Ensure the Safety of your Ornamental Slide Gate

With more and more large, heavy objects such as gates become automated to help make our lives easier, it’s of the utmost important to make sure they are also safe. Safety is a major challenge any installation company or do-it-yourselfer will run into when installing an automatic gate.

Gate operators make our lives easier by allowing us to open our gates from within the comfort of our vehicles instead of getting out and manually opening and then closing the gate in various weather conditions. Installing a gate operator to assist with the opening and closing of our gates takes careful planning on the owner and the installer.

Automated Gate Safety Devices

There are a variety of safety devices you can install to accompany your gate, including reflective photo eyes, thru beam photo eyes and safety edges. These devices are used to keep any object or person safe while going through the gate opening while it’s opening or closing. It is also important to remember that automated gates are not meant for pedestrians, they are meant for vehicle traffic.

Using any of the listed safety devices in your entrapment area is a great start for automated gate safety, but there are a few pinch points that need to be looked over as well. For example, ornamental slide gates can be hazardous if any limbs get put through the 2 1/4” picket spacing. Death could be the result of anyone reaching through an ornamental fence and getting caught while it is in motion. Safety devices such as photo eyes and safety edges don’t typically cover these areas and will not be enough protection.

An ornamental slide gate with 2 1/4" picket spacing before any netting was installed

It is imperative to prevent this sort of incident from happening, but you also probably would like to preserve the appearance of your gate. There are a few options: you can redesign your gate and fence or you can install netting. It can be costly to redesign your fence and gate to have a narrower picket spacing, but on the other hand it would be much more costly if someone got injured by your automated gate. Your other option is to install either wire reinforced or nonreinforced PVC netting using zip ties or fasteners. In some cases, this netting will be virtually invisible at a distance of 20 feet from the netting. You chose an ornamental gate for its appearance, so we know how important it is to maintain that same appearance.

A ornamental sliding gate with 2 1/4" picketing spacing with netting installed

Ornamental Sliding Gate Netting

When choosing a netting to install, it is important to look at the specifications of the product. What are you looking for in netting to increase your gate safety? Here are a few specifications to look for:

  1. Spacing – Spacing of the pattern should not be any more than 2 ¼”
  2. UV Protection – UV protection is highly recommended so you don’t need to change out the netting every year
  3. Strength – You will want a netting that is durable and cannot be torn easily
An up close view of netting installed on a sliding gate

When installing the netting, remember to tie or attach the netting so it will not get caught on anything or get ripped off as the gate is in motion. You want to keep the netting out of the way of the rollers, gap fillers, or any safety devices. Choosing the right netting can be challenging to ensure the visibility and strength meet your standards, but with a little research of your options, this can easily be accomplished.