Hello. Newbie Q re self fitting gate openers

[palmiye]

Hello,

Wondering if it is feasible (or, sensible) to buy a pair of gate openers and fit them myself? Reason being my property is in Turkey and I can't find anyone over there that supplies/fits them. I am reasonably DIY competent btw.

Thanks in advance for any help

---

Thought it might be more useful if I gave the dimensions and attached some pics?

The measurements of the gate​s​
are:​

Length of each gate (from hinges): 265cm

(When viewing from road side) left of gate, static metal work: 37cm

(When viewing from road side) right of gate, static metal work: 28cm

Full length of entire gate is 595cm

The height of the tallest part of the gate is 253cm and the shortest part is 211cm

Key to this will be the size and weight of the packaged​ gate opening kits themselves as I'd like to take them over with me in a suitcase if ​that is ​
possible?​

Cheers

[thm]

You must have decent welding skills and a good collection of tools. You have to follow the instructions and be patient (expect to spend the best part of a day for such an installation).

The available space on the left and right side of the gate is sufficient for most linear gate operators (this type of operators offers the cheapest options and is more suitable for installation by a non-professional).

There is an issue with the fact that you have a wicket door (pedestrian door) on each gate leaf. Installing a linear gate operator at a height less than the wicket door would render it unusable. You can install the operators above the wicket doors but the increased distance between the closed position stop and the height of operator installation might result in excessive deformation (bending) of the leaves when the gate is closed. It all depends on what the stiffness of each leaf is (note that you can, and should, regulate the maximum force of the operator).

An advantage of installing the operators above the wicket doors is that you have a horizontal element (that rail or slat that runs through the length of the gate) on which the operator can be attached. However, you will have to take into account the precise location of the operator to make sure it doesn't interfere with wicket door operation. In this respect, off-axis linear operators have an advantage in this case (off-axis are the operators where the leaf mounting point is on a carriage, running in a slot under the length of the operator - mhouse WG10S/WG20S, Nice Toona and LiftMaster SCS300K-124 belong to this category and are suitable for gates of at least 3m per leaf - http://www.easygates.co.uk/electric-gate...cgates.asp ).

Alternatively, you may weld shut the wicket doors on the leafs and be done with it. In this case you will have to also weld a horizontal slat along the length of each leaf gate to use for mounting the operators.

You will need to install conduit, under the road, from one side of the gate to the other (for connecting the far-side operator and transmitter of safety photocells to the control board).

[palmiye]

Hi there THM,

Thanks for your response very helpful and food for thought and much appreciated! I have no welding skills so will have to find someone who can help.

[thm]

Avoiding welding is certainly possible but the installation may take significantly more time and there is always the risk of things becoming loose in the future. If you can find a blacksmith that can follow instructions, he can do the difficult part for you. You will basically need him for installing the pillar-side joints and securing the leaf-side joints on the leafs - the rest you can do yourself.

The pillar-side joint is the pivot point for the one end of the operator and is fixed to the pillar or a side wall. It is crucial that the pivot point is placed at precise the distance from the axis of the hinges that the manufacturer specifies. Every operator comes with a metal piece you can use for this purpose but quite often you have to modify it (shorten it or extend it) and you also have to fix it firmly. Fixing it will probably require installing a metal base-plate (on which to secure it) on the side wall or welding supports to the side rails.

After you have done that, you extend the operator, almost to its full extend, and mark the point where the leaf-side joint rests on the closed leaf. You then weld the joint on the leaf or bolt it in place.

That, and possibly installing a closed position gate stop on the ground, where the leafs meet, is the difficult part of the installation.

The rest is laying cables, fixing the control board in place, fixing photocells etc, connecting everything and programming the automation.

[palmiye]

Hi again THM, thank you for your assistance much appreciated! Hopefully I can get my head around this I'm fairly sure I can find a welder over there.