Powered Opener For Sliding Barn Doors

2013 - Volume #37, Issue #5, Page #27

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“As product manager for Morton Buildings, I had a lot of people come to me with ideas,” says John Minor. “Most of them didn’t work, but a few years ago two fellows brought us a home-made door-opening invention.”
  Today the product is known as a Propel Automated Door Opener and Minor is the company’s distributor for all U.S. states.
  The 3-part system, including the drive, side cinchers and a floor track, is all placed inside the building out of the weather. “The opener works without any electrical wires on an exposed track. This system combines the convenience and functionality of an overhead door with the economy of a sliding door. It requires one dedicated 20-amp. circuit, but the only wires are the pigtail for the control head and the low voltage wires for the photo eyes.”
  The motor is attached to the door and a stainless steel chain rides inside a protective poly sleeve. The motor door arm and the header drive rail provide up to 200 lbs. of torque to open a door. The control board memorizes the travel path of the door to ensure smooth and safe operation.
  Minor says that side cinchers on the back of the door hold it close to the building as it’s being closed. A floor track also guides the door smoothly during opening and closing cycles, keeping the bottom of the door in line, especially in windy conditions. Designed for single and double doors, the Propel opener has an obstacle detection system and photo cell safety sensors.
  “This system has universal application on just about any type of horizontal door on any type of building,” Minor says. “We’ve put them on everything from small garages to very large machine sheds.
  “Even though the opener is a great option for new buildings,” says Minor, “it’s really ideal as a retrofit for older buildings. There are thousands of pole barns, cattle buildings and machine sheds that are 20, 30 or 40 years old. The sliding doors on those buildings can be tough to open. We can install a Propel opener for a few thousand dollars and make life a lot easier,” John says.
  Minor says a basic Propel system for a center-opening 30-ft. door would start at about $4,250 and could be $5,500, depending on the options chosen. Variables include whether the building is a pole shed, a steel building, has a single sliding door or is center opening, and whether the building has a flat floor and a nice level apron. “We never want to take something apart on a company installed building,” says Minor. “Our installation won’t do anything to void a warranty.” Propel systems will work on doors as small as 4 ft. wide by 7 ft. tall up to openings 48 ft. wide by 22 ft. tall. The company has a strict policy of no money down, pay when the job is done. Says Minor, “If we can’t put it in, we take it down and you don’t owe us a penny.” Once an opener is installed and working it has a lifetime warranty.
   Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Minor, Propel Doors, 7 Kemp Dr., Suite C, Chatham, Ill. 62629 (ph 888 391-8592; john@propeldoors.com; www.propeldoors.com).

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Powered Opener For Sliding Barn Doors BUILDINGS Livestock “As product manager for Morton Buildings I had a lot of people come to me with ideas ” says John Minor “Most of them didn’t work but a few years ago two fellows brought us a home-made door-opening invention ” Today the product is known as a Propel Automated Door Opener and Minor is the company’s distributor for all U S states The 3-part system including the drive side cinchers and a floor track is all placed inside the building out of the weather “The opener works without any electrical wires on an exposed track This system combines the convenience and functionality of an overhead door with the economy of a sliding door It requires one dedicated 20-amp circuit but the only wires are the pigtail for the control head and the low voltage wires for the photo eyes ” The motor is attached to the door and a stainless steel chain rides inside a protective poly sleeve The motor door arm and the header drive rail provide up to 200 lbs of torque to open a door The control board memorizes the travel path of the door to ensure smooth and safe operation Minor says that side cinchers on the back of the door hold it close to the building as it’s being closed A floor track also guides the door smoothly during opening and closing cycles keeping the bottom of the door in line especially in windy conditions Designed for single and double doors the Propel opener has an obstacle detection system and photo cell safety sensors “This system has universal application on just about any type of horizontal door on any type of building ” Minor says “We’ve put them on everything from small garages to very large machine sheds “Even though the opener is a great option for new buildings ” says Minor “it’s really ideal as a retrofit for older buildings There are thousands of pole barns cattle buildings and machine sheds that are 20 30 or 40 years old The sliding doors on those buildings can be tough to open We can install a Propel opener for a few thousand dollars and make life a lot easier ” John says Minor says a basic Propel system for a center-opening 30-ft door would start at about $4 250 and could be $5 500 depending on the options chosen Variables include whether the building is a pole shed a steel building has a single sliding door or is center opening and whether the building has a flat floor and a nice level apron “We never want to take something apart on a company installed building ” says Minor “Our installation won’t do anything to void a warranty ” Propel systems will work on doors as small as 4 ft wide by 7 ft tall up to openings 48 ft wide by 22 ft tall The company has a strict policy of no money down pay when the job is done Says Minor “If we can’t put it in we take it down and you don’t owe us a penny ” Once an opener is installed and working it has a lifetime warranty Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Minor Propel Doors 7 Kemp Dr Suite C Chatham Ill 62629 ph 888 391-8592; john@propeldoors com; www propeldoors com

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