DIY Gate opener - project

[skeer]

24vdc motorized chair w/gear reduction
El Cheapo/Amazon rf xmit/rec kit
1 big *** nut
3' +-1' 3/4" coarse all-thread
2 x limit switches

My driveway is about 500' long, and we all absolutely abhor unannounced visitors of any kind. There's a 12' tube gate hung on an 18" wood post with a helper wheel on the far end. I might have to make/keep whe wheel path smooth and clean but I think it's a baller idea. And much better than spending $300+

I wanted to ask if anyone here had repurposed some stuff like a garage door opener or a satellite dish actuator in similar fashion.

 

[nadogail]

I have never built a Gate Opener, but I have worked on a few, most of what I have seen used a chain (think oversized Bicycle chain) drive and limit switches. The motor in addition to driving the chain also turned a threaded shaft that drove an operator that triggered the Limit Switches.

The three phase motor was reversed with relays.

 

[royalegaragedoors]

Seems like you enjoy DIY projects a lot! Make sure the gate design and motor compatibility match your requirements. These are the basics you have to consider.

 

[skeer]

Yeah after spending time on youtube yesterday I discovered that the $300+ Mighty Mules are powered by nothing more than a properly geared RC motor. Super lackluster!
So, that tells me that I don't <need> this 24v wheel chair motor. Which is good! A windshield wiper motor will certainly suffice, and means the power requirements are much lower.

 

[qdvuu]

What kind of problems would snow cause for the helper wheel? If you have to get out of your vehicle to keep the wheel path smooth and clean, why not make the gate free-swinging and do the upgrade so you can eliminate another chore?

 

[skeer]

What kind of problems would snow cause for the helper wheel? If you have to get out of your vehicle to keep the wheel path smooth and clean, why not make the gate free-swinging and do the upgrade so you can eliminate another chore?

Yeah that is a forefront thought, free swinging might be a future modification. I put the wheel on there initially because I hate seeing sagging gates that you gotta pick up the end to open and close. Might have to sink another support in the ground.

 

[rlitman]

I have never built a Gate Opener, but I have worked on a few, most of what I have seen used a chain (think oversized Bicycle chain) drive and limit switches. The motor in addition to driving the chain also turned a threaded shaft that drove an operator that triggered the Limit Switches...

This describes a chain operated garage door opener, and that's what I'd use as my starting point if I had 120V available. If you're doing something that uses solar and batteries, you'd want to be more energy efficient.

 

[nadogail]

My gate experience was with a sliding gate, a swinging gate is another reality. A single panel swinging gate will be dependent on a very rigid gate post and good hinges.
Strong steel post set in lots of concrete comes to mind.
The size of the gate and available source of power will be big factors in any solution.
Maybe Solar Panels to charge a battery bank and lights.

 

[skeer]

Yeah this is a single swing gate.. no provisions for a sliding although admittedly that's be cooler.

 

[kbs2244]

Gates do not have to swing
In snow country a swing gate can be a real PITA

Think about converting to a sliding gate

Or to eliminate a wheel path completely a vertical pivot gate (like a RR gate)

 

[skeer]

Gates do not have to swing
In snow country a swing gate can be a real PITA

Think about converting to a sliding gate

Or to eliminate a wheel path completely a vertical pivot gate (like a RR gate)

No, they don’t. But in some environments sliding just ain’t in the cards. But we only worry about keeping it closed in the summer months.

 

[walta]

Is a gate the acceptable way to block your driveway? I decided it was not for my driveway and built a device that raises and lower a chain with a remote controled hoist.





Walta

 

[skeer]

Yeah it's the best way, I recently flanked the gate with barbed wire too. The driveways surface is gravel and is raised maybe 1' at that end, above the surround ground. Get's pretty squishy in the early spring especially in that lower surround area. Going with an automatic swing opener, even if I need to remove the wheel in the end..extra support can be added to the hinge end easily enough.

 

[skeer]

Picked up a wiper motor over the weekend, this projects gonna take a slight back seat for now but I also found and subsequently hid, a few choice pieces of square aluminum tubing at the junkyard for this.

 

[kbs2244]

I will be interested to see if a wiper motor has the power needed

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Just built this guy for my house. Works really nice.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Good hinges will also help.

 

[Walkers]

Yeah after spending time on youtube yesterday I discovered that the $300+ Mighty Mules are powered by nothing more than a properly geared RC motor. Super lackluster!
So, that tells me that I don't <need> this 24v wheel chair motor. Which is good! A windshield wiper motor will certainly suffice, and means the power requirements are much lower.

