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 Cohasset
Gate motor and opener repair in Cohasset usually runs between $240 and $680 depending on whether we’re replacing a control board, resetting a post, or installing a new operator. Most calls in the 02025 ZIP get same-day or next-morning service because we know the peninsula roads and the estate properties along them. That number comes from years of pulling salt-corroded operators off gates from Beach Street to Jerusalem Road. If your gate stopped moving last night, call Hal Gatewood at (877) 610-2993 and a live person answers, around the clock.
We handle Motor Installation, Motor Repair, Linear Motors, Slide Motors, Intercom Integration, and Battery Backup for homes across Cohasset. The corrosive salt air coming off Massachusetts Bay changes how every one of those jobs gets done here.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Cohasset’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
Hal Gatewood has been running Gatewood Fence & Gate since 2001, and the salty wind off Massachusetts Bay has been throwing curveballs at Cohasset gates that whole time. The company is owner-operated. The name is on the shop and on every invoice, and the address is published where anyone can look it up. That matters in a town like Cohasset, where families have passed houses down for generations and word travels fast when a contractor does sloppy work.
We answer our own phone. Always. A live person picks up at 2 a.m. just like at 2 p.m., because a gate stuck open on a coastal road at night is a different problem than a gate stuck open in an inland subdivision. We show up in Cohasset with background-checked, uniformed crew members in marked vehicles, and we stand behind every job with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, one call brings us back. No runaround.
Our Gate Motor & Opener team works on gates along the harbor, up through Beechwood, and out past the village toward Scituate. We know which properties on Jerusalem Road have 40-year-old estate gates, which ones picked up UL 325 requirements during a retrofit, and which ones have operators that corroded from the inside long before the outer housing showed any rust.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Cohasset
Motor Repair
Most Cohasset motor repairs are not motor failures. They are control-board failures caused by salt-laden air seeping through housing seams and sitting on circuit boards for years. A gate that “just stopped working” on a dry, sunny day usually has a board on the inside that looks like it was parked under a pier. We diagnose this in your driveway, show you what we found, and replace only what actually failed. We do not sell you a whole new operator because a twenty-dollar capacitor gave out. If the board is toast, we replace it with marine-grade components that can stand up to the air coming off the bay.
Linear Motor Service
Linear motors run a lot of the modern slide gates in Cohasset’s newer estate builds, and they are not immune to the salt problem. The rack and pinion mechanism picks up salt grit from the coastal air, and that grit embeds in the teeth. Over time it strips gears and trips the safety photocells for no apparent reason. We clean, lube, and align linear drives the right way, using marine grease that does not wash out in a nor’easter. If the rack is too far gone, we weld a new section on site and get the gate sliding true again.
Slide Motor
Slide gates are common in Cohasset where driveways cut across slopes or where a swing gate would swing into bad weather. The problem on the coast is that slide gates have more moving contact points than swing gates, and every one of those points takes a beating from airborne salt. We reset slide tracks, replace worn rollers, re-tension chains, and swap out operators that have lost their battle with the bay. A slide gate that grinds is a slide gate about to strand you halfway across your own driveway.
Motor Installation
When you need a new operator for an existing Cohasset gate, we measure the gate’s weight, cycle count, and exposure before recommending anything. A gate on the harbor side of Jerusalem Road needs different hardware than a gate tucked behind a hedgerow near the high school. We quote a firm price before we start, and the price is the price. No surprise at the end. We also handle the wiring, safety edges, photocells, and any intercom integration your property needs. If the old post is rotted or leaning, we reset it below the 48-inch frost line first. There is no point bolting a new motor to a post that will heave in March.
What happens when you call
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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 Cohasset
We are certified to service nine major gate brands, and Cohasset homes tend to run three of them more than any others: Linear, DoorKing, and Viking. We stock parts for those locally, which means we are not waiting on a distributor in another state when your board fails. LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Ghost Controls, Elite, and Mighty Mule round out the brands we carry parts for and service regularly. If your operator came from a company that no longer makes it, we can typically retrofit a current board into the housing and keep the rest of the gate working. Hal welds on site, so metal repairs happen in the driveway, not back at a shop.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Cohasset Homes
- Sudden dead operator with no visible rust. Salt air from Massachusetts Bay infiltrates motor housings and circuit boards long before external rust shows. The board inside looks like a science experiment. That is Cohasset’s signature failure mode. We see it weekly.
- Gate binding in late winter after the fall greasing. Freeze-thaw cycles heave post footings poured above the 48-inch frost line. Every March, swing gates on harbor-side properties start dragging because the hinge post leaned half an inch. We reset the post deep and the problem stays fixed.
