TSC and gate openers

[heehaw]

i "was" going to go to tractor supply and carry a sale sheet from Atwoods, and buy a mighty mule gate opener: but just for the heck of it, i decided to call TSC first: they will no longer match sale prices, only regular prices. Atwoods has the MM350 on sale for $269: which is the cheapest i have ever seen, anywhere: if anyone wants to rig a garage door opener up to open a gate, there are instructions on how to do that using a genie opener, and mounting the opener directly onto the gate: its pretty slick, if your interested, i will try to figure out how to post a link?? i would do something like that, but i would have to buy the garage door opener too, so why not just buy the gate opener?
heehaw

 

[ctpres]

Have had Mule on gate for about 3 yrs now. No prob. except with very heavy wind gate may stop open/close cycle. I have two small signs on 16 foot tube type gate which increases the wind resistance. Install was very easy. 110vac intercomm to house. Wireless keypad on outside for family & friends. Only regret is I didn't put a pushbutton on post on the inside to open gate when mowing, checking mail etc. Button is somewhere on project list. Only routine maint. required is occasional shot of silicon to control rod. If crime/theft is a possible prob. in your area I recommend pin type padlocks to secure both ends of operator. Help keep operator on YOUR gate and make it more difficult for anyone to entry property by simply removing one of the operator pins.

 

[deereguy]

Did you install an exit wand (the magnetic one in the ground)? We installed one that was 100' behind the gates so as you exit with a golf cart, mower, car, truck, or tractor they open. If I had to do it all over again (we will be re-doing ours due to a 15 yo driver running down a gate and fence), I would have gone with the 150' wand, unfortunately the wand wasn't damaged in this accident.

We have the Mule 503 (for double) gates, it worked well the 6 weeks it was up before the above mentioned accident.

 

[Soundguy]

I just put in a MM 350 ( from tsc ) last weekend.

I have a 16' tube gate with a wheel.

I did a few things different fromt he instructions.. but all went well.

The positive close latch/plate, i actually installed to the fence post/gate/jamb and not the gate itself.


Also due to geometry of my gat to the hinge post I installed another seperate post for the gate opener to pivot from due to too low of clearance between arm and gate. Used all OEM brackets that were included. Did have to drill a new hole int he oem tear drop shape bracket, as the 6 holes they provide for different angle didn't quite fit what I needed.
I used a short 1' piece of chain link fence tube and cut that long ways and sandwhiched it around the gate tube before I drilled my holes inthe gate, so it would be a stiffener... worked perfectly.

I programme dmy wifes onboard remote controler in her yukon to the gate opener code ( after changing from the factor code ).

I got a keypad (wireless) at the entrance, and I got a push button exit mounted at the back door/garage door to the house so I can just hit the button as I'm leaving.. or open the gate from the door if pizza is showing up.. etc.

The exit delay control is kinda sensitive to set. but a little patience gets it.

All in all, the wife loves it.. it was her aniversery present this year.. she's been asking for one for 5 ys now.

Also.. mine was really too far to run ac power to du to some obbstructions.. so i went with the (expensive) soalr 5w kit, and a good HD battery in an 'ooutdoor' marine enclosure.

Soundguy

 

[heehaw]

i will probably be makin a run to the TSC competitor, to buy the MM 350 for $269: thats the cheapest i have seen in the last couple years.
heehaw

 

[project_X]

if anyone wants to rig a garage door opener up to open a gate, there are instructions on how to do that using a genie opener, and mounting the opener directly onto the gate: its pretty slick, if your interested, i will try to figure out how to post a link?? i would do something like that, but i would have to buy the garage door opener too, so why not just buy the gate opener?
heehaw

if you could post the instructions, I'd be interested.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[ctpres]

No exit wand. Gate would open close at every pass w mower or tractor and wouldn't help when on foot.

 

[weldingisfun]

I've got two MM350 Gate Openers both on 16 foot gates. Had them for about 4 years, minimal problems. The outside gate has the MM Lock on it. Once closed no one will open it without the key or the Keypad code. A shot of WD-40 every month or so and it is happy and as pointed out some silicon on the opener rod is all it takes. One operates on AC the other is solar. Had to replace one battery after 3.5 years ($18) can't complain. TSC here wants $298 for the MM350. Lowes Website lists it for $378 and HD Website shows it at $479.

 

[Unclebuck257]

I've had MM double gate openers on two 14 foot gates at our entrance now for over 6 years. I'd suggest that if you're not going to hook the openers up to electricity that you skip the nonsense with the MM battery, that comes with your unit, and just go buy a 12 volt marine battery at Wally World and hook that up from the jump start. The MM battery isn't worth flip and won't work after a day or two of cloudy weather. I also use two solar panels, one on each side, or gate and have never had a problem with it staying charged, even after a week of cloudy weather.

Also, I've had to replace one arm already at a cost of $334.00. Otherwise, they're great to have!

 

[deereguy]

We got ours at GTO (Gates That Open) .com, it was cheapest that we found. We are using a 12v marine battery for now, going to wire it for 110v in the future. The major problem we had was the antenna and the wireless access pad, couldn't get the antenna high enough with a 4WD truck. We placed the master box on the opposite post of the wireless controller so our exit wand would be further away (we had telephone/cable lines on the access pad side).