Slide gates for openings where a swing leaf has nowhere to go
A cantilever gate carries its own weight on roller trucks and never touches the drive — no track to fill with sand, ice, or gravel, and nothing to seize in February.
- Typical opening
- 12–40 ft
- Leaf weight
- to 2,000 lb
- Duty rating
- Class III–IV
How it works on a commercial site
Most commercial sites do not have the twenty feet of clear side room a swing gate needs, and they do not have a drive flat enough for a ground-track roller. Cantilever solves both. The gate hangs from trucks mounted on posts beside the opening and cantilevers across it, carrying its own weight the whole way.
The trade-off is footprint: a cantilever needs a counterbalance tail roughly half the length of the opening, running back along the fence line. We measure that first, because if the tail does not fit, the honest answer is a different gate — and we will tell you that at the survey rather than after the concrete is poured.
- No ground track to jam with ice, sand, or debris
- Spans grades and drainage swales a roller gate cannot
- Counterbalance tail sized to the opening at survey
- Posts set below frost line on engineered footings
- Operator sized to leaf weight and cycle count, not guessed
Typical working range
| Clear opening | 12 ft to 40 ft single leaf; wider openings bi-parting |
|---|---|
| Leaf weight | Up to roughly 2,000 lb depending on truck and post selection |
| Counterbalance | Approximately 50% of clear opening, back along the fence line |
| Side room required | Clear opening + counterbalance + operator pad |
| Infill | Chain link, welded mesh, ornamental picket, louvered or solid privacy |
| Operator class | UL 325 Class III (industrial) or Class IV (restricted access) |
| Typical cycle rate | Up to several hundred cycles per day with Class IV hardware |
| Frost footings | Below 48 in. in most of our service area |
Ranges are typical, not limits. Final sizing comes off the site survey — opening width, grade, wind load, expected cycles per day, and the class of the operator all move these numbers.
Common questions
How much room does a cantilever gate need beside the opening?
Roughly the clear opening plus half again, running back along the fence line, plus a pad for the operator. A 20 ft opening usually wants about 30 ft of run-back. We measure it at the survey before quoting.
Cantilever or roller — which is right for our site?
If the drive is dead flat, well drained, and you want the lowest cost, a ground-track roller works. If there is any grade, drainage, snow, or sand, cantilever is the gate that still opens in January. We will say which one your site actually needs.
Can you automate an existing slide gate?
Often yes. We check the leaf weight, frame condition, and truck wear first. If the gate is sound we size an operator to it and bring the safety devices up to UL 325. If it is not, we say so.
Need a gate that holds up to commercial duty?
We survey the opening, size the operator to the leaf, and hand you a written scope you can put out to bid.
Request a site survey
Send the opening width, the traffic it sees, and what the site has to do. Prefer to talk now? Ring (617) 501-7139 and you’ll reach a person, not a phone tree.
- No cost, no obligation, no pressure
- Written scope you can put out to bid or hand to a GC
- Most replies inside one business day