spaceman bill,

here's the 10,000 foot view of the lift and fold: http://www.digitech-intl.com/pr10.htm. We have one on site here and have had it in place for several years. As it is designed for commercial purposes, the wear and tear issue is factored into the construction of the gate. Despite the appearance of lots of moving parts, there is little maintenance involved if the installation is done properly, and I cannot stress that point enough.

The manufacturer will send an installer to your site, if necessary, and his time and expertise are worth many times his fee. This is not a project for the "I have a guy" approach. Go with an installer who has actually put these in place.

This gets my vote as well, because I have heard horror stories of the lift type falling on cars and the gate getting very damaged.

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~Airport Super Storage~

Alexlekas, thanks for the info and the link; just what I'm looking for. It may cost a bit to get an installer to Vancouver Island but, yes, you would want somebody who knows what he's doing.

The flat-gaters seem to be picking up support but, in our application, a vertical folder is about the only choice

if you need, I can point you toward THE guy for putting gates in..very reasonable, ultimately professional, and can do access systems. He'll even bring the gate up which could save you in terms of freight. If you're going to go down the lift and fold road, he would be the person to talk to.

Alexlekas, Right at the moment we're just doing our homework, finding info and checking feasibility, so we are a ways away from needing an installer. Nevertheless, he sounds like a valuable resource for the future. Would you be kind enough to email that info to space4rent<at>shaw.ca That way we'll have it and won't have to start looking later on. I have this thread bookmarked so I can update as things progress.

To Centexguys
What brand of lift gate? I'm familiar with SunPower out of CA and could perhaps answer some questions.

Reply to the post:
We've had 2 SunPower Vertical Lift Gates for over 5 years and I really like the vertical lift for: use of space (minimal), reliability (hardly ever break and can be fixed easily), looks (they look really classy) and safety (can stop them with one finger coming down and have electric eye and condenser coils in the ground.)
Also we use WinSen Sentinal so can F11 from the desk to open either or use the keypad or a little garage door opener pushbutton when on the golf cart.

ps:You can install yourself also IF you really want to.

I also have one of the Digi VLF (vertical lift & fold) gates...it's going into its fourth year at my facility. I put it in due to space constraints - my driveway couldn't spare the six foot cabinet width required by a standard pivot-lift gate.

Someone above asked about potential failure of the pivot points. All of the points have nylon spacers and appear to have stainless steel fasteners. No noted problems there in four years.

My issues with the gate have been minimal:
1) The factory-supplied photo eye failed in the first year. The installation company replaced it with another model that they had positive experience with. No issues since.
2) We had a lot of construction activity in the neighborhood for a while that would occasionally cause the gate to lift. It appeared to be Nextel or other radio traffic tripping the remote control sensor on the gate controller. Solved it by disconnecting the remote control sensor. I enter a code to pass through, just like tenants do, that way I'm in the activity log as well.
3) I ran into an occasional issue with the gate popping a fuse when given the command to lift. The gate company scratched their head and stuck a multimeter on the system and surmised that the two gate arm pivot points were causing too much friction resistance on the motor, causing an overload that popped the fuse. We installed grease fittings on the joints, greased them with white lithium grease, and haven't had a problem since. The gate shipped without grease points or any instructions to install them, but I'd suggest doing it at installation.

I still get the occasional "that's a cool gate" comment from new tenants or passers-by. I think it's less of a wind sail when up in its folded configuration than you would see with a full-panel pivot gate.

Former employer had a lift gate - it was Always going out on us. Then one day, a customer without patience decided that it had gone up far enough (not completely) and she had to leave - so when she left she attempted to take the lift gate with her. The lift gate was out of HER site, but not out of the reach of the moving truck.

A sliding gate especially one that slides in to the side where the driver can see that it is completely open, will be, I think less difficult.

Also, with a lift gate, you have to be prepared for high winds -they can take your lift gate out because it is at a great disadvantage - a sliding gate won't catch as much wind gust.......

just my 2c.

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Tall Terri

Integrity - it's what you do when no one is looking!

Both gates have there place in self storage, the biggest problem I have seen is the poor maintenance to the gates and lack of safety equipment. All gates are going to take a hit reguardless.
If you slide gate is getting clipped by tailgaters set the loops to stop the gate only not reverse, once the vehicle clears the loop then have the gate continue to close only.
Slide gates need very little maintenance if setup correctly, it should last 10-15 years with proper care, I would stay away from the aluminum gates due to repair costs on site.
Lift gates need alot of care as far as belts and adjustments, on the average it will need belts every year or sooner depending on traffic, the biggest problem are the springs that are used to lift the gate, adjust and repair is somthing the property manager should never get involved with, the little sticker that says possible injury or death could and probley will happen if you dont know what your doing.
Lift gates are great if you are limited on space but require alot of maintenance
Slide gates minor maintenance, easy to weld on site, have the property manager work on there tan painting the gate every year. Need some extra room to open

Slide gate!