Dont base your needs on MM gate openers. They are absolutely the worst gate opener made. You can buy a cheap chinese AC slide gate opener for about a hundred bucks that are better than MM. An Aleko (also AC) for about $500.
Most linear gate opener are going to do nothing but fail unless you pay at least $2k for it. Slide gate openers are much more reliable. If you have to have swinging gate then a swing arm type is the best to have.

 

[skeer]

Just built this guy for my house. Works really nice.

That a MM or what?

 

[skeer]

Dont base your needs on MM gate openers. They are absolutely the worst gate opener made. You can buy a cheap chinese AC slide gate opener for about a hundred bucks that are better than MM. An Aleko (also AC) for about $500.
Most linear gate opener are going to do nothing but fail unless you pay at least $2k for it. Slide gate openers are much more reliable. If you have to have swinging gate then a swing arm type is the best to have.

Oh no, def not. I'm going bigger and more heavy duty than MM now that I've seen whats under their skin.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

I bought a Topens system off of Amazon. They all looked pretty much the same. If the moto takes a **** it's only $200 to replace. I have a gate lock and inside outside buttons and remotes. I have right at $700 for all the opener components. I'm not going to say it's the greatest most heavy duty thing ever. However the hinges are. So I figured if it slides easy the opener should last just fine.

 

[Fixr]

Oh no, def not. I'm going bigger and more heavy duty than MM now that I've seen whats under their skin.

Just make sure you incorporate appropriate safety features so it can't squish a kid or something.

 

[skeer]

Yeah with how my gate and fence are constructed.. not to mention my geographical location. There’s almost a zero chance of that.. there’s a greater chance that I, myself, will get caught in its clutches over a kid. Mostly because I do some stupid stuff randomley

 

[Fixr]

Yeah with how my gate and fence are constructed.. not to mention my geographical location. There’s almost a zero chance of that.. there’s a greater chance that I, myself, will get caught in its clutches over a kid. Mostly because I do some stupid stuff randomley

By "kid" I meant any of us here, not just the physically small and young ones..

 

[skeer]

Wanted to come back here with an update. Over the winter I fumbled for quite a while with a pair of wiper motors, if I went that route I would have had to fab up a frame and figure out external limit switches and weather proofing.
On Saturday I stumbled upon a legit satellite dish actuator, VonWeise branded model V76-5. All I can seem to find is a simple sales related spec chart, this model was 36vdc, 11" per minute travel, has reed switch positioning, 24" of stoke and a starting load of 800#.

Sadly I didn't get any pics before tearing it down but suffice to say the motor is shot, the lead nut was seized and the inner screw tube locked against the outer tube.

So everything that should move but couldn't now does. Lead screw and nut (plastic) are both cleaned up and physically everything except the motor is re-usable. Turns out at some point the rear cover on the motor housing was bashed and broke in half.. the weather did the rest as I found it ***-up in the pile.

Even if I could source another rear cover plate that would work, there's one winding wire that's broken off the commutator. Even without that I bet the armature itself is shot.

Having misplaced my calipers.. again dammit, I haven't measured but looks to be the same diameter housing as a typical riding mower starter. I'm definitely going to spend the time to try getting a compatible armature and housing because the builtin limit switches, and that reed switch being integrated into the main gear housing will be a huge boon to the overall project.

 

[Rt jam]

I think you will need something alot stronger to move a gate.

 

[skeer]

Oh, you obviously have never seen the insides of a MightyMule, lol. Talk about weak. Lemme get pics of the other parts.

 

[skeer]

I see why you;d say that because a sat dish isn't typically "heavy" or require a lot of torque to rotate. But in comparison the single-gate MM models are rated for a max weight of 300#. And their motors are what you;d find in a cordless drill, they also use plastic gear reduction sets.

 

[walta]

You said the motor is shot. In what way? The photo of the armature shows some non critical corrosion. The commutator looks serviceable. The winding do not appear to be burned or broken and should be usable.

Walta

 

[skeer]

Yeah it's super hard to see in a pic but a single wire is broken from the commutator 'terminal'(?). I have no idea if that can be reattached somehow. Also it's weird.. I put this into the electrolysis bath over night to help clean it up because it was FILTHY. A day later the white stuff started forming on the plate edges.
But if I can reattach that wire then I might be able to salvage this.. provided the rear plate I have that's intact fits properly.

 

[skeer]

Been thinking it over.. there's def no harm in trying to solder that wire back on.

 

[Fixr]

Eleven inches per minute seems pretty slow for a gate actuator. You would want a satellite dish to move slowly for precise positioning. If you use the full stroke of the actuator, you are looking at a full minute to open the gate. I think my US Automatic is more like 10-15 seconds, and that's pretty slow to me.

