

Evening Don,

Check out these pictures.

The double one is twenty eight feet opening with All o matics. The other big one is a standard double car drive so it's probably eighteen to twenty feet.

I build a steel frame and then install wood rails to nail the board on board. I don't build the gate's like most everyone else, character flaw, with one you sometimes get the other. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The reason I double finish the gate is first for safety and second for appearance. By safety I mean there is only about a half inch clearance when the gate disappears into it's cubby hole, not unlike a pocket door.

One of the additional hazards of a powered wood gate is you can't see the operating mechanism when you're approaching the gate. That means a child could be interacting with the neat obstacle that is an operator and frame. You can only imagine the result if you hit your remote and a child was caught unawares.

With my system I can sleep nights knowing a child can't get into the mechanism, even with some effort.

If you have any questions or want to just bounce some ideas I'm working over in Parker on a job. I'm easy to find in the book under "gates". I'm early to bed and early to rise so if you call the home keep that in mind.

Tonight's an exception. In fact if it wasn't for super glue I'd have the backsides of my eyelids memorized by now. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

TXPOPO · Jan 29, 2004

Thanks Harvey,

Im working in Plano so not too far. I didn't see you in the book, but I wasnt sure what i was looking for.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Don

wroughtn_harv · Jan 29, 2004

With my commercial telephone number I get a free yellow pages listing. Usually if you're in one you're in all of them in the metroplex that carries that area.

Verizon in their infinite wisdom has me under "gates" Lacey, Harvey, custom jr.

Go figure.

Of course that's better than their original.

Welding, lacey harvey jr

I always had to laugh when I answered the phone and they wanted to talk to Mr Welding.

But the best one was when a local reporter named Weldon Lacey called to find me for a story. When he said he was Weldon Lacey I had to tell him I was a welding Lacey too.