Recent content by TomH

Correct-a-mundo. I thought of a side, chain-drive type setup similar to an industrial door, but there is no torsion bar/spring to distribute the lifting force across the face of the door. The concern is racking/binding the door when raising/lowering it.

Thanks for the ideas! I had to go out of town for a couple of days, so I was out of range. I'll check to see whether there is enough room to try the "Steevo Trick." Merry, Merry & Happy, Happy

Thanks, but you have about 4-6" more clearance. :( Note that my top rail is flush against the ceiling versus your set-up.) By using the "quick close fixture" in the earlier post, I can relocate the top panel rollers to the lower track and gain a couple inches of clearance. Assuming the screw...

APEowner My understanding after a lot of reading is that (some) screw drives allow flush mounting on the ceiling for low clearance, so I really want to agree with the 2.5" minimum. (That being said, I doubt that any respectable installer would stand behind it.) The good news is that the main...

That may actually do the trick. If I'm looking at them correctly, I should be able to shift the top panel to the lower track and gain the headspace for a screw drive. Time for an experiment. Thanks.

Fair question. I'll ask. I was guessing that it was ~7' 6" using a standard 7' door.

The extra track is for the top panel. There isn't enough headspace (i.e. lift) for it to follow the same track as the lower panels. I'm in Cincy and they are in Minneapolis, but I'll have them ask about other similar doors

I've asked for more detailed photos and some measurements. The key measurement (My guess) is the clearance on the top panel, as it rides in its own track and appears to hug the ceiling. Any idea as to the minimum headspace on a screw drive lift? I'm guessing that the solution will lift from...

The Liftmaster 3800s require a torsion spring and the kids' garage has side springs. :(

Greetings! My daughter & son-in-law just bought a house with a garage that has zero headspace over their garage doors. Currently, they are manual doors with cable & spring helpers on the side, but with the Minnesota winter and a steep driveway, they'd like to have automatic openers. From...

Like most old skool tools, the Hi-Lift is great, but demands respect. As an off-road jack, spreader, winch, or ??? it's invaluable... ... as long as you keep in mind that it's trying to kill you. Good luck.