Sliding Door Opener

Sliding door opener BUILDINGS Accessories 15-1-25 "Pushing heavy sliding doors open and shut used to be one of the worst jobs on the farm," says Gordon Koenig, who invented and is now marketing a new automatic sliding door opener designed to fit any size sliding door. The system consists of the opener and a track or "gear rack" that mounts along the inside of the door near the top. The opener, powered by a 1/3 hp electric motor, mounts in the corner of the header with six lag screws. A 1/2-in. deep, 3/4-in. wide groove is cut into the inside of the door for the gear rack to screw into. As a gear on the opener turns, it meshes with the gear rack to open or close the door. The bottom of the door rides along a 1 by 1-in. track mounted flush with the ground. "I built it because I looked around for an automatic door opener but couldn't find one. It really works slick," says Koenig. A pair of pressure springs keeps the opener tight against the gear rack while spring-loaded pulleys push the door down into the track on the ground. "The ground track isn't absolutely necessary, but I recommend it to keep the door from flopping back and forth in the wind during opening and closing," says Koenig. "The gear rack extends six inches beyond the door in order to open the door all the way. There's a safety switch so if the door encounters an obstacle or freezes to the ground the opener will automatically stop. It takes about 30 seconds to open or close a 20-ft. wide door. You can increase door opening speed by changing drive pulleys." An opener for a 20-ft. wide door sells for $650 to $700. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, GorBon Enterprises, Inc., 10540 11th Ave. N.E., Rochester, Minn. 55906 (ph 507 289-2211).

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