Free on-site gate assessment - hinges, posts, and your LiftMaster or Nice gate operator checked before anything is quoted
The assessment is free and the quote is the invoice.
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Motor & Opener Across Kennedale
A gate motor in Kennedale takes a beating from two things: the black clay soil that shifts under your posts, and the fact that half the gates out here are heavier than anything you’ll find in Arlington. A typical gate motor repair in Kennedale runs $180-$340 for common failures like stripped gears, dead capacitors, or burnt control boards. Full motor replacement on a long-driveway slide gate usually lands between $900 and $1,800 depending on the gate’s weight and the operator brand. Call (817) 241-4067 and you’ll get Hal or someone from his crew, not a voicemail.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Kennedale’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and his name is on the shop and every invoice. That matters in a place like Kennedale, where word travels down Mansfield Cardinal Road and New Hope Road faster than any ad campaign. When a motor fails on Sonora Drive or a slide gate binds on Kennedale Parkway, people want the person who shows up to know the difference between a rack-and-pinion operator on a ranch pipe gate and a linear motor on a custom ornamental entry. That person is Hal or one of his background-checked, uniformed crew members, every time.
We answer the phone around the clock. Not a voicemail, not a call center three states away. A live person, 24/7. And every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not done right, we make it right, one call brings us back, no runaround. That’s how we’ve kept our reputation in Kennedale and across Tarrant County for over 29 years of combined service history. Hal’s license number is published, his address is published, and he’s not passing through. Our Gate Motor & Opener team crews serve Kennedale locally, coordinated from our Dallas-Fort Worth office.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Kennedale
A gate motor is not one-size-fits-all. A slide gate on a half-acre lot in a 1980s brick ranch needs something different than a heavy ornamental swing gate on a custom estate near Comanche Peak. We handle every type of operator, and we stock parts for the brands Kennedale homeowners actually have.
Motor Installation
When a Kennedale homeowner builds a new custom home or finally automates a manual gate that’s been there since the 1990s, we install the operator that fits the gate’s actual weight and use pattern. We don’t under-spec a motor to save a buck, and we don’t over-sell you a commercial unit for a residential driveway. Installation includes a written price before any work starts, proper safety photocell alignment, and instruction on how the operator works. We add battery backup as standard on long-driveway properties because we know how often the power blinks out here.
Motor Repair
Most gate motor failures in Kennedale come down to a few things: a gear stripped by a gate that was binding, a capacitor that gave out after one too many summer heatwaves, or a control board fried by a power surge during a thunderstorm. Hal repairs what’s repairable. If a $45 capacitor fixes it, that’s what you pay for. If the motor’s genuinely done, we tell you straight and give you options, not a sales pitch. We service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule operators.
Linear Motor
Linear motors are the workhorse for long, heavy slide gates, which is why we see so many of them in Kennedale. Long driveways on acreage lots call for exactly this type of operator, and the failure mode is almost always the same: the gate binds, the motor keeps pulling, and the gear strips. That binding often starts at the post. A post that’s heaved two inches in the clay is enough to throw a rack-and-pinion gate off track. We correct the post before we replace the motor, or you’ll be calling us again next season.
Slide Motor
Slide gates are common on Kennedale properties because they handle long spans well and don’t swing into a driveway or a pasture. But slide operators are sensitive to track alignment. When expansive clay soil shifts a post, the rack and pinion starts grinding. When a hailstorm dents a panel, the gate catches. We check the entire run: post footings, track, rollers, rack, motor, and safety sensors. Fixing just the motor while the post is tilted is how you burn through a new operator in one season. Hal would rather do the whole job right the first time, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise covers it.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kennedale
We’re certified to service nine major gate motor brands, but in Kennedale we most often run into Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule on residential gates, with LiftMaster and FAAC on the higher-end custom estates. That matters because parts availability varies. We keep common capacitors, control boards, remotes, and photocells on the truck for these brands, so a service call to Kennedale doesn’t turn into a two-week wait for a part. If we don’t have it on hand, we know exactly where to get it fast, and we’ll tell you the timeline before we touch anything. Our Gate Motor & Opener in Kennedale work spans the whole city, from older ranch properties to new custom subdivisions.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Kennedale Homes
- Clay soil heaving posts in September and October. Tarrant County’s expansive black clay shrinks during summer drought, then swells when fall rains return. Gate posts tilt, rack-and-pinion slide gates jump track, and motors bind against misaligned safety sensors. We see this spike every year, and the fix starts at the post footing, not the motor.
- Power flickers killing under-spec operators on acreage lots. Kennedale’s long driveways run on overhead lines that drop power every time a storm rolls through. A swing gate motor without battery backup gets hit with repeated brownouts that burn control boards and capacitors. Battery backup is not an upgrade here; it’s a requirement if your gate is more than a hundred feet from the transformer.
