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 Expert
Posts: 1432
  
Location: Never in one place long | Thinking of fencing in our entire yard and my husband is complaining about having to open gates so wondered if anyone uses gate openers and if they work well, what the pros/cons are ? Is there a certain brand you'd recommend?
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 Special Somebody
Posts: 3951
 
Location: Finally horseback again.... | Dont go the cheap route with the ones from Tractor Supply. You will end up very unhappy. They break and dont have the power to open a gate at any speed.
My husband installs them and we have an Apollo. They can put the heavier custom gates and will last a lot longer with less issues. Make sure you keep the control box sealed, lightening/ or water can ruin your mother board
Once you put one in, you will not be without it!!! So nice not to have to get out and open and close the gate.
Edited by Canchasr1 2015-02-05 4:20 PM
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Blessed 
Location: Here | Apollo!  |
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Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | Oh wow, thank you! I actually was looking at the TS ones so glad you both said that!!! |
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 "Spaz-tacular"!!
Posts: 20309
Location: Bennett, CO | We bought the "Mighty Mule" openers from TSC and am not impressed.. we will use them until they crap out, but will then replace them with a better option.. They are painfully slow and we have had issues with one we have on their solar board system not charging (and we are using an Optima Deep cycle battery) |
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 Veteran
Posts: 260
Location: Oregon | we have a mighty mule, and are loving it! we did end up breaking one, but it wasn't big enough for the gate we had, so I don't mind so much that we broke that one. We ran a cord out to ours so we don't worry about having to have it charged or use a battery. since we got the bigger opener, we haven't had problems with it. its not super fast opening, but neither are the other big gate openers that other friends have. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 232
Location: Winging It in KY | I have to admit it, I have two beautiful custom gates that were purchased a couple years ago still sitting in my shed because I refuse to put them up till I get openers for them. They would be at the bottom of the driveway which has a slope to it and I sure would hate to accidentally slide into them in the snow when I was trying to stop and open them by hand. I have looked at the TSC openers and I had been skeptical if they really would do the job. I will have to check into Apollo ( Thanks for the tip) because I am getting tired of my friends being sarcastic and giving me grief over the gates everytime they see them in the shed. |
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 On the Countdown
Posts: 2934
Location: Texas | I have the Mighty Mule also from TSC. Had it up for about 2 weeks now. I love it. But it does save me from getting in and out. I thought I would have more issues with dog running out and me trying to leave for work but it opens and closes fast enough for her to stay in. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 993
Location: Northern California | We have had a Mighty Mule for about 10 years. It has been great for the most part!
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 Banjo and Baby
Posts: 7259
Location: South of Canada and North of Mexico | Whats better, a sliding gate or swinging open gate? Home depot sells the mighty mules I see and most have almost 4-5 stars? |
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Regular
Posts: 68
Location: oklahoma | Once you have had a automatic gate opener you will never go without one again! Ours is a Viking its chain driven. It handles our 20ft gate without a problem. No matter how hard the Oklahoma wind blows it keeps the gate in the exact position you want it in. Just make sure your opener is heavy duty enough to handle the size of your gate. One of our friends got a cheaper model and the wind would blow it open and shut. They ended up getting a magnet to keep it open. the wind will still sometimes blow it open a little ways. |
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