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 Dearborn
Gate motor and opener repair in Dearborn usually runs $185 to $420 for a service call that fixes the problem then and there, and most of what our crew finds in this city comes down to two things: motors that were undersized for custom iron gates, and post footings that gave out after sixty years of Michigan freeze-thaw. We know Dearborn’s streets, from the brick bungalows south of Ford Road to the dense blocks of East Dearborn where ornamental iron gates outnumber chain-link ten to one. Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001 and still answers the phone himself. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get a live person, not a recording.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Dearborn’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
We’re a small, owner-operated gate shop, and the owner’s name is on every invoice. That means something in Dearborn, where neighbors talk and a bad job on a wrought-iron gate gets noticed by the whole block. Serving Dearborn has given our crew a very specific education: we’ve learned which cast-iron scroll patterns are common in ZIP 48126, which older operators can be retrofitted safely, and which ones aren’t worth another dollar. On a service call on a street off Warren Avenue, the problem is rarely just the motor. It’s the motor plus the footing plus the hinge geometry, and we fix all three.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back. No runaround, no “that’s not covered” hedge. We also answer the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not a voicemail. Not a dispatch queue. A person who knows gates.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Dearborn
We work on everything from a small Ghost Controls swing opener on a Ford Road bungalow to a Viking slide motor on a Michigan Avenue commercial lot. Our Gate Motor & Opener team handles the full range, but in Dearborn we spend most of our time on the heavy, complicated jobs that other companies pass on.
Motor Repair
Motor repair is the bread and butter of our Dearborn work, and most of it traces back to one root cause: the motor was installed when the gate was wood or chain-link, then the owner upgraded to a custom iron gate without upsizing the operator. The extra weight taxes the capacitor, overheats the windings, and eventually the motor quits. We diagnose in the driveway, with the gate still mounted, and we only replace what actually failed. Hal doesn’t swap parts that don’t need swapping.
Linear Motor
Linear motors, where the arm pushes and pulls the gate leaf directly, are common on Dearborn’s swing gates, especially the heavy arch-top iron gates in East Dearborn. The failure pattern is consistent: road salt from Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road works its way into the motor housing, corroding the limit switches and terminals. We carry the seals, switches, and replacement motors for Linear, FAAC, and Viking units, and we can typically repair a salt-damaged linear arm the same trip rather than ordering parts and coming back twice.
Slide Motor
Slide motors in Dearborn bind in winter more than anywhere else we work. Frost heave tilts the rail mounts and the rack, and a slide gate that ran smooth in August will stall and reverse in February. The fix isn’t always just the motor. It’s releveling the rail, resetting the rack teeth, and sometimes pouring new concrete pads to float above the frost line. We do the pad work ourselves; we don’t call a sub.
Battery Backup
Dearborn loses power in summer thunderstorms and winter ice storms, and a gate without battery backup becomes a dead weight you have to muscle open by hand. We install battery backup on existing operators, including LiftMaster, Ghost Controls, and BFT units, so the gate keeps working when the lights don’t. In Dearborn, a surprising number of pre-2010 operators have no backup circuit at all, and retrofitting one is straightforward work that pays off the first time the power drops.
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 Dearborn
We service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule, and we’ve certified on all nine. Three brands show up constantly in Dearborn: Linear on the older bungalow swing gates, Viking on commercial slide applications along Michigan Avenue, and Ghost Controls on DIY-style residential gates that got installed without love. We stock common Linear arm assemblies and Viking limit switches locally, so Dearborn jobs don’t wait three days on a shipping truck. If the part is sitting at one of the local metal shops off Michigan Avenue, we know it before we quote it.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Dearborn Homes
- Worn post footings cracking under freeze-thaw. Dearborn’s 1940s and 1950s bungalows sit on concrete gate-post footings poured for 60-pound wood gates, not 400-pound iron ones. Southeast Michigan sees 40-plus freeze-thaw cycles a year, and those footings crack, tilt, and bind the operator.
