DIY Electric gate kit, ,with manual AND automatic pedestrian gate
Вставка
- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- 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
- Навчання та стиль
Thank you, this would be the perfect set up for me and I had no idea, until now, something like this even existed. Cheers
Glad I could help
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.
Good luck! It still works well quite a few years on :)
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
Hmmm - think it through! Brake cable great idea. But for us, the open/close is different. before I set it up I assumed the same but it isn't. e.g. RHS opens first, then 5s later LHS opens. On close, LHS closes then 18s later RHS closes. So doing it with one may not work (of course depends if they have any overlap). I have no centre "stop" so my gate catch overlaps. Good luck though!
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:)
If you find a better way, let me know! Seems to be working well, its a compromise between "auto-close-spring" tension and getting closed. But seems to work :)
Nice work. Looks very tidy.
Cheers!
This is exactly what I am looking for. Great and thank you.
Good luck!
Thanks for posting. That is ingenious and similar to what I need.
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.
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.
The gates are sh*t. they stay closed 99% of the time and open only for driving in, so having a ramp on open isn't needed (I did buy a ramp block just in case). Anyway, the f*kn gate post snapped a couple of days ago! Softwood post and had rotted through. Thats what I get for using an original post. Dug out and replaced with a 150x150x2400 oak post which should be a lot stronger (@ £80 for the post it better outlast me too!).
Your ideas sound challenging! Anything is possible so give it a go! Look forward to seeing the end results. Just don't buy the gates from the place I did!
@@Ryan_DYD
It is exactly what I was thinking would happen. You should definitely use that ramp post. While the gate is only open for short periods of time, there is repeated stress every time they open. The stress is dynamic and it is greatest when the gate is fully open. It goes from a pulling and bending stress, to a twisting stress as it opens and the gate acts as a lever pulling down. Adding a rest point there would significantly reduce the chances of early failure. Of course, an additional hinge could also be used to share the stress.
I hope when setting the new oak post, you have ensured there is no contact with the soil. If there is ground contact and especially if the post is partially buried, it needs a high quality sealant. Some people think its fine if it's buried in concrete.....it's not. Oak in particular cracks as it ages and leaves plenty of places for moisture and bugs to enter. For anyone else reading, the best DIY sealing method is to half fill a bucket with high quality wood sealant and immerse the bottom end of the post in the sealant. Paint the rest of the post and leave overnight in the bucket to allow the sealant to penetrate the wood. It should be immersed at least as 50mm deeper than it will be buried in the ground, so you won't be able to use your kids beach bucket :) . The result will otherwise be moisture getting in and compromising the structural integrity as insects have their go at it. Not doing this might cause failure in as little as 2 years. Doing it properly, the post will survive longer than you. Do it once. Do it right.
In the event I proceed with the gate project, I will be be doing it all myself. The only parts I won't be building are the motors and actuators. I would also need to figure out how best to prevent the gates from attempting to open in the event the locking mechanism was active. Perhaps a mechanical sensor would work best, killing power to the motors/actuators when activated.
I have two other projects I am considering. First, a closed loop hot water solar panel to raise the temperature of the water in my pond over the colder months. If the base temp went over a certain level, a blind would automatically close until the temp went below another preset level.
I could design and build an auto fish feeder which would operate at various times of the day. The frequency would depend on the month and it would cease operation between October and February with the ability to press a button an manually feed when required. The coding end is putting me off that one. You probably guessed I have a pond. Designed and built myself, with my FIL helping on the blockwork and laying the underground pipes for filtration. It's on my channel if interested.
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.
Thanks mark - your observation is bang on what it feels like. The opener bracket is over engineered in hindsight - but having never done one before I was only speculating. The force on the pulley is more than I'd like, and should've remembered some A level/degree maths where to keep lines straight the force becomes infinity (e.g. weight on middle of a piece of string will always bend the string). Best I could figure at the time, but happy to hear of any mk2 improvements if/when the pulley bolts rips the brick apart! :)
@@Ryan_DYD If you move the metal hoop the rope is attached to on the gate so that when it is almost fully open the rope runs through the pulley to the gate at a right angle then it won't be trying to pull the gate off it's hinges. It's creating unnecessary shear force on the hoop at that final 120 degree (ish) angle. Anything over 90 degrees in those last few inches and the force is pulling the gate away from the post.
@@Ryan_DYD In fact, right at the end there is no force pulling in the direction you want at all. It's kind of a stalemate between the motor and the post.
Great job.
The rope doesn’t look very good, How has it held up. Thanks.
