Sliding Gate Automation

Automating a sliding gate is often the simplest and most cost-effective way to get an electric gate. One motor, one gate, and no need for room to swing.

Sliding gate automation is priced after a free site survey. A complete new sliding gate installation typically starts from £4,000.

What's involved

1. A solid base for the motor. The motor sits on a concrete plinth beside the gate, at the end the gate slides towards.
2. A toothed rack fixed along the gate, which the motor's gear drives.
3. Track and guides. The gate runs on wheels on a level ground track, held upright by guide rollers at the top. (A cantilever gate runs on rollers to one side instead.)
4. End stops and a closing post, so the gate stops in the right place every time.
5. Safety devices – photocells, safety edges and guarding of trapping points where they're needed.
6. Control board, power and access control – remotes, keypad, intercom and so on.

Sliding Gate Automation Explained

Automating a sliding gate means fitting a motor beside the gate that drives it along a toothed rack. It's a simple, robust system, but it only works well when the gate runs freely on a level track with a solid base for the motor.

We check the gate, the wheels, the track and the space beside the opening before recommending anything, then fit a CAME motor sized to the gate's weight and how often it's used.

Adding a motor to a sliding gate you already have is priced after a free site survey.

Automated Sliding Gates for Carlisle Properties

Sliding gates suit short drives, sloping entrances and busy commercial sites across Carlisle and Cumbria. A complete new sliding gate installation typically costs £4,000 – £10,000+, because of the track and groundwork.

Every automated sliding gate gets photocells and safety edges where they're needed, and is force tested to BS EN 12453.

You'll get a Declaration of Conformity, the manuals and a 3-year parts and labour warranty on new installations.

Can my existing sliding gate be automated?

Normally, if:

• the gate runs freely along its whole length when you push it by hand
• the track is straight, level and firmly fixed
• the wheels and guide rollers are in good condition
• there's room for the motor at the end of the gate's travel

If the track is cracked or the wheels are worn, that needs sorting first – a motor won't fix a gate that's hard to push.

The kit I use

I fit CAME sliding gate motors, choosing the model to suit the gate's weight and how often it's used. Heavy commercial gates get heavy-duty motors – it's not worth skimping.

Extras worth considering

• Battery backup so the gate works in a power cut
• Pedestrian mode – opening the gate just wide enough to walk through
• Exit loop in the driveway on commercial sites
• App or GSM control – see keypads, fobs and app control

Fitted safely

Sliding gates have trapping points at the closing edge and where the gate passes the posts. I deal with all of them, and force test every gate to BS EN 12453. See sliding gate safety checks.

Call or WhatsApp Adrian on 07854 037752 – a photo of the gate, the track and the space at each end helps me quote.

Questions people ask me