Planning new garage - sliding door tracks

[HoggyN]

I'm in the process of drawing up plans for a new garage and I want to use a pair of sliding doors. The doors are going to be timber and around 14' wide by 7' high. I also want them to slide on the bottom, not the top. The trouble is that I can't seem to find anyone who can supply a suitable track. I've seen a couple of likely candidates but, on further reading, discovered that the track is only 21 mm wide.

For example...

I suspect that I will need something a bit beefier than that.

Can anybody point me in the right direction?

[muddy]

Why not just use C section with rubber wheels sat in it? It will also act as a drain then.

Will.

[daveturnbull]

Only 7' high? I'd try and push that up a bit of you can.

C-section sounds like as good a plan as any.

[HoggyN]

Thanks,

The only problem with C section that I can see, is that I would need to know exactly where to put it at the slab pouring stage. i was leaning towards an inverted tee because I can position it fairly late in the build when I know where everything is in reality, rather than where it ought to be according to the plans.

7' does sound a bit low now I think about it. Hmmmm.

[Bowie69]

My only experience of sliding doors is not being able to open them due to crud in the workings.

[landroversforever]

My only experience of sliding doors is not being able to open them due to crud in the workings.

This.

You'll have less problems with a upside down T shape to guide it than a channel which fills up with crud.

With sliding doors, I can't see how you'll make them slide on the bottom? Normally the bottom is just a guide as the top supports the door. What is going to hold the top of the door against the building? You'll have to have something up there.

[crclifford]

Why not have a look at bottom hung sliding doors and see how they work the top issue out.

I think for it to work on an inverted t, you will need to rebate a wheel in the bottom of the door for it to roll along the inverted t. You will then need to have a hanger with another wheel on it for it to roll along the top guide.

Now I think about it the top or bottom hung, just means where the weight of the door rests. A top hung door will have a roller at the bottom but the weight taken at the top. Vice versa for a bottom hung door.

[garymorris]

You want to have a sliding door track at the top and have a guide at the bottom if you fit a bottom track it will get full of $hit , complete waste of time.

Ellard sliding door gear is quite good , I use quite a bit of it on the buildings I manufacture & erect .

I'm sorry I can't explain the guide at the bottom better , I could draw it better

[garymorris]

http://www.ellard.co.uk/pages/sliding_door_gear.php?product=sdg_gear

Have a look at this and if I get a mo I'll sketch what I mean about the guides

[robertspark]

You could use sliding gate rollers on a bit of tube (or rod) welded to something else for stability + inserted / cast into the concrete floor (no crud accumulation issue then) + they come in different sizes (my local steel stockholder has a load, given I guess a lot of the steel he sells is probably for gate making?)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/sliding-Gate-wheel-pulley-wheel-40mm-round-groove-steel-wheel-with-bearing-R-U-/320986475314?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4abc48eb32

the only bit that you need to maybe think about a little more is security, given a shovel (or pickaxe), you can probably lift the door off the track.....

... or these that will run on angle iron.... hence you could cast a C section into the floor for strength, then weld an angle iron on the top.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60-80-90mm-V-Groove-steel-pulley-wheel-for-slide-gate-angle-bar-Bearing-/161011184587?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item257d03b3cb

hopefully they give you some ideas

[Cynic-al]

Our gates at work are a bit of steel cast into the concrete with a bit of stainless bar welded to the top. You can buy the wheels to go out it. The top is supported with a roller in front and behind to stop it falling over. There's a keep at either end to stop the gate being lifted off.

I would make sure they can't be lifted off, traditionally they're not that secure.

[HoggyN]

Thanks.

The crud in the guide problem was another reason I didn't want it recessed. It's difficult for crud to block up a surface mounted Tee section. I looked at top hung but then the track has to be supported and it seemed easier to have the weight of the door taken by a track resting on the slab. Also, from what I have read, bottom hung/supported are easier to seal.

I think I can handle the security issue with with locking pins removable only from inside. There will be a separate lockable access door.

[studmuffin]

Some years ago I looked at making sliding composite stable doors, and most of the opposition were using pre-made rollers and track from manufactures like PC Henderson. From memory I think their head office is in Bowburn, Co Durham

Barry

[Ed Poore]

Rather than an inverted T could you go for something like a triangle shape resting on the floor (thinking a bit of angle bracket with both edges on the concrete).

Given this is a Land Rover forum you could perhaps use some old bushes from the tops of a Defender's dampers as the rollers. Depending on the profile I imagine it would be easier to drive over - how were you planning on that with the T shaped rollers?

Edited March 8, 2015 by Ed Poore

[Cynic-al]

What about belt tensioner? They are usually a vee shape with a bearing in. I bet they would run ok on a round track.

[HoggyN]

I was hoping to get a very shallow tee guide with grooved rollers.

I had thought of just using an inverted length of angle but I'm going around in circles on this because I can't see me pulling a loaded engine crane over a raised guide. Perhaps a channel would be the better option although positioning it before the garage is up is going to take some thought, as is sorting drainage.

[ballcock]

Could you set the wheels in form the edge of the door half the width of the engine crane with a little clearance and leave the centre out of your guide? Assuming your using two seven foot doors to make up the fourteen foot width.

[muddy]

I was thinking of using large channel with fairly large tyres that would run over normal carp and Muck in the channel and you could hose or pressure wash the channel clean every now and again.

Will.

[FridgeFreezer]

Shame you don't want a top runner version as I've got a load of parts to do that.

[LiftedDisco]

We use Henderson gear to hang 10m high doors for salt barns - each door leaf is 10.6m tall x 3m in width. Typically the doors are retained to either side using channel (door slides into the surface mounted channel on opening) but this system leaves the actual door aperture clear for vehicle access or, in your case, the engine crane.

Security on a salt barn is not generally an issue - we fit shoot bolts on the inside to drop down into the concrete slab and then exit the barn using a personnel door... I assume you can do the same.

These people may also be able to help: www.runners-uk.com

They seem to offer all sorts of suitable stuff including some useful looking folding door systems that I have planned for a couple of projects.

Hope this helps - the Henderson stuff we use above can all be fitted after the building is in place; the only issue is getting the header in the right place (height-wise) and level...

Good luck!

[ian_s]

I had thought of just using an inverted length of angle but I'm going around in circles on this because I can't see me pulling a loaded engine crane over a raised guide.

make the track removable, for those rare times you need it.

drill some holes down into the floor, and weld some round bar to the inside of the inverted V so that it slides down into the holes. once the doors are closed the track wont be able to move, but once open there will be nothing by gravity holding it place.