"Dsorgnzd" wrote in message news:5QwQa.11064$o54.3500@lakeread05...
"Cox SMTP central" wrote in message
.. .
Does anyone have a solution to center mount a garage opener for a 17' x
7'
garage door where the distance from the front wall of the garage is 8' -
4"
from a steel ceiling beam the runs the width of the garage? The garage
door
company has used a side mount chain drive opener for the past 10 years
since
the house was built and I have the following recurring problems with
this
type of setup.
- Side mount pulls on door unevenly and causes problem with
adjustment.
- Garage will only open within 10" of door opening because not
enough
pull clearance.
The door company has indicated going to a gear drive opener and still
having
it side mounted will improve the pull by about 6 inches, but I would
prefer
to get the opener to the center of the door. I have been told that it
is
not a good idea to cut into the beam. Any ideas - any new openers out
there?

I had a similar problem installing a Sears (Chamberlain?) chain drive garage
door opener. I cut the excess length off the opener's rail, moved the pulley
to the "new" end of the rail, then shortened the chain and the cable by an
appropriate amount. This shortened the entire unit enough to fit the space
I had available. BUT it is important to be sure that the altered opener has
enough travel to completely open the door. The rail will have to be long
enough to accomodate the height of the door, plus the length of the arm that
connects it to the traveler. So think long and hard before you go cutting
on the rail. You don't want the bottom of the door hanging down below the
opening.

At 8'4 from front to back the door would hang at least a foot
into the opening. Standard openers are approx 10' long so he
would need to cut approx 1'8 off of rail. The motor head is more
than a foot long, so the arm would run into the motor head before
the door got close to clearing the opening. A standard garage
door opener is made to open up to a 7'6 tall door. So yes you
can cut off up to6" (+/- 1") and still have a 7' door open
all the way.

Doordoc