Horizontal pop hole door opener?

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Clare
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Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by Clare »

Ok.. my coop (arriving tomorrow!) has a door which slides horizontally across instead of up and down.

I would dearly love to have an auto door opener !! but from all the ones Ive seen, they wouldnt work as they use gravity and the weight of the door to pull it shut.

Does anyone know of any type of door with pulley system that might work on a horizontal door, or am I just going to have to go with altering the direction of the door!?!

Cheers all

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JoLo
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by JoLo »

Hi Clare,

Have a look at this website:

http://www.axt-electronic.de/index1.htm

and then look up mounting examples. I am sure something could be rigged up with some pulleys. I hope this helps.

Cheers, Jo :-D
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p.penn
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by p.penn »

I don't think that would work as the door closes by weight.

The metal doors they sell are easy to install and not too pricey.
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DogWalkingWokingham
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by DogWalkingWokingham »

Hi,

I hope my post proves interesting as it's my first post :-D

Since getting ex-battery hens last year we've enjoyed the eggs but not the early morning rises to open the hen house door. Looking online we also couldn't find an automated horizontal hen house door opener... so we built our own for a small sum.

It's not really very pretty but it works. Our video if it in action is here:

Link to commercial site removed by admin

I'm happy to share detailsd of how I built this...

Cheers,
Darren.
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AL37
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by AL37 »

Hi Clare,
It should be fairly aesy to set it up to close the door.
If you use one pulley at the side the door closes to then attach a string/cable to the door and over the pulley with a weight hanging on the end. Gravity will then act on the weight and slide the door closed.
You will have to experiment with different weights so you get one just heavy enough to pull the door closed. Anything to heavy will put extra stress on the motor.
Hope that helps.
Al.
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chicken_house_man
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by chicken_house_man »

Most horizontal doors can easily be changed to a vertical one in most cases.

The problem with horizontal doors is that muck will end up in the bottom channel and cause problems with the door closing.

Post a pic of your house and i'll tell you how.
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hawkingejohn
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by hawkingejohn »

Save all the fuss, set your alarm for 5 instead {rofwl}
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DogWalkingWokingham
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by DogWalkingWokingham »

Hi All,

Sorry but it looks like the site admin took exception to my earlier post as the video link was to the chicken video our Dog Walking Website which although is commercial it is a very, very small dog walking business for the local Wokingham dog community. Sorry :oops:

Anyway I'd still like to share the video of our home made automatic horizontal chicken coop door opener so here's a link to our video but this time posted especially on You Tube for you all to see.

Fingers crossed I'll not get a smacked wrist this 2nd time )t'

http://youtu.be/6gyHQCbrGjk

Cheers,
Darren.
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animal
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by animal »

Our hen house has a door hinged at the bottom, so we had simillar problem. I just put another door on the inside, two channels of door to slide in and a door. Now if i wish i can close both for extra chicken saftly. There are kits on the web you can buy with door, runners and timer / sensor.
Hope that helps, Annie
2 Cats (Koda&Willow), 2 Dogs (piper&Bailey Boo), 3 Fish tanks (it was noahs ark but we got a tank for baby fish) Plus 5 Hens - [color=#8000BF]RIP Rhubarb gone but not forgoten[/color]
ock
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by ock »

that looks great Darren )t' , I take it you close it by hand

oh, and welcome to the site )t'
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Richard
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by Richard »

Hi,

Site Admin didn't take exception, just that 'rules is rules' and the same for everyone.
I'm sure everyone appreciates we have to have some code.

Anyway, we're very glad to have you on board and wish you well in your ventures.

Cheers, Richard )t'
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DogWalkingWokingham
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by DogWalkingWokingham »

All all,

Many thanks for your kind words of welcome.

Yes OCK, the door is closed by hand with a simple 'reverse' switch on the model motor.

I had toyed with the idea of automatically closing the door using a 2nd setting on the central heating timer and a few weights and pulleys however upon thought we decided we like the idea of saying goodnight to the girls and checking everything is safe etc.

So far we've had few hic-ups and have enjoyed staying in bed longer - and the solar panel has so far kept the battery topped up so fingers crossed it'll all be relatively maintainance free - well except the occasoinal sweep of the door runner but we had to do that anyway.

Glad you like it.

Cheers,
Darren.
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lizziedoggarden
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by lizziedoggarden »

Welcome to the Lane! )t'
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Am looking forward to welcoming Sunny Clucker to Woodbridge Suffolk!!!!!
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Mo
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Re: Horizontal pop hole door opener?

Post by Mo »

You mean the fox treads on the doormat and the door opens?

What are you selling?
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