The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk GARAGE DOOR OPENERS - WHICH ONE TO BUY

WHICH BRAND IS THE BEST & WHY ..... :confused:
CHAIN, BELT OR SCREW TYPE

I GUESS I'M JUST GETTING OLD & NEED ONE TO LIFT THE DOOR FOR ME .......

Mine were made by Overhead Door--worked flawlessly since the early 1960's--chain type--grease em once a year.

I have the Genie screw drives put in my new house. It's been 6 years with no problems and man, are they quite. My old hose had a Sears chain drive. 13 years with no problems, other than the noise.

I installed Sears chain drive,they are OK by me.

I'd like to have one myself but the garage door is the only way into the garage so I don't trust them enough to put one on. If it broke or something there'd be no way to get in the garage. So I guess it's the old right arm garage door opener for me.

Had Apple Doors install a Chamberlain Belt Drive on the new home 2 years ago. Real quiet! Had both the chain drive as well as the screw drive on previous homes, but like the one I have now a lot better---real smooth operation.

Spend the extra money and get the best you can--the screw drives are the quietest, there's less slack, so they don't jerk the door around as much.

Hey 54GMC, there's a manual override if it breaks down, but they sure don't break often.

Has anyone tried the direct drive styles I am not sure what there called I saw them at menards they mount directly on the shaft of the door. they look like a good ideal but I dont know much about them was wondering if anyone had experience with them.

Dan,

I know they have a manual override but you have to be able to get in the garage to trip it. If the door's closed I couldn't get in to trip the manual override since the garage door is the only way in.

JIM CH,

ONE NIGHT I WAS SURFING THE WEB, I CAME ACROSS A DIRECT DRIVE LIKE WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT, THAT IS A NEAT IDEA, I WONDER IF IT IS ANY GOOD, BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND THAT WEBSITE AGAIN.

WITH Y'ALLS INPUT & OTHERS, LOOKS LIKE I WILL GO WITH THE SCREW TYPE.

NOT SURE WHICH BRAND YET .....

SANTA CAME DURING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND,

I WAS GONE OVER THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, SANTA AND SOME HELPER'S - BOUGHT & INSTALLED A 3/4HP SCREW TYPE CRAFTSMANS GARAGE DOOR OPENER WITH ALL THE GOODIES IT HAS TWO 100 WATT LIGHT BULB'S WITH A LIGHT CONTROLL.

WHEN I CAME HOME ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON I WENT OUT TO THE SHOP, WHEN I WALKED THRU THE DOOR SOME LIGHT'S CAME ON, THAT SURPRISED ME, WHEN I LOOKED UP I SAW IT WAS COMING FROM A GARAGE DOOR OPENER,
WITH A CARD HANGING ON IT.

FROM YOUR TRUCK BUDDIES .....

I WAS IN A VERY BAD WRECK THIS SUMMER AND I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AS BEFORE THE WRECK, THE DOCTORS
SAY I MIGHT GET BACK TO 50% OF WHERE I WAS. I CAN WALK FORWARDS CAN'T WALK BACKWARDS OR SIDESTEP.
THEY WILL CUT ON MY BACK AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. HAD A KNEE REPLACED, HAD MY SHOULDER REPAIRED, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO WITH MY RIGHT FOOT AT THIS TIME. BEEN OUT OF THE WHEEL CHAIR FOR ABOUT A MONTH. THAT SURE WAS A SPIRIT LIFTER, SPENT 17 WEEKS IN THAT CHAIR.

I KNOW THE LORD HAS A PLAN FOR ME, DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS ......

I GUESS HE DID NOT NEED A CLASSIC TRUCKER AT THE TIME OF THE WRECK ......

SEE YOUR DOWN THE ROAD ......

THANK YOU SANTA & YOUR HELPERS

DON :p

There is also an optional external lock you operate with a key. This also works the manual override in case of a power outage or non working opener.

Truckman,wow, sorry to hear about your accident,wish you the best!!! And don't always listen to those Doctors 10 years ago I fell 20 feet onto a concrete floor at a construction site, shattered my lower leg. The docs said I would not be able to work construction again and have a permanent limp.Well, I don't limp,hell, I can still dance like fool!!
On overhead door operators,I wire up commercial and industrial door operators,they are all chain drive. The best ones are made by Ranor,but that's heavy duty stuff, probabluy 3-5 times the cost of residential openers.

Well glad to hear of your good fortune truckman that was an awsom gift you must have been blessed with some really good friends.heres an ideal dont try to find out who did it . Just next time you have an oppurtunity to do something good for someone do it . Not implying you dont already do that just an ideal maybe youll bess those individuals maybe not. But the chances are pretty good if your faithfull to it.

I put in a new door on my garge this year, but I left it manual since I only park my bike in there. Anyway, it was one of the ones from Lowe's that can have a direct drive mounted to the spring. It looks like it would work well, but those direct drivers need a specific setup to operate on the door. Some older type of doors would not work with it. I installed it my self and it was actually quite easy. The spring has a little gear mechanism that you wind/adjust with a ratchet or drill and it's completely enclosed so its pretty safe.