Powered Sliding Door On Machine Shed

Powered Sliding Door On Machine Shed BUILDINGS Accessories 20-5-10 Elmer Adam, Richland, Iowa, had trouble opening and closing the 20-ft. wide, 18-ft. high sliding door on his machine shed. He solved the problem by modifying a barn al-ley scraper power unit to automatically open and close the door. "It's so easy to operate that I grin every time I use it," says Adam. The alley scraper power unit consists of a 1/2-hp electric motor, cable, and a pair of pulleys. Adam mounted the motor above the door, centered at the top of the track, and bolted a 2 1/2-ft. long angle iron bracket to each end of the door. He welded a steel upright at the end of each bracket where he mounted the pulleys. The motor pulls the cable back and forth around the pulleys to open or close the door and is activated by a reversible switch. "It used to take all my strength to push the door back and forth. It was so hard to move that I usually left it open," says Adam. "Now I just push a switch. I paid $530 for the power unit. A new bi-fold door would have cost about $3,500. I thought I would have to slow the motor down in order to keep the door from opening or closing too fast, but it wasn't necessary." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Elmer A. Adam, Rt. 1, Box 16, Richland, Iowa 52585 (ph 319 456-3725).

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