- Slide gate grinding and tripping photocells. Salt grit embeds in rack and pinion teeth on slide gates. The gears strip, the gate shudders, and the safety sensors trip even when nothing is in the way. This shows up most on gates near the water but happens all over Cohasset because the salt fog covers the whole peninsula.
- Older estate gates predating UL 325 entrapment rules. Cohasset has dozens of wrought iron and custom cedar gates hung decades before modern safety requirements existed. The operator may work, but the safety edges, photocells, and force settings are often missing or bypassed. We can retrofit current entrapment protection without tearing out a gate that has been on the property for generations.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Cohasset, MA
A gate motor repair in Cohasset typically lands between $240 and $680. That range covers a failing capacitor or limit switch on the low end, up to a full control-board replacement on a salt-damaged operator. Motor installation runs higher: $950 to $2,800 depending on gate weight, access, wiring runs, and whether we are resetting a post or retrofitting safety gear. Slide motor work adds $300 to $900 on top of the base repair when the rack and pinion need attention.
What moves the price most in Cohasset is corrosion. A gate that looks fine on the outside but has a salt-eaten board inside costs more than a quick hinge adjustment. That is why we always open the housing and show you exactly what we found before quoting a repair. And every price is quoted and agreed before work starts. You will know the number before we turn a wrench.
We keep it simple on cost: $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate and Hal will give you the real number for your gate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Cohasset
Our Gate Motor & Opener in Cohasset crew regularly runs up the coast to North Scituate and Scituate, and inland to Hingham and Hull. The salt-air lessons we learn on the bay apply everywhere along this stretch of the South Shore. If you are just outside the 02025 ZIP, call and ask. If it is within reach, we will be there.
Serving Cohasset, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Cohasset 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 Cohasset
Because Cohasset’s gate motors fail from the inside out. Salt-laden air from Massachusetts Bay seeps through housing seams and sits on the control board, corroding contacts and traces months before any rust appears on the outside. A gate that looks clean can have a board inside that has already gone. We open the housing, show you the damage, and replace the board with a marine-grade unit. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will come take a look.
Every 12 months minimum, and twice a year is smarter if the gate faces the water directly. The salt fog on Jerusalem Road gets into motor housings, hinge pins, and rack and pinion mechanisms constantly. An annual service call where we open the housing, clean the board, re-lube with marine grease, and check post alignment will add years to an operator that would otherwise fail without warning. The gates that get serviced on schedule are rarely the gates we get called about at 11 p.m.
Yes, but only if the retrofit adds the same entrapment protection as a modern installation: photocells, safety edges, proper force settings, and audible alarms where required. We have retrofitted dozens of older Cohasset estate gates to meet current UL 325 standards without tearing out the original iron or cedar. The key is doing the safety work correctly the first time, because a wrong retrofit is worse than no retrofit. We quote it upfront and stand behind it with the 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Because the hinge post is moving. Cohasset’s freeze-thaw cycles heave any post footing that was not poured below the 48-inch frost line. When the ground freezes and thaws through the winter, a shallow post shifts just enough to throw the gate out of alignment, and greasing the hinges does nothing because the post itself is leaning. We reset the post below the frost line and the binding stops permanently. If your gate binds every March, the grease was never the issue.
Barely, and most of them do not. Cohasset gets short winter days, heavy cloud cover, and nor’easter winds that stress motors already running on reduced solar charge. A solar operator that works in July will struggle by January, especially on a gate that cycles frequently. The honest answer is that most Cohasset gates need a hardwired operator or a solar setup with a substantial battery backup and a panel angled for winter sun. We can wire it either way and tell you which will actually hold up before you spend the money. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will walk the site with you.
One more thing worth knowing about Cohasset specifically. Our crew recently pulled a LiftMaster operator off a sagging wrought-iron estate gate on Jerusalem Road where the rack and pinion had seized from salt buildup. The hinge post was also leaning from a shallow footing, so we reset it below the 48-inch frost line before installing a new motor with stainless-steel fasteners and a marine-grade control board. That gate is still running properly because we fixed the post first. Fix the panel without the post and you will fix it twice. Show us a gate closing on its own, and we will show you where it is failing.
If your gate is stuck, slow, grinding, or dead, call Gatewood Fence & Gate at (877) 610-2993. A live person answers, we schedule a free estimate, and the price is quoted and agreed before any work starts. Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That is the oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Cohasset since 2001.