- Old welded-pipe agricultural gates overloading new slide motors. A 40-year-old cattle gate with mismatched hinge pins and a sagging post weighs more than any modern residential operator was rated for. When someone bolts a new slide motor onto that gate without correcting the post and re-fitting the hinges, the gears strip within a season. We see this on ranch properties and mixed-zoning roads throughout Kennedale.
- Hailstorm damage to panels, keypads, and photocells. DFW-corridor hailstorms dent aluminum and thin steel gate panels, and the impact can knock a safety photocell out of alignment or crack a keypad housing. After a bad storm, we run a lot of calls where the operator is actually fine, but the safety edge or the sensor is not. We check the whole gate, not just the motor.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Kennedale, TX
| Service | Typical Kennedale Range |
|---|---|
| Motor repair (capacitor, gear, board) | $180 - $340 |
| Full slide or swing motor replacement | $900 - $1,800 |
| Battery backup installation (add-on) | $250 - $550 |
| Intercom integration with existing operator | $400 - $900 |
| Safety photocell replacement and realignment | $150 - $300 |
The biggest factors are gate weight, operator brand, and whether the post is still plumb. A light single swing gate with a Mighty Mule motor runs on the low end. A heavy custom ornamental slide gate with an Elite operator and a post that needs correction runs higher, and we’ll explain exactly where the money goes in the written quote. Every job gets the price locked in before we start, no trip charge inside Tarrant County, and $40 off any repair over $200. Call (817) 241-4067 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kennedale
Hal’s crew covers Kennedale and the surrounding area, including Arlington, Fort Worth, Haltom City, and Hurst. If you’re just outside the Kennedale city limits, call us, and we’ll tell you straight whether there’s a trip charge (inside Tarrant County there isn’t one).
Serving Kennedale, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kennedale area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Gate Motor & Opener in Kennedale
Why do my gate posts in Kennedale shift so much in the fall, and how does that affect my slide gate operator?
Kennedale sits on expansive black clay soil that shrinks during the hot, dry summer and swells when the September and October rains arrive. That cycle heaves post footings, which tilts the gate frame, which makes a slide gate’s rack and pinion bind or jump track, which strips the motor’s gears. The fix is correcting the post footing, not just replacing the motor. If your gate is grinding or stalling after a drought break, call (817) 241-4067 - estimates are free.
Can you replace the motor on a heavy ranch pipe gate with non-standard hinges near Kennedale’s mixed zoning areas?
Yes, and we do it regularly. Kennedale’s blend of ranch properties and new subdivisions means we encounter decades-old welded-pipe gates with mismatched hinge pins and creosote posts that no off-the-shelf hinge fits. We weld on site, in your driveway, so the gate doesn’t leave your property. Hal will re-hang the gate properly before installing the new motor, because bolting an operator onto a sagging pipe gate is a guaranteed callback. We carry on-site welding gear on every Kennedale service run.
What’s the right battery backup for a long-driveway gate in Kennedale where power blinks during storms?
For a long driveway on overhead lines, you need a battery backup sized to run the full open-close cycle at least 30 times, not just a couple of standby hours. We install sealed lead-acid or lithium backups that automatically take over when the utility feed dips, which prevents the brownout damage that kills control boards. If your gate is more than 400 feet from the transformer, we’ll recommend a heavier backup capacity and explain why in the quote.
How do I integrate a new intercom with an existing gate operator on my custom ornamental gate near Comanche Peak?
Most modern operators from DoorKing, Elite, and LiftMaster can integrate with either a wired intercom or a cellular-based video intercom system, as long as the operator has an open dry-contact or relay input. For an estate-style ornamental gate near Comanche Peak, we run the intercom wiring through the same conduit as the operator power, configure the relay output to trigger the gate’s command input, and test the audio path end to end. We recently did exactly this job on a long-driveway estate, running a LiftMaster heavy-duty linear motor with battery backup and full intercom integration so the owner could open from the house without a fob. Call us and we’ll look at what’s on your gate now and tell you what’s compatible.
My old slide gate operator is ignoring the keypad after a hailstorm - what typically fails here?
Most often the keypad housing cracked and let water into the board, or the hail impact knocked the photocell out of alignment, which locks the operator out for safety. We test the keypad first, then the photocell, then the operator’s control board. In Kennedale after a bad storm, we usually find the operator is fine and the peripheral is the problem, which is a cheaper fix than a motor replacement. We’ll tell you what’s actually broken before we quote anything.
Call Hal for Gate Motor & Opener Work in Kennedale
If your gate motor is grinding, dead, or just making a noise it didn’t make last week, call (817) 241-4067. You’ll get a live person, an honest diagnosis, and a written price before any work starts. Free estimates, no trip charge inside Tarrant County, $40 off any repair over $200, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Hal’s been fixing gates since 2001, his name’s on the shop, and he means it when he says the 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Kennedale and the surrounding area with on-site welding and gate motor repair since 2001.