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Best Buy Bi-Fold Door
"My bi-fold door is one of the best buys I've ever made."
That's what Howard L. Smith, Brockton, Mont., told us recently when we asked him to name his "best" and "worst" buys for our regular FARM SHOW report, "Farmers Nominate Best, Worst Buys" (page 12-14 in this issue). His door sounded so good we asked him to tell us about it.
"My new U.B.C. building is 34 by 60 ft. with 14-ft. sidewalls. I put it up myself with the help of neighbors and hired help. The best thing about the building is the bi-fold door that was built and installed by Joe Etzel of Joe's Welding, Poplar, Mont. He custom-builds clear-span doors for airplane hangars up to 80 ft. wide and 20 ft. high. The doors have a unique automatic opening, closing and locking system which makes them easy to operate in all conditions, and they're equipped with remote control. Joe builds them to any size, delivered anywhere in the country," says Smith, whose door is 15 ft. wide and 14 ft. high.
Joe Etzel told FARM SHOW his doors work great for both new and existing buildings because they're self-supporting with no need of additional truss or header sup-port. "They're diagonally-braced internally and are opened in such a way that there's no need for added support from the building. I also install the metal sheeting on the doors horizontally for added support."
The high-speed folding door - its 2 sec./ ft. opening rate is twice as fast as the industry average - is electric-powered by a variable speed electric motor that drives a worm drive gearbox that cranks up lifting cables. Motor size and number of cables varies according to the size of the door. Smith's, 15-ft. door is fitted with a 1/2 hp. electric motor and two lift cables. The door automatically locks shut when closed but can be quickly released manually from the inside if the power fails.
"No opening is too big or too small. We can custom build to any size," says Etzel. He says his custom-built doors are "more than competitive" with other commercial bi-fold doors.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Etzel, Joe's Welding, Poplar, Mont. 59255 (ph 406 768-3779).


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1989 - Volume #13, Issue #4