Can anyone recommend a company that furnishes a swing-gate opener that mounts on the gate? I think I saw one before and it looks like a rectangular box that mounts on the inside face of the gate, kind of like a door closure. It has to be relatively thin, as the gate in the open position is right up against the house, and a large opener would not allow the gate to open fully, or would limit the opening of the gate.
My problem is that there is little room to install a gate motor. I have also heard of a “below-grade” gate motor, that is installed somehow in the ground.
As background, the driveway gate is at the corner of the house. On the opposite side is a fence and the property line (running perpendicular to the gate in the closed position). The city where the house is located has peculiar permitting rules that prevent me from using a sliding gate (which would have been sliding accross the front of the house).
Thanks in advance.
Replies
Hi,
There are a few manufacturers of operators that you are describing. They are called actuator arm operators. The problem is that there are some critical dimensions that need to be accounted for so that the motor swings the gate properly. Otherwise the motor will swing the gate really fast or slow. Every one I have put in needs at least 10" mounting room. Since there would be room to slide a gate across the front of the house, I am guessing that the hinge post is right at the corner of the house. If that is the case, there are some operators that can be set up to push to open and pull to close. Even the below grade operators need room to sit back from the hinge point so I don't know if that would work. It sounds like if you are going to mount the operator inside the gate, it would need to sit right under the gate. If you use an actuator type operator, I recommend an hydraulic unit as opposed to a screw drive setup. STANLEY makes one I believe called a Model 460 that doesn't need alot of clearance. Other mfgrs. are Doorking, FAAC, and Tri-Cor. I have installed models from all of them and all work well. I could help a little more if I had some dimensions to work from. Let me know if I can help.
Cole
Cole Dean
Dean Contracting
Cole,
Thanks for the reply. The Doorking Model 601 appears to be what I may need. The post for the gate would have to be located right at the house corner as you have surmised. The driveway is rather narrow, I'm guessing about 9 to 10-feet wide, and I need every inch of the width. The new gate will be metal tubing, about 6-feet tall, and I was hoping to mount the actuator at the bottom of the gate where it will be concealed from view by a metal trim piece.
Can the Doorking be mounted low on the gate? Ballpark, how much are the Doorking units? Doorking's website .pdf files are not available. In the open position, how much space is required?
My first option really was a sliding gate. Local ordinances where the house is located (in San Marino, CA) will consider the sliding gate a "front yard" gate since it would have to be located 4-inches in front of the house to slide (putting it in the front yard). This triggers an architectural "Design Review" of the gate and all kinds of headaches. A swing gate mounted in-line with the front of the house is considered a "side yard" gate and does not require a rigorous Design Review. Thus, the interest in swing gate actuators.
Thanks again.
Jon
You might also want to look at Chamerlain's Sentex brand gate openers.
http://www.sentexsystems.com/scw/Gates/1,1387,16,00.html
The HL410 and LA405 are linear operators.
You could try here for what you're looking for.
http://www.usautomatic.com/products.htm
These are quality units with metal gearing. The contol box can be mounted anywhere within 40 ft. Depending upon your situation, this may mean that you have to get/have a raceway under the drive for the wiring, but may help you with the available space issue.
There are downloadable manuals available at the bottom of each model's page with all specifications for installation.
I think it's the Patriot I and/or Star that you'd be interested in.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 10/28/2002 10:07:23 PM ET by GOLDHILLER