Gate Automation: What to Plan Before You Build
Automation is not an accessory you bolt on afterwards. It changes how the gate is built, where the posts go and what services need to reach the opening.
Why it has to be decided early
A motor applies force to a gate repeatedly, in the same place, thousands of times. A gate built to be pushed open by hand and a gate built to be driven by a motor are not the same object, even if they look identical.
Automation affects frame stiffness, hinge selection, post size and footing depth, and where the posts have to sit relative to the opening. On a sliding gate it also affects the guide arrangement and the accuracy the whole installation needs.
Retrofitting is possible but it is almost always more expensive and less satisfactory than building for it from the start. If there is any realistic chance you will automate later, say so at enquiry stage — building a gate that can accept a motor later costs far less than replacing one that cannot.
What needs to be at the opening
Power. An automated gate needs a supply at the gate position, which usually means a licensed electrician running a circuit out to the opening. That work is separate from the gate itself and needs to be organised.
Conduit. If the driveway is being poured or repoured, get conduit in before the concrete goes down. Retrofitting a cable run across a finished driveway is disruptive and expensive.
Space for the equipment. Motors, control boxes and, on a sliding gate, the drive arrangement all need somewhere to live that is accessible for servicing and not in the way.
- A power supply at the gate, installed by a licensed electrician
- Conduit under any new driveway before it is poured
- Accessible space for the motor and control equipment
- A plan for how the gate is operated — remote, keypad, intercom
- Safety devices appropriate to the installation
Weight is the thing that catches people out
Motor selection follows gate weight, and gate weight varies enormously with the infill you choose. A louvre panel is the heaviest infill we build; a spaced picket panel is the lightest. Two gates of identical dimensions can differ substantially in weight depending on which you pick.
That means the style decision and the automation decision are connected. If you want a very wide, very private automated gate, you are asking for the heaviest configuration at the largest size — which is entirely achievable but needs to be specified accordingly rather than assumed.
Safety
An automated gate is a powered machine that moves in a space people and vehicles use. Automated gate installations should include appropriate safety measures, and the specification of those is a matter for your automation installer against the requirements applicable to your installation.
We build gates designed to be automated. Where automation equipment is supplied and installed by others, its selection, safety devices and compliance are their responsibility — tell us who is doing that work so the gate is built to suit their requirements.
