Shop Doors Powered By 50:1 Gear Head

Shop Doors Powered By 50:1 Gear Head Tom Harmon of Dinwiddie, Va., built a large shop door opener using supplies he had on hand. “I started with an old 50:1 gear head, powered by a residential garage opener,” he says. “Then I bought a 13-tooth sprocket that moves a #50 chain, connected to both ends of the door, with two idler pulleys and a #50 chain off a 472 Haybine.” Harmon explains that everything is connected through the bale tensioner bracket from a 1950s New Holland Super 77 baler. “I probably put less than $50 out of pocket into this. Cables and pulleys tie the two doors together at the top.” He estimates he spent three days working on the door. “I got lucky. Most of it worked exactly like I wanted—not a lot of redos.” He later installed an additional switch on the outside of the door so he wouldn’t have to walk inside to open it. “I wouldn’t want anything different. This design works great.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Harmon, Dinwiddie, Va. (ph 804-720-7514).

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