DIY Electric gate kit, ,with manual AND automatic pedestrian gate

DIY install of a Quiko electric gate kit, but with some neat modifications to allow the pedestrian gate to be operated 100% manually by visitors & postman as well as have it automatic. Linked in with Google, IFTTT and the LightwaveRF home automation system

[robertrudge]

Thanks for taking the time to post this Ryan, it is exactly what I need too!

[lqqkitslory]

Thank you, this would be the perfect set up for me and I had no idea, until now, something like this even existed. Cheers

[Rich.ard]

Great video, this is exactly what I'm needing. I'm going to use one motor to open both gates, motor on large gate and a long bike brake cable pulling the small gate open using motion of driven gate via cams. Cable will be in conduit under block paving. This will allow postman etc to enter drive as it will be spring closed and pulled open. Also I might use a strong magnet to keep small gate closed against driven gate

[aubreysalyers]

Thank you! I’ve been trying to communicate a very similar idea to my spouse and we were struggling 😆 your gate video made it so easy to share.

[GaryMeatsLife]

Thanks for the video Ryan. I am looking into final year projects for engineering and although I have an interest in sustainable/renewable energy, I also have a need for gates. I too want an auto/manual pedestrian option and I luckily found your video to give me a couple of ideas I hadn't fully put together. Whoever built those gates for you should be ashamed. I am not a wood worker and could have done better. They really don't look like they will last more than 5 years. I notice the gate wheel only contacts the ground in the few inches from the fully closed position. You could easily add a post for the wheel to rest on in the fully open position with a 10-15 degree chamfer for it to climb onto the post. It would eliminate the strain on the pillar in the open and closed position. And should you get a better, heavier gate, it would be needed. It wouldn't take more than 20 minutes to do something simple. You could also clad your existing gate in cedar. It would look a lot better. Cedar is naturally bug and water resistant an is used in quality fencing.

For my project: My opening is about the same width and I would want the pedestrian gate to be able to manually open when closed, unless it is locked....more on that later. The main difference is that the larger vehicle gate will need to be on a track, or wheel. It will need to be a sliding gate, so I will likely be planning a motor for that. If the gate was to swing open/closed, there would not be enough clearance with the cars parked and there is the secondary issue of plants and bushes. A track system gets me out of jail on that. My thoughts as of this morning are to build the primary gate structures from tube steel and have the gate thickness about 40 to 50mm. I could wood clad the frames and be able to install the actuator for the pedestrian gate into the gate frame. As the rod retracts, it would either pull a cable into the gate which would be attached top the wall. I could use a gear system too, depending on the travel of the rod. When the rod is fully retracted, the gate would be fully open and could not be manually closed. I will look into appropriate hinges to close the gate when the rod arm extends and releases the tension on the cable. I am also thinking about an actuated locking mechanism, but I would need an actuator I could manually override. My design idea is a bit complicated to explain here, but let's just say the gates would meet like interlocking fingers and the lock would use an actuator to drive a main rod with a number of smaller rods attached to it. These smaller rods would lock the pedestrian gate to the vehicle gate and into the ground.

Thanks again for the video. Good ideas are plentiful on YT.

[MrSamwise]

Move the pulley wheel that’s closest to the pedestrian gate closer. If the pedestrian gat is opened then make that pulley at a perfect 90 degrees with the gate attach point. That’ll get you open further. Also, if you switch it for steel wire that can handle more stress you can move the pulley beyond 90 degrees and get even further movement from it.

[markrainford]

I would say there is more "pulling-out-of-the-wall" force on that last pulley, than on the opener itself, which is mostly shear force. Having said that, I wouldn't be concerned, if it's Rawl bolted on. Nice solution to actually a fairly common problem.

[dnicules]

Thanks for the idea of how to operate the pedestrian gate both in manual and automatic mode, I was looking for something like this. Will implement as soon as winter will be gone:)

[MS-yydh]

Thanks for posting. That is ingenious and similar to what I need.

[Uzuriuk]

This is exactly what I am looking for. Great and thank you.

[rbtx]

Here is my design that allows 3 modes for the gate (locked, manually openable and automatically open)... Instead of the rope, use a gas spring strut between the gate and the motor. When the motor is fully extended the strut is fully compressed and it keeps the door locked. When the motor is halfway extended, the door remains closed but it can also be opened manually as the strut has room to compress. When the motor is fully retracted the strut extends fully and then starts to pull the door. Two things to consider: 1) Check the spec of the strut for pulling ability. If not able to support the pull force you may need to add a steel wire parallel to it so the wire takes the pulling force. 2) These motors typically stop at only two positions for gate open and closed. You will most likely need to add an extra detection switch/sensor for the halfway point and integrate into the automation.

[craigmonteforte]

Nice system throughout my life I’ve heard professionals tell me many times that my request couldn’t be done the way I wanted or needed it to be and I learned long ago that it was usually a excuse for their own laziness or lack of knowledge and I knew more about their expertise than they did it’s not that by any means at all that I am a genius or know it all it’s more of I simply research the heck out of things I’m interested in and I have a “think outside the box” attitude and a creative mind that is fast at mathematical equations and has a lot of mechanical knowledge from over 20 years experience in general construction and Custom woodworking basically I can easily look at designs and tell if they will actually work well in reality mainly because I can visualize something in a drawing to its 3dimensional final Completion and most people can not do that as quickly in their brain I learned that a long time ago and how to reckonize when a client can’t so I formed my own style of being able to help those understand it better usually that was sketching a 3D drawing to give them more of a visual on paper to look at before auto cad drawing had that ability like it doe currently

[AllenHart]

The rope doesn’t look very good, How has it held up. Thanks.

[peterratcliffe]

Simple but genius. This is what I want to do except my big gate will slide open. Small gate still hinged.

[jacquisunflower]

Am I being thick here? How does the smaller gate close....it doesn't look like it's on a spring and the string obviously cannot push it closed? We have almost exactly the same needs with a small pedestrian gate and a bigger 5 bar gate but both need to be open for cars to drive in and out.

[private]

A great result. May I ask how much you think I'd need to budget for a similar project?

[akassijaz]

Brilliant video, very useful... If I was to purchase iron gates would I then be able to add the electric arms and mechanism to it?

[ami]

Hi. 2 years on are you still happy? Which version did you buy? Would you buy a different model?

[MrMagsimus]

Very nice job sir congrats it looks nice, I think your gates looked nice but it appears you wasn’t happy with the gates ? May I pls ask why? Just curious, many thanks 😁👍

[TheMagnumSam]

Please let me know how you did the google home integration! I've been searching the internet and I can't find a nice way of doing it.

Thanks in advance!