Electric gate question

[Billc]

Need some info about electric gates.

My neighbor and I have decided to buy an electric gate. Our drive is about 1/4 of a mile long. After the drive exits the road it goes though some hard woods. That is where we now have a gate. It is a simple 16' metal gate you commonly see on horse/cattle ranches. The gate hinge is screwed into a large oak. When we leave we swing the gate closed and lock it with a chain that's attached to another oak.

We've decided to go to an electric opener. It will open with a push button (similar to how you open a garage door), and then will close behind you. The gate will work off of battery that is solar charged since the gate is to far from a power source.

Anyone have good or bad recommendations as to the make and model of gate opener?

 

[W5FL]

Like everything, it depends on how much you want to spend. A good quality actuator with a Marine Battery, Solar Charger and remote controls runs about $850 if you install it. The battery will run the system for a couple of weeks in bad weather. They do best if you have good strong 4 inch or larger steel posts set well in concrete and a well made gate. I got mine with a $65 option that is a positive locking bar that drives into the steel pole after the gate shuts, keeping kids or animals from pushing against the actuator and ruining it.

Home Depot and some of the Farm stores sell a less expensive "Mule" version, but, unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and the ones that I have seen have not lasted well. Reliabilty of operation is the single biggest problem. The second biggest problem is the size of the gate as gates larger than 12 foot have a lot of inertia and wind resistance and don't automate very well.

You can rig them with a simple push button for each side of the gate. I have a keypad on both sides of mine so that I can give the numbers to people and they can come in without a remote control. The remote is nice when it is raining.

I once had a man ask me how I knew someone was at the gate and wanted in? I told him those that needed in, knew how to get in.

If you do not want to spend that much, you might want to look into a weight and cable arrangement that allows you to trip the weight from either side of the gate. Cheap, but you have to make all the parts.

I will get you the name and model number if you wish.

 

[W5FL]

p.s. This type of gate will automatically close behind you or you can stop it at any position during the cycle and it will stay there. Nearly all major gate and fence companies sell this model. It has a seperate 2 ft x 2 ft x 1 ft thick control box (battery box) and the actuator is 12 volt and is about three feet long when fully closed and extends to about six feet in length.

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Bill,

I have and electric gate which I built and believe it has a lot of advantages over the normal electric swing style gate.

It's a little hard to discribe but I'll give it a shot.

First it raises not swings or rolls horizontally.

The gate is made from four 2x6's 18 ft long to the piviot point, at that point the top rail extends another 4 ft.

The 2x6's are spaced a 2x6 apart. They are held vertically by 2x6's four feet high. At the pivot point(fulcrum)are verticle double 2x6's each side. All the joints are pinned with a 1/2 inch bolt thru a sleeve inserted into each horizontal 2x6. A fifteen gallon bucket is suspended from the four foot extension. The bucket is counter weighted a few gallons below balance.

1/2 of a 55 gallon barrel is placed in the ground below grade and contains a 1/4 horse sump pump. A garage door opener receiver drives a relay to engage the motor for a time which is adjustabe. mine runs for 15 seconds in the summer and 25 seconds in the winter when the boards are wet and heavier. I use antifreeze in the water year around. It's a closed system with no water loss except evaporation.

Works like this: Punch the button, pump runs for 25 seconds, fills the bucket, gate goes up (takes about 30 seconds) stays up (2 minutes) until sufficient water self siphons back into the barrel, gate gracefully lowers to the ground.

Advantages: simple, manually opens with little effort in case of power loss or by friends with out the garage door opener transmitter. Looks a whole bunch better than galvanized steel. Adapatable to 12V battery pump (0.1Amp-Hrs to raise the gate) Safe, if your under it on the way down or in it on the way up.

Disadvantages: No auto lock feature, but a chain and lock works for the easly discourged.(nothing works for those with a will to enter). It's more of a privacy gate than a security gate. Limited overhead clearance, but I get concrete trucks thru with ease. People can't figure it out and will attempt to swing it, I put vertical stops at the end to prevent this and by and by if it won't swing in or out they will try up. A catch allows it to be held latched "UP" or prop up with a stick.

I have had mine for 20 years with one refurb (boards)

If your interested let me know and maybe I can figure out how to send a picture and a little more detail on the gate construction.

Hope this helps and good luck with whichever gate you choose.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Your gate sounds good !

I want to be nice, so I'll assume "Twinkletoes" refers to broken-field running, and not ballet...so no tutu jokes

Seriously though, 2 questions:
1. Why is it safe if you're are "under it - coming down"?
Because the few "pounds over balance" is very light, and descent is slow?

2. Same question .."on it going up"?
Because the up-force isn't strong enough to lift you ( or a small child)?

I may not have a good mental image of what you describe, in spite of your probably-very-good description. A picture would help a lot, if you're able to post one.

Thanks for the idea anyway!

See you onstage,... I mean on THE FIELD

Larry

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

I think the name came from the mirrors on my shoes. (if your under 50 you probably won't get this)

You got it right, the force to raise and to fall is very slight, just a couple of pounds at the end of the gate.

I don't have a digital image but better yet, I have a friend with a camera I'll see what I can do.

To get the gate concept imagine a parallelogram free to rotate at the corners, fix one side plumb and raise the opposite side vertically.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

HaHa!

...Almost 60,... no problem!

I'll go back and read the original tomorrow w/ the parallelogram in mind.
Look forward to the pix,if any.

Thanks

Larry

 

[Billc]

Wen, I would like some more info. A company name and number so I can call will be a big help.

Twinkle Toes, your gate sound ingenious. If you get some pictures on the web I'ld love to see it. And thanks for the explanation about "Twinkle Toes"...hey, how 'bout them Bears!!!

 

[bpence]

TwinkleToes, I think it's important for you to post a picture of this gate. There are those of us who could be defined as engineeringly challenged and are also visual learners who need to see things to understand. OK, so I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to some of these things.

The whole idea sounds very interesting and probably not to difficult to build. A picture is often worth a few thousand words.

Bob Pence

 

[LazyK]

Check: KIWI FENCE CO>
c/o Warwick Bryant
Port Orchard, WA

Sorry I don't have detailed contact info. I'm in L.A., away from my gen office.

Warwick is a New Zealander, owner of KIWI FENCE, and a distributor of many fence and gate related products of the
'first water.' I'll try to get more facts and relay them to you, but this is a start.

Lazy K - Chip