- Salt corrosion on motor terminals and limit switches. Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road get heavy road salt six months a year. The airborne salt fog eats exposed iron and steel on gate components, and we regularly see limit switches caked with green corrosion on gates within a half mile of either corridor.
- Operators that predate UL 325 entrapment standards. Older Dearborn gates were hung before safety photocells were required. The motors may still run, but the safety edges and sensors are missing or dead, and that is not something to ignore, especially with kids and pets around. We will not leave a gate that violates safety standards without flagging it and quoting the correction.
- Undersized motors straining under custom iron gates. ZIP 48126 has one of the highest concentrations of heavy ornamental wrought-iron gates in the Midwest, many hung with operators sized for lighter gates. The mismatch causes chronic strain, burnt capacitors, and motors that fail right when you need them.
A note on safety: gate motors hold tension, the swing arms carry hundreds of pounds, and the electrical wiring runs line voltage. If your Dearborn gate is stalling, sparking, or forcing itself closed, step back and call us. Do not open the motor housing with the unit live. This is not a weekend project.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Dearborn, MI
A typical motor repair in Dearborn runs $185 to $420 depending on whether the capacitor, the limit switch, or the whole motor needs replacement. Installing a new operator for a standard residential swing gate runs $650 to $1,100, and a heavier wrought-iron gate in 48126 may need a heavier-duty $1,200 to $1,800 unit because the standard residential gear simply wasn’t made for that weight. Slide motor service on a Dearborn commercial rail runs $400 to $900 including pad leveling. Battery backup installation adds $250 to $500 on an existing operator.
No trip charge inside the county. $40 off any repair over $200. Free second opinion on any written estimate from another company, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. We quote the price before any work starts, and the price is the price. Call (877) 610-2993 for a written estimate, or drive to the shop and look Hal in the eye.
We Also Serve Cities Near Dearborn
Our Dearborn crew covers the neighborhoods on both sides of town, and we also run gates in Melvindale, Garden City, Allen Park, and River Rouge. If you’re a mile outside the Dearborn line, you’re still inside our service area, and you still get the same 24/7 live phone answer and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving Dearborn, MI - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Dearborn 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 Dearborn
Yes, almost certainly. The motor was sized for the original gate’s weight, and a custom wrought-iron gate in Dearborn can weigh three to five times more. The motor will strain, overheat, and burn out the capacitor. We can look at the operator’s tag, weigh the gate, and tell you exactly what size motor you need. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll quote it for free.
Frost heave. Dearborn’s clay-heavy soil freezes and expands, lifting the rail mounts unevenly so the gate binds on the rack and stalls. The fix is releveling the rail and mounts above the frost line, and sometimes repouring the concrete pads. We handle the concrete work ourselves. Call for a free site look before next winter sets in.
Yes, on most LiftMaster residential swing and slide operators from the last 15 years, you can add a battery backup kit that keeps the gate cycling through a power outage. If your operator is older, we may need to replace the control board first. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll check the model number over the phone.
Stand on one side and interrupt the beam with your hand between the two photocell posts; if the gate doesn’t stop or reverse, the photocell is likely dead or misaligned. On Dearborn gates with pre-UL 325 operators, the photocell may have been removed entirely. We check every photocell on every service call and will quote the correction if it’s failed.
The motor may be fine. A sagging iron gate in 48126 almost always means the hinge post footing has cracked or the hinges themselves have worn. The operator works harder to push a misaligned gate, which looks like a motor problem but isn’t. Our fix is structural first: we weld and reinforce the hinges on site, reset the post if needed, and then assess whether the motor was damaged by the extra strain. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate in Dearborn
If your Dearborn gate motor is failing, stalling, or dead, call Hal at (877) 610-2993. A live person answers 24/7, the price is quoted before any work starts, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every job. Gatewood Fence & Gate has been fixing gates since 2001, and the name is on the shop.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Dearborn since 2001.