Morning everyone, looking for some advise, I have 2, 5 bar gates which open outwards, they are hinged off the front of the gate post , iam looking for what is the best option to automate them, i have looked at various options , i think an above ground ram option looks the best as the drive enterance is sloping so underground motors wont fit. I keep getting different advise from retailers as to what to get and what and will not work. My main worries are the RH gate as you look at the property needs to open at least 110 degrees, if i can get away without having stops ie inbuilt limits to the rams that would be good, also iam concerned regarding the mounting of the ram to the post to allow the correct geometry, ( do i need a bracket made ? how do i know what dimentions) so far i have been pointed in the way of a VDS kit ? and i have just been reading about the Proteco leader and Advantage kit, although cant find anywhere that sells them.... Any help would be appreciated ,,, thanks
16-02-2012, 02:59 PM (This post was last modified: 16-02-2012, 03:09 PM by sebabastek.)
Hi Stu,
Rams are okay but you have to make some custom brackets which doesn't look nice. I have in mind one gate which we do maintain. It has got two BFT LUX GVS rams ant they work on reverse stroke quite well. But there are stoppers and only 90 degrees is needed...
To achieve 110 degrees is would play with bracket on site unless supplier can do some simulation and give you some dimensions.
If possible I would be looking at some operators with articulated arm. This should give you more flexibility.
How big and how heavy is one leaf?
I found some old photo of that bracket. I think it might do more than 90
Hi thanks for the reply.
There are 2 8ft 5 bar gates, made of soft wood, i can pick one up on my own so id say they were less than 100KG each, I have attached a picture of the set up . The articulated arm looks a good option, anyone any info if the NICE WALKY kit ? , would this do the job ?
I would speak to Came. They have nice operator called Stylo. We have used it many times as it is very compact. On top of they amperomatic sensitivity works nice and gates pass force tests with rubber bumpers only (but as we know this varies from gate to gate). The only concern is width of this gate as Stylo is for narrow, pedestrian gates.
Otherwise any long stroke ram with custom bracket should do the job. Came Axo has got nice features and built in mechanical stops.
Articulated arm operators are quire bulky (excluding Stylo) and because post are quire small they might look 'strange'. But if customer doesn't mind...
Outward opening with a linear (ram) gate operator is possible in two different ways:
1) Installing the operator on the outside so that it retracts to pull open the gate. The pros are that this installation is covered by the standard installation instructions and does not reduce the available clear passage. Cons include the greater exposure to vandalism (ie one could just step on the motor cable to damage the operator).
2) Installing the operator on the inside so that it extends to push open the gate. In this case, the point where the column hinge of the operator should be located is within the opening (in the space between the pillars/columns). This has the obvious disadvantage of limiting the available clear passage (how much depends on the particular operator but you should expect each operator to project 20-30 cm into the opening when the gate is open). On the other hand, the operator is protected from vandals.
The maximum opening angle is a function of installation geometry (ie the distance of the column hinge of the operator parallel to the closed gate surface and perpendicular to it as measured in regards with the gate hinges). Those 2 distances (C and D in the attached image - sorry that the language isn't English but it should be clear what the image is about) are mostly dictated by the travel of the operator and the required opening angle. One has to select those distances keeping in mind that the operator should exert on the gate roughly the same torque when the gate is open and closed, provide enough torque at each angle (and especially at the fully open and fully closed positions) and move the gate with tolerable speeds when the gate is approaching the fully open and fully closed position. With the right geometry one can usually have 110 to 120 degrees of opening without any issues. One could get even more degrees of opening but at the expense of very dissimilar speeds and torques near the open and closed positions. It goes without saying that the provided brackets will not always be suitable for obtaining the right installation distances - in which case the installer should weld extensions to fix this. The above are completely irrelevant to the model, manufacturer or operating principle (electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic) of the operator and applicable every linear gate operator.
Other than deciding on which kind of mounting you prefer - always keeping in mind the space requirements for a proper installation - you have to also consider maximum use frequency (number of openings during rush hours and number of openings per day) and the size of the gate (mostly its width). For the record, the operator manufacturer recommend maximum gate size implies that a gate has virtually no wind resistance - excessive wind loading is a major cause of damaged swing gate operators.