Actually held up realty well. Not touched it since install. It was no stretch rope. Someone suggested bike brake cable that may have been better so may change to that if I need to
Nice work
Thank you! Cheers!
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
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?
Don't see why not
Great Info
A great result. May I ask how much you think I'd need to budget for a similar project?
Not as much as you think. The Quiko gate kit is fantastic - not ebay tat - feels over engineered but speak to them direct and cheap. I had a bespoke kit - extra external sensors (and internal) - two different actuators, controller, 4 remotes etc £505. The gates are crap (warped) - so DYOR on gates. The rest, conduit and cable was screwfix/toolstation -
@@Ryan_DYD Thanks!
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 😁👍
The gates were a little badly made - where do I start! Where the mortice/tennon joints are, they aren't cut even, so the tennon goes in but not flush left n right. The mortice at the end was all the way through the uprights, the bars went in and were just sawn off. Badly, scratching the uprights. And the sizing so wrong it just doesn't match. The bolts holding the diagonals aren't central, even, or even the same way round! Stupid things like that. And, the big gate has twisted - and did so very early on. Poor really. Still work though and not enough to annoy, and if they do they will become firewood!
Good work Ryan. I want to buy a quiko system, what did you use to talk to google? I have everything in my home connected to google home, lights, water features, even front door (although google will only lock it no open it), I don't have a hub of any kind, just google homes everywhere.
I can't fault the quiko element of the system at all - so good choice. I'm using lightwaverf for home automation which is a hub and links wirelessly to "stuff". The quiko controller has a connection you can short out to automate. Mine is set to "open-stop-close-stop" - so each "press" changes direction or stops. (How I have the remote set too). So I just have a relay contolled by LWRF set to close, wait 1s, open. And just running that sequence presses the button. (So yes, saying close gates when they are closed will open them, and if moving it will stop them). But its always fine and obvious. If you can get a google relay you could do the same? (My relay is inside the controller box) Quick search and there are relays and switches for google home amzn.to/3eUIisz but no idea how they work. You have 240v available inside the controller box - but the "switch" is voltage--less - you just short (switch) two connections on the interface. Good luck!
Would I be correct in assuming that your drive inclines up away from the gate and the hinges needed to be designed so the gate would rise in line with the incline. Did this create any problems when resourcing a gate opener.
Didn't take it into account with the gate openers. The hinges were "as was" when I got here. House is old and not level. Its not that sloped - maybe a little (6"?) towards the closed position. dunno. Its gravel and its, well, shite.
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.
Great idea - see no reason why it wouldn't work. Would not work with my kit though. Also if I locked the gate some postman would force it and break it lol - but in some scenarious it'd be cool. Love to see someone do this - deffo beat mine for engineering!
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!
Simply, a relay that shorts out the "open" pins on the board for 1 second. (note: the relay I use has the relay switch isolated from the power, so just "shorting" not sending voltage. The relay could be any home automation relay - I'm using one linked to LightwaveRF but any wifi or other one that has isolated switch pins should suffice..
Note - the home automation command just sets gates to move - so from open to close; or close to open. It has no way of knowing what state they are in - so "Open Gates" command could open (if closed) or close (if open).
Simple but genius. This is what I want to do except my big gate will slide open. Small gate still hinged.
See no reason why not if you can get the bits (Quiko who I used also do sliders). Only issue is if you have the sliding gate butt up to the swing gate there is no support at the top and it may "twist". (Slide gates tend not to be oak!)
Hi, we are wanting to build the exact same car/pedestrian manual gate (in the States). What is the overall width of the 2 gates together? I have 10.5' to work with.
10' and 4' I think = so 14' in total. You could do 7 + 3.5'....
Which home autonomous relay system are you using buddy? I was thinking of a sonoff mini?
My HA was install 9 years ago (!) so old tech - its LightwaveRF with hub and wireless relays. Doing it now, I'd use WiFi enabled - the sonoff mini does not mention if the relay outputs are linked to the input (e.g. @240v) or just a switch. On our gate controller, we just need to "short" 2x wires to get a signal, so no voltage, so sending 240v down is a bad idea! I looked at amzn.to/3t6gc5w recently for something else but never bought as I *THINK* that has the input, and the switch relay is electrically separated from input.. But don't quote me!
Did you ever do an upgrade? Just installed my quiko motors, so looking for something now
Hi. 2 years on are you still happy? Which version did you buy? Would you buy a different model?
