Can I change a garage door openers into a coup door opener?

[black404]

I saw a used garage door opener at the Habitat resale store and it was only $20 or $30 dollars.

I was wondering if I could shorten the track and use just a piece of twine and run that through the roof area of my coup.

Then I could open and close the coup from my kitchen window-with a remote.

That would be a clicking the button.

 

[Dar]

now that is an awsome idea.....man you have to post a video of that...now you have me thinking i can let the gals out in the early morning without even getting out if bed....

keep us posted..

 

[redoak]

Great idea, not sure how much "work" would be involved in getting it too work.

 

[AtholCoop]

Quote:
All depends on the opener. I've got an old screw drive Genie that I picked up for 20 dollars on Craigslist that I'm working to convert into a remote gate opener. It's setup with limit switches on the rail that basically tell the motor where it is in it's cycle.

On the other hand if it's a chain drive I'm pretty sure most of those are only adjustable within a foot or two (plus or minus) of a standard garage door size. To get a chain drive to work you'd probably have to build some sort of a gear reduction to effectively shorten it's throw. If you're gonna go the gear reduction route, start looking for free 10 speed bikes, they're a great source for gears, and chains.

 

[black404]

So I could possibly change the sprocket and chain?

What if I just shorten the chain? Like when you touch the garage door sometimes it bounces back then stops...will that work for this?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I've been thinking about this same thing for a very long time. We just lost some of our flock to coons and I'm anxious to start back up with some kind of design, whether it be my original automatic coop door opener or a completely different design.

If anybody has some kind of auto coop door setup that is custom made, please post pics and info!!!

A garage door opener would be great because it is strong and is configured to do what you want done... open and close a door. You could even have a super heavy door that animals couldn't open, but your opener could.

Most garage door openers have limit switches (usually adjusted by 2 screws) so you can determine the open / close distance. I wonder how close you can get them together?

My question is if you are going to use a remote, or have it on a timer. I'm trying to go for the timer design myself.

 

[the1much]

i was gonna say " of course you can,, just stick your chickens in the garage"

i think their hard to use, because some ( im no expert) go "so many revolutions" before they stop, and take a long time to adjust, but i know a garage door guy, i'll talk to him tomorrow, and post what he says.

 

[AtholCoop]

Quote:
Probably not, you're most likely gonna have to do some kind of reduction if it's chain drive.

<<Making some generalizations for easy math>>

If the opener is designed to open an 8' door and you intend it to open a 2' door you're gonna have to to a 4/1 gear reduction. As a side benefit it's gonna slow it down 4X as well.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Plus, I think that thing is going to seriously freak the chickens out every time it is used. They might used to it, but it could be enough to stop egg laying for a while.

Just something to think about...

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

My garage door opener has the limit switches that allow me to make the open / close stops really really close together, so it theory I could make it open / close a 12 inch door.