Gate, Remote controlled (Solar Powered)

[GuglioLS]

I think many of you have seen the gate in my back yard? The one that leads up hill to the back 3/4 (15 acres) of my property.

The fence and gate are to keep my dogs in and the coyotes, strays, cows, horses, bears, etc out. With the new road up the hill, Esther and I are now using that gate quite a bit. We (I)decided it was time to make it a remote controlled gate.

If you have not seen the gate here is what that looks like:




As you can tell it's a bit of a pain to get through, you know the routine, drive up to the gate, stop, get off the dozer, Unchain the gate, open the gate, get back on the dozer, drive through the gate, stop, get off the dozer, close the gate, re-chain the gate, get back on the dozer, etc.....


To get started, I purchased a 12 volt Linear actuator with a remote controller on eBay. It's designed for gates.


I learned from BiggKidd (Larry K) that Harbor Freight have their 5 watt solar chargers on sale for 39.99 (10 $ off the regular 49.99 price) So I picked me up one. This gate will be 100% solar / battery powered.

First was to make some brackets for the solar panel to mount it on the fence near the gate. I found all the mounting "stuff" by scrounging around my basement stock of junk I never throw away.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

After finishing the solar panel mount bracket's, it was time to install the panel near the gate:



Larry

[GuglioLS]

After the eBay gate parts arrived, I got right to work on installing it.

The receiver and electronics control box were mounted underneath the solar panel to help shield it from the weather. It's a sealed box but figured it would be good to use the collector panel as a little roof for the control box.



That took maybe a whopping 30 minutes at most.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

Next up was to install the linear actuator hinge bracket on the hinge post. Since I have "T" posts vs wood post, square tube or pipe, I had to get a little creative to mount it. Found some cool brackets and U bolts - didn't even have to make anything special. After installing a split tube clamp, two pilot holes were drilled for some 3/8" carriage bolts that will hold the actuator to the gate.



This all went very smooth, It took me longer to find the U bolts and plates than it did to install everything. Total time to install this thing from Solar panel to finished working gate - about 2 hours. I think I spent more time uploading photos and writing about it.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

I thought I heard someone say - "Where are the videos of it in action" - OK here:



Larry

[GuglioLS]

Well that works pretty good. Better try it riding the tractor:




It works great while riding on the tractor, so I tried it while riding the dozer, that worked too No video of the dozer though.

These remote swing gate actuators are a breeze to install and adjust, so anyone needing or thinking of installing one should not hesitate to get one.


Larry

[GuglioLS]

Here are some measurements I took of the solar panel output -

Battery voltage is 13.51 volts, solar panel is putting out .42 amps (420 Milli amps) Amps times volts = watts of power (13.51 X .42) = 5.67 watts

The 39 dollar Harbor Freight 5 watt solar panel is putting out 5.67 watts - not bad.



Does anyone have gates? or a gate project planned?

Larry