Automatic Gate Motor Selection Guide

Gate motor failures are usually a sizing problem, not a quality problem -- a decent motor pushed beyond its rated capacity wears out fast regardless of brand. This guide walks through choosing the right motor before you buy.

Step 1: Sliding or swing?

	Sliding gate	Swing gate
Space needed	Clear run alongside the boundary, no swing radius needed	Clear swing radius in front of (or behind) the gate
Sloped driveways	Handles slopes better	Can struggle if the ground isn't level
Heavier gates	Generally easier to motorise at higher weights	Works well for lighter to medium gates
Appearance	Visible track and rollers	Can look more like a traditional gate, especially with an underground motor

Step 2: Weigh your actual gate

Motor capacity is rated by weight and, for sliding gates, length. This is the single most important number -- not the brand, not the price. If you don't know your gate's weight, a rough estimate (steel gate dimensions and material) or the fabricator's specification is enough to get a safe motor size. As real examples from currently available motors:

• A residential sliding gate up to 500kg suits a motor like the CENTURION D5-Evo
• A heavier sliding gate up to 1000kg needs a higher-capacity motor such as a CENTURION D10
• An industrial sliding gate up to 1800kg or beyond needs an industrial-grade motor such as a FAAC 844 or 950
• A single-leaf swing gate up to 500kg and 3m suits a motor like the CENTURION Nova

Always size up rather than down if your gate is close to a motor's rated limit -- running a motor at its absolute maximum daily shortens its lifespan considerably.

Step 3: Consider duty cycle

A residential gate might open and close a handful of times a day. A commercial gate with staff and visitor traffic can open dozens of times. Motors rated for light residential use can wear out quickly under commercial-level duty cycles -- if your gate will see heavy daily use, say so when getting a quote, since it affects which motor is actually appropriate, not just its weight rating.

Step 4: Check the safety features

• Obstruction detection -- the motor should stop or reverse if it meets resistance, rather than continuing to push
• Safety beams -- infrared beams across the gate opening to stop it closing on something or someone in the way
• Manual release -- every installation should include a way to open the gate by hand during a power outage or motor fault

Step 5: Plan for power

Consider whether the gate location has reliable grid power, or whether a solar trickle-charge panel makes sense to keep the motor's battery maintained without relying on mains electricity -- useful for gates far from the main supply or in outage-prone areas.