Electric gates.

[Dez]

I want to fit some automated electric gates to enhance the security of my place up north. There’s no room for sliders so I’d be looking at a pair of swing gates totalling about 12ft wide. I don’t know how heavy they’ll be cos I’ve not made em yet but they’ll very likely be steel, and substantial as I want them to be solid to prevent prying eyes.

The space is pretty much ideal as there’s a lay-by outside so you’re not sat waiting in the road for them to open, and it’s down the side of the house with a fence on the other side so there’s somewhere to mount the beam sensors to on the inside, and easy to go through the house wall for power etc.

There seems to be lots of kits that seem to be capable spec-wise for sub-£300. I have a feeling that’s whats on the yard at the workshop as I can’t see them having spent much more than that on some.

Anyone have experience of these cheaper kits? Worth using? Or worth avoiding?

[gtviva]

Its the usual thing you do get what you pay for, there are a few options like underground operators which support the bottom of the gate so you only need a top pivot or the arms that fit externally halfway up the gate, you need to be very careful about "crush points" eg can a child get an arm/leg/head through or between any point of the gate travel

Sensor wise the minimum you could get away with is the beam type across the opening but personally I like a ground loop in the opening are of the gate to stop a car getting squished in the swing area! wont stop them closing on people though as it senses metal

You need really strong piers or post as most set ups have a lot of torque, ive seen gates pull brick piers over due to a bad install

Some set ups need a centre stop in the floor for the gates to close onto, at 6 foot per leaf you may need one

[Dez]

The ones at the yard are on 5 bar gates, mid mounted, and I was looking at similar systems.

They have a reverse-stop thing when if they hit anything when closing or opening they stop and reverse direction to prevent injury. At the yard they’ll do it if it’s too windy or one of the dogs gets in the way (ever a Jack Russel) so they seem pretty safe in that respect.

Posts aren’t an issue, 6” gas pipe that goes at least 4 foot underground, but tbh I might change em to square. A centre stop would be an issue though. Some of my cars already scrape on the crest of the (grass) driveway so a metal tag sticking up in the middle is a big no-no, they’d need their own positive stop.

[Dez]

This is the gap in Question. It should work well as the sensors can be way back down on the back corner of the extension.


There’s a crappy little bit of wall on the fence side, but that’ll be going and a new post put in I reckon. As it’s all grassed running stuff underground isn’t an issue.

[gtviva]

If you use the mid mounted arms you may need to bring the post away from the wall/fence to give you room behind the gates for the arms/motors, with heavy gates you do need a fair bit more torque to overcome the weight of the leaf and the crush areas are by the hinge points as there is more leverage there than at the open ends of the gates

With the sensor thing the most basic safety set up is a beam across the opening normally mounted on the posts about 18 inches up

Most systems will let you disable the auto close function so at least you can watch the gates when they open and close to make sure nothing is in the way!

[Dez]

Oct 6, 2019 9:06:02 GMT gtviva said:

If you use the mid mounted arms you may need to bring the post away from the wall/fence to give you room behind the gates for the arms/motors, with heavy gates you do need a fair bit more torque to overcome the weight of the leaf and the crush areas are by the hinge points as there is more leverage there than at the open ends of the gates

With the sensor thing the most basic safety set up is a beam across the opening normally mounted on the posts about 18 inches up

Most systems will let you disable the auto close function so at least you can watch the gates when they open and close to make sure nothing is in the way!

It looks as though with a 6”post, by the time you’ve added on the hinge (1.5-2”ish) that’ll be enough room for most of the actuators on the market.
Crush injuries shouldn’t actually be an issue as there’s no kids about to get stuck, and with round posts you couldn’t actually trap fingers at the post ends anyway.

Autoclose is actually why I want them. My parents share the access to a piece of land behind my property that they use for parking, an allotment and general utility tasks, but my dad is a curse word for ‘just nipping out’ and leaving the gate open, getting sidetracked and not returning for hours.
There’s been a couple of instances of finding delivery drivers down the back claiming they’re looking for addresses, granted it does look a bit like there could be another property there but I’d rather make it quite clear there isn’t any houses down there.
If the gates shut themselves behind him and he doesn’t have to get out the car to open them again when he comes back, everyone is happy.

[dodgerover]

Think about how you are going to actuate them, the units where I do some work have a keypad, unfortunately both are on the same side of the track so you have to drive onto the wrong side of the track going out to use it.

Likewise they had the fire brigade trying to get in one day which caused a panic.

[Dez]

They’ll be remote keyfob from the outside and beam breaker from the inside.

The range on the ones up the yard seems quite considerable. Somewhere between 50-100ft.

[gtviva]

Personally I wouldn't use a beam/movement sensor on the inside to open the gates as it wouldn't be very secure with animals and other non invited visitors being able to open the gates and make off with your goodies!

A ground loop and/or key pad would be simple to do and more secure

[tristanh]

I have electric gates, really heavy barstewards made by a local blacksmith, and they're operated by FAAC gear, from NationalAutomation.ie. Never failed, I also got a GSM unit so I can ring or text the gates too to operate. Handily, they'll only accept any number you tell it to, and that's just a text. You can check if they're open or closed by texting it too. If you're just nipping in or out, one tap of the button will open them , and they'll close automatically after a programmed time.