Automatic Gates: Sliding, Swing or Sectional

Sliding gates travel along the fence and need no swing clearance — a snowdrift before the entrance does not bother them either. The price: a straight fence run of about one and a half opening widths for the travel. Swing gates are simpler and cheaper, but the leaves need space, and in winter that space needs clearing.

Sectional doors are the garage answer: the panel goes up under the ceiling, taking no room in front or inside. Roller gates coil into a compact box and save the day where there is neither room along the fence nor height for tracks. The type is dictated by the geometry of the opening and the plot, not by preference: with no room for the leaf to slide, a sliding gate simply cannot be fitted, however appealing it looks.

The drive is sized with a margin, not "just enough". For sliding gates the panel mass matters; for swing gates, the leaf length and windage: solid profiled sheet catches wind like a sail, and a weak drive on a wide leaf lasts one season. Duty cycle is separate: a home entrance runs fine on a residential drive, while a housing estate or factory gate needs an intensive one rated for hundreds of cycles a day.

The winter package is not marketing: a soft start so the drive does not tear a frozen leaf, and grease that works in frost. It is configured at installation and noticeably extends the life of the mechanics.

The mandatory safety minimum: photocells that stop the leaf at an obstacle, a warning lamp, and force adjustment with reverse — a gate must never squeeze a car or a person. Manual release for power cuts is obligatory: you open the gate with a key without dismantling the drive.

There are several ways to control a gate: remotes, a GSM module that opens on a call, an app, a guard's button. At enterprise and residential entrances plate recognition is added to the automation: listed cars enter without stopping, guests open by call, and every entry is logged with a snapshot.

Existing gates can usually be automated without replacing the leaf: a drive, photocells and a warning lamp are fitted to what is already there. There is one condition — sound mechanics: rollers, hinges and the geometry of the leaf. If the leaf jams by hand, a drive will not cure that, it will only speed up the wear: the mechanics are put right first, the automation second.

The price is built from the gate type, the drive class and the control method. A complete new set costs severalfold more than automating existing gates — and lasts longer when sized properly. As a reference point for swing-gate automation, the catalogue lists the ZKTeco ZK-SW300DC kit at 6 186 900 UZS and the ZK-SW400DC at 5 939 900 UZS. That is the equipment price as of September 2026, installation not included.

During a power cut the drive must release by key within seconds — check that the emergency disengagement is reachable from outside, not only from the yard. For a busy entrance a backup power unit pays off: it holds dozens of cycles and removes the question of getting out during peak hours.

Twice a year: retighten the fixings, grease the rollers and clean dust off the photocells. In summer a film of dust on the lens causes false triggers and the leaf stops halfway.