We bought a mighty mule opener (the most $$$ model) and in less than 2 months its trashed. The antenna never really worked that well so it often took a few clicks for it to work. But the kicker is we got a little bit of wind #oklahoma, and the arm bent… MM is completely unwilling to honor the 2 year warranty or even offer a replacement part for less than full price :mad:.
Any openers out there that aren’t complete garbage?
They should not sell openers in windy country with arms.
Friends have tried those, all their gates quit working within 6 months.
Best is sliding gates.
They cost double but work forever.
Ask @clanter, he sold, installed and maintained those gates for decades and knows more than anyone about them.
have a passenger they can get out open and close the gate…might complain some during the next blizzard
he sold, installed and maintained those gates for decades
And work for the companies that build automatic gate operators, did that for twenty five years
Back to OP…so wind load causing you problems. What size is the gate panel? I am assuming Swing gate since you are saying the MM actuator bent… swing gates act as a lever… long panel have great leverage
By the way that destroyed MM if solar still has value as this year 2020 the IRS will give you back 26% of the purchase price on your taxes (if bought in 2019 its 30% … you would need to file an amended return if you have already filed 2019)
But back to the problem. Size of gate panel and percentage of the panel is covered is the determining factor (even some mesh type panel when present in a specific way become solid to wind loads)
Haha right, we might stick with that.
It was a plain 16ft tube gate, no mesh. Opener was rated for 18ft 850#.
regarding those “Ratings”… look in the manual…they are not what you think. A 850 pounds gate will be limited to I think eight feet or less… and an 18 ft panel can not exceed some where around 350 pounds (16ft like yours will be around 450 pounds max weight)
A tube gate can look like it should not have a great wind gathering area but many of the tube gates use flat steel spacers that when presented at a proper angle can be almost solid.
In the next gale force wind you have try to hold onto a 4by8 piece of plywood
Big issue with the small actuator gate operators is the limited amount of leverage they can apply…even the small hydraulic units will end up deforming the cylinder in high load situations. The mounting is only a few inches back from the hing point which is very shallow angle
Those operators have a place (so they say) but out in open prairie really is not a great place…there will be people who say that they have had a Mighty Mule that works forever… but just count the number you see hanging off gate posts not connected to a gate… hundreds, thousands
Also those “ratings” are in calm wind at 70F temperature…same for the “number of cycles” … which they seem to fail to mention as temperature drops (or increases above 70F) the number of cycle is reduced.
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