Automatic Gates: Drive Price and Installation

Two main types: sliding and swing gates. Each takes its own drive: a sliding gate needs one drive with a gear rack, swing gates take a drive per leaf.

Importantly, automation also fits gates that are already in place — the leaf itself need not be replaced. The drive is selected by the mass of the leaf, its width and its sail area, and for swing gates by the arm length as well.

The main factor is gate weight and duty cycle. In the catalogue, swing-gate automation is represented by ZKTeco kits: the ZK-SW400DC at 5 939 900 UZS and the ZK-SW300DC at 6 186 900 UZS. Heavy steel gates and busy entrances need a higher-class drive. Catalogue prices as of September 2026, installation not included.

The kit includes remotes, photocells (safety), a signal lamp and installation besides the drive. Phone opening and access-control integration are options.

At a company entrance automatic gates work with a barrier and access control: authorised vehicles enter by whitelist, and with plate recognition (ANPR) the guard presses nothing.

Busy entrances take industrial-grade drives rated for hundreds of cycles a day and for long continuous operation without overheating.

Gate automation work follows a fixed order: the embedded plate or pad for the drive, the power supply, mounting the drive and the rack, fitting the photocells and the warning lamp, programming the remotes and setting the force with reverse. The last step is testing the manual release and a full open-close cycle.

The quality of the installation is checked separately: the straightness of the rack on sliding gates, the alignment of the arm on swing gates, the rigidity of the photocell mounts and their height — at bumper level, not knee level. Mistakes at this stage show up later as spontaneous reversals and a worn drive gear.

The main mistake is a drive sized "just enough" for the leaf's weight and width: a solid panel sails in the wind, and a weak motor on a wide leaf lasts one season. The second is saving on safety: without photocells and force adjustment the gate will one day press on a car or a person, and the warning lamp promised "for later" never gets installed.

The third mistake is forgetting about winter: without a soft start the drive tears at a frozen leaf, and off-season grease thickens. A correctly assembled kit does the opposite: a drive with a force margin, a complete safety loop (photocells, force adjustment with reverse, a warning lamp) and winter modes configured during installation.

Drive life is measured in cycles: a domestic model is rated for a few dozen openings a day, an intensive one for hundreds. A residential drive fitted to a courtyard entrance overheats and fails within one or two seasons.

Every six months the chain or belt tension, gearbox lubrication, rack fixing and photocell cleanliness are checked: dusty lenses trigger spontaneous reversal. The gate mechanics, rollers and hinges, are serviced together with the automation.

Spare parts availability is a separate question. For brands common in Uzbekistan the control board, limit switches and remotes are held by suppliers and a part is found quickly; for rare models it can take weeks. This is worth clarifying before buying: the lead time on a control board is what really determines how long an entrance stands idle.