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Saturday, November 1, 2014

# 534 - Gates - Automatic Options

Getting ready to build the house is super EXCITING!

We are also preparing to do some fencing along with our home construction for several reasons. We have a couple of entrances to our acreage, so we need gates to keep out anyone who might think our private road looks interesting.
Image detail for -Garden Driveway Gate Picture - Ranch Driveway Gates
Online Photo Idea - I like this gate.
We also want our main gate that leads to the house to have an electronic gate opener. I prefer for the gate to have remote controls that will automatically open the gates and to buy extra remotes to give to our daughters. So, we are researching electronic gate contraptions along with pricing.

Years ago, I sold a farm and ranch property that had a solar panel on the gate that provided entrance onto the acreage. My client told me that the entire set-up had cost him nearly $2,000. but it had been a huge mistake. He said the gate having an ability to auto-open is MOST critical on foul weathered days...during storms, rain and mucky weather, but the solar panel would not allow the gate to be reliable on the worst weathered days, which kind of defeated the entire point of having a gate that could be opened remotely and electronically.

Also, the solar system was rather fragile. So, that is not going to be a solid option for us, especially since our area is heavily forested and bad weather can make forested debris a true concern.
Automatic gate opener on driveway gate. Love this
Another gate that is similar to what we are looking at, but in a maroon color.
We looked around at Tractor Supply, but could not find any system for sale. I believe it might be best to go through a manufacturer of gate openers, directly. But, I am not certain.

Of course, we want a hardy, durable, adequate powered electronic gate opener so that it will work nicely and efficiently for as long as possible.

Since we do not want trespassers, nor do we even want uninvited guests showing up without calling in advance (yes, I am old-fashioned in that regard), we will need to get our gates installed. I am also considering a device to allow monitoring of the gate with a speaker. It might be best to buy an entire system...I will soon find out. Even if the system has a keypad at the entry, that would be okay as well.

Any advice about what to watch out for with entrance gates, what to avoid, what works...I am always very eager to hear what you have to say!







3 comments:

Dreaming said...

Sorry, I can't offer any advice. We were going to put in electronic gates. We looked at a few options at farm supply stores. The price seemed so high, we put it on the back burner.
I do think, with our abundance of technology, that having a camera would be a nice feature.
Also, I think a touch-pad might be preferable to your triggering the gate from a remote location.
It will be interesting to see how this works out.

Anonymous said...

We have a might mule solar/battery gate system with remote controls and sensors. Www.mightymule.com
It works great year round in the Texas hill country.

Karen said...

A remote controlled gate (that works) would be a dream come true. We have two driveways here, one for the house and one for the back field, and we need a gate to keep trespassers out. Carl always says he'll build one but that takes time and then there's the opening problem too. I'm lazy and don't want to climb down off my tractor every time, lol. I look forward to seeing what you decide on, Lana. :-)