Hi. Yep, in use daily and been "perfect" (well, the softwood post snapped, but it was rotten, now replaced with oak post, and this is more solid so the big wheel now not needed). Can't fault quiko to be honest. I'd buy the same again, good value and reliable. think one was rotello r400 and one r300 - but the actual ones would vary depending what you need. Supplier was vv helpful and gave good direct price - uk@quiko.biz. Good luck
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.
lol. Yeah, not a magic string! There is a gate spring on the inside of the pedestrian gate which springs it shut, the spring stops it going too far (e.g. tight when gate closed). It does work really well and is still working and used all the time.
Would a pulley that slides along the gate help on the pedestrian one? So it fully opens it
Dunno to be honest! How it is has been hassle free! :) I'm sure there could be some improvement, but as it is, if the gates in the way you're going to hit the wall :D
Nice setup
What's was the estimated cost for this
Tony
c. £600 I guess for all except the gates
"close gates" *see's neighbours gates close*
Great video thanks! How is the gate performing after 3yrs?
The auto openning thing is working perfectly - faultless (apart from having to tighten up the stop nut). The gates warped, partly due to poor quality, partly as the wheel arrangement on the large gate was forcing a rotation so encouraged the twist. I changed the wheel to a small castor that is directly under the upright. (I could only do this as the original softwood post hanging the big gate snapped due to rotting lol - so replaced with an oak post and it is much more solid. The sprung wheel was needed originally as the original post bent.... I was aware the post was semi rotten - should've replaced at the same time!)
@@Ryan_DYD that's great thanks. Just trying to gauge the quality of the kit, so glad to hear its still working well. No rusting of deterioration of the metal? Does the kit come with mounting brackets? Thanks
@@OlyLowe Quality of kit, perfect. No visible deterioration of arms or control box, and controls etc 100% reliable. Some brackets are provided but this aspect will depend on your setup, gate positions, walls etc. I had to get mine made but some are provided for "standard" install. Its not ebay/chinese quality - it is italian, not sure thats good lol - feels more german :)
@@Ryan_DYD That's brilliant, just what i needed to know thanks 👍
Just another question...i see you don't have a lock on the gate. Apparently the rams can be damaged if pushed, hence they recommend locks. Have you had any issues with this?
That gravel is gorgeous. What is it called?
lol - you serious?! Its a pain in the backside. Literally if you sit on it. Its probably www.buildbase.co.uk/aggregates-sand-cement/aggregates-gravel/gravel-stone-chippings/10-20mm-golden-flint-gravel-bulk-bag-100010230-2841179
How does the ped gate close again? 😂 what’s wrong with using a catch post?
Spring closure so the actuator just lets out the rope and it closes. I didn''t want a catch post as it'd be driven over directly due to entry/exit angle. Still working well but changed the wheel on the big gate to a smaller one underneath (as replaced post with oak and it isn't really needed any more)
Hey,
This solves my need for a manual and automated function, I take it the pedestrian gate is spring loaded for self closure?
Do you happen to have the contact email address for the company/sales rep that you used?
Cheers,
Philip
Yep, standard gate spring. Search eBay for quiko to get an idea, and they will show an email address in the contact details. I chatted to them direct and bought a custom kit direct, very helpful. My contact was David Hill but name/number on listings have changed. Hope that helps
What’s wrong with the gates??? They look fine to me.
The nuts and bolts are not central, they are poorly located. the &T joins are crap - the tennon is far off a perfect match and even sawn wonky/differently - schoolboy quality. THen it pokes out the end post and cut flush, badly, with a handsaw damaging the vertical post. With gaps around the M&T join as it was badly cut. It was done quickly by someone not skilled or someone who didn't care. From a distance, then look OK. thats about it. :(
@@Ryan_DYD good to know where not to get them! Who are they?
Electric gates
If these were security gates, tall enough to keep people out and where they also couldn't climb over neighbours low brick wall I would get this project. But all this effort and expense just to save what? Not time, because you could open them manually quicker than the auto arm does it. I can't help think this is just an expensive indulgence that'll end up causing you grief in the long run...
Maybe it's just me, but this set up seems pointless.
Probably some indulgence, but why not? Its not for security, obviously, but just to gate off our space. When we bought the house, the old gates were always open and pointless. The lane is private dead end but we get dog walkers coming up and it stops the dogs poking their heads in. But really? I wanted it so I did it :) Better to want and achieve than sit back and wait till death.
Shame about all of the ugly conduit running along the wall
Can't disagree. I was going to bury the bit on the gravel but the back of the drive is tarmac so that'd have to be conduit or a very expensive dig. We were also going to put drive lights on the wall which would've needed vertical conduit but changed minds as not needed. Roll on Power-over-wifi :)