 

[skeer]

There is also that.. If I provide the motor with 24v instead of 36 that should make it a bit slower as well. Even if, ultimately, this turns out to not be what I want for the gate.. it's certainly not like it couldn't be used elsewhere. But I have zero experience in this to mentally determine how slow or fast the gate would operate depending on opener mounting points. Or if I'd even need the full 24" or not.
Whats the stroke on your US Auto?

 

[skeer]

So I **** as soldering tiny things. The spot where these two need to meet is so tiny I can't really scrub or scrape it. An alcoholed q-tip didnt do enough and even with flux it didnt want to stick.

 

[skeer]

WOOT lucked into another VonWeise.. this time the only difference is this model uses the optical position sensor instead of the mag/reed switch. A little water came out of the tube but nothing out of the motor casing. Although I don;t quite have the motor removed yet.. it's being a bit hesitant.

<fingers_crossed>

 

[Fixr]

There is also that.. If I provide the motor with 24v instead of 36 that should make it a bit slower as well. Even if, ultimately, this turns out to not be what I want for the gate.. it's certainly not like it couldn't be used elsewhere. But I have zero experience in this to mentally determine how slow or fast the gate would operate depending on opener mounting points. Or if I'd even need the full 24" or not.
Whats the stroke on your US Auto?

I haven't measured, but while sitting on my sofa, by memory I would guess in the 12"-15" range. I'd say it moves at about 1 inch per second while moving a 12 foot tubular farm gate.

As far as figuring out opening/closing speed, you could tack together a really cheesy test rig out of wood scraps or even cardboard and just try different angles and linkages, I don't have the math skills to figure that stuff out. If the actuators are powerful enough, you might be able to set up the geometry to just use maybe half the stroke and get a quicker operating time.

 

[Hooked]

Once you get the open/close function working what is your plan for doing so remotely? I have the Apollo 12v battery model installed which has about a 15"-18" travel on a 14' tubular farm gate. This is our second Apollo over a 30+ year period and I still have the parts for the old one stashed in the garage somewhere.

 

[skeer]

As far as figuring out opening/closing speed, you could tack together a really cheesy test rig out of wood scraps or even cardboard and just try different angles and linkages, I don't have the math skills to figure that stuff out. If the actuators are powerful enough, you might be able to set up the geometry to just use maybe half the stroke and get a quicker operating time.

Yup, the mounting angles are def going to take some experimentation. I really don;t see needing the full 24" of travel though.

Once you get the open/close function working what is your plan for doing so remotely?

So for this the plan is to experiment with a generic 12v RF receiver off Amazon. There are plenty of generic unit with single, dual or more, relays with remotes, then clone the remote signal using Homelink units.
It'll all have a pair of 12v car batteries, since the motor should be fed at least 24v. I do want to try a 10w solar panel for trickle charging at least initially. I do have a lot of trees up there so I'm not quite sure how well solar will do. If that doesn't keep the batteries up then it'll be trenching and burying lv wire from the house. This part has the added benefit of powering a light and perhaps an intercom.. or at least a 'gatebell' button.

We're not like a super busy place, I could see on average 2-4 open/close operations per day.

 

[skeer]

Alrighty so.. second actuator fully disassembled and cleaned. The lead nut is intact in this one and since I don;t want to risk damaging it by removing I'll leave it in and just use that section of the arm.
The motor case and rear cap are in good shape.. armature is dare I say a bit newer. That or perhaps the first one I picked up got too hot. In any case there's nothing broken or really corroded on it save one of the teeth on the gear end. Both bearings were obviously shot so they've been cut off and I have new ones ordered. (General bearing R6-07)

I did attempt to remove the bearing off the first armature but ended up just pushing the commutator down a bit. I should REALLY buy a bearing puller...

All end is identical so far, still plastic gears however the main one that directly interfaces with the lead screw is black... possibly a different material?

 

[skeer]

While Im waiting on the bearings to arrive, I attacked the brush assembly. These motors are weird to me in that the commutator is at the 'front' end instead of the rear. In any case the first motors brushes were wedge in the little holders, springs long gone from corrosion. the braided wires were in worse condition than the second motor was.
So I drilled out the rivets holding that assembly in and swapped it with the one from the second motor. Repurposed an ink pen spring, cleaned up the sides of each brush and they move freely and I think with enough holding force from the pen spring.

Went spelunking for a light weight rubber bellow.. damn those things can get pricey! McMasters cheapest one would run like $40. For the tubes I'm pretty certain that I'll end up trying to coat both with black oxide, then depending on the stroke length that I end up with maybe using a small diameter landscape drain or.. well IDK what else. I'd hope that with the oxide coating, and a liberal amount of grease inside that any weather protection on that slip joint can be smaller than the original bellow which was roughly 2' long.