Handy Fix For Bowed Door Panels
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When extreme winds put a bow in the top panel of Dale McLaen’s overhead door, a space the size of his hand opened up between it and the door header. The space let cold air and snow blow into the shop. The 21-ft. wide, 12-ft. tall, heavy-duty door was at the south end of his shop.
“The door already had wind bracing on every panel, so I needed to come up with a way to remove the bow and reinforce it,” says McLaen. “I could’ve replaced all the braces, but since they had bowed in once, I’m reasonably sure it would have happened again.”
McLaen fabricated a bracket out of two steel plates sufficiently spaced to sandwich the door’s top wind reinforcement channel. Roughly triangular in shape, the bracket protrudes about 6 in. from the door with a bolt and hook at its apex.
“I wrapped a cable with a turnbuckle at one end around the ends of the wind reinforcement channel and over the bracket, between the bolt and hook on the tip to form a truss,” says McLaen. “Tightening the turnbuckle pushed the top of the door back into line.”
He estimates it took him about a day to design and build the truss and a couple of hours to install and adjust it. His design included a leg brace that extends down on the channel side of the bracket. It helps stabilize the truss under tension.
Unlike replacing the braces, the cable truss is both permanent and can be readjusted if needed. He didn’t add any trusses to the lower part of the door, as the bow wasn’t as bad there. He notes that it would be easy to do so if needed.
“The door now seals tight against the opening like it did when it was new,” says McLaen. “It doesn’t bow in when the wind blows, and the shop stays warm.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale McLaen, 13756 Hwy 11, Rutland, N.D. 58067 (ph 701-678-5232).
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Handy Fix For Bowed Door Panels BUILDINGS Miscellaneous When extreme winds put a bow in the top panel of Dale McLaen’s overhead door a space the size of his hand opened up between it and the door header The space let cold air and snow blow into the shop The 21-ft wide 12-ft tall heavy-duty door was at the south end of his shop “The door already had wind bracing on every panel so I needed to come up with a way to remove the bow and reinforce it ” says McLaen “I could’ve replaced all the braces but since they had bowed in once I’m reasonably sure it would have happened again ” McLaen fabricated a bracket out of two steel plates sufficiently spaced to sandwich the door’s top wind reinforcement channel Roughly triangular in shape the bracket protrudes about 6 in from the door with a bolt and hook at its apex “I wrapped a cable with a turnbuckle at one end around the ends of the wind reinforcement channel and over the bracket between the bolt and hook on the tip to form a truss ” says McLaen “Tightening the turnbuckle pushed the top of the door back into line ” He estimates it took him about a day to design and build the truss and a couple of hours to install and adjust it His design included a leg brace that extends down on the channel side of the bracket It helps stabilize the truss under tension Unlike replacing the braces the cable truss is both permanent and can be readjusted if needed He didn’t add any trusses to the lower part of the door as the bow wasn’t as bad there He notes that it would be easy to do so if needed “The door now seals tight against the opening like it did when it was new ” says McLaen “It doesn’t bow in when the wind blows and the shop stays warm ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dale McLaen 13756 Hwy 11 Rutland N D 58067 ph 701-678-5232
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