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Help needed; Hangar door advice.

S

Skyhook

Well Known Member
My hangar needs the door replaced and I am searching for the best door at the best price. The opening is 39' X 11' and I think what I need is a bi-fold type.

Any and all comments and suggestions would be appreciated.. especially from folks who have installed- or had doors installed for them- fairly recently.

Suggestions??
 
Hangar Door

I have a Hi-Fold door on my hangar. It's 36' x 13' but they build whatever size you need. They were much more reasonably priced (in 2001 anyway) than other door makers.
Their website is: http://www.hi-fold.com
Good Luck,
 
I built the bi-fold door on my first hangar in 1990. When I built my second hangar in 2003, I went with the hi-fold door and have not regretted it. They build a very nice door for a reasonable price.
Mel...DAR
 
We have a Wilson Bi-Fold door. They are made in Elkhorn, WI. We have a hangar home on Air Troy Estates. The door is high quality aluminum frame that can be clad with just about anything. We have redwood lap siding on ours to match the house. The door has worked flawlessly for 12 years. There is a remote control option, too.

Roberta
 
Question for Mel & Mike: Do either of your installations have the hydraulic feature? Know of any pros & cons for same??

Jim
 
Wilson has the motor and cable winch on the lower part of the door. In case of a power outage or motor failure, you can hand crank the door up or down.

Roberta
 
Hanger doors

Here are some more hanger door vendors.

My hanger has had an Aerolift door for nearly 20 yrs without problem; it is a very conventional overhead winch / bi-fold type door. No experience with hydraulic doors. My guess is that the who installs the door is about as important as anything else. I would check with others locally in your area to see what their experience has been

Warren
Crystal Minnesota (MIC)
=====================================================


Aerolift Door, Inc. ~ 800-747-1168

Hi-Fold Doors ~ 800-443-6536
http://www.hi-fold.com/

Hydroswing Overhead Doors ~ 507-423-6666
http://www.hi-fold.com/


Jacor Inc. ~ Aircraft hangar door weather seals ~ 262-898-1746
http://www.jacorinc.com/


Midland Bi-Fold Doors ~ 800-921-7008
http://www.midlandbifold.com/


Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors ~ 507-426-8273
http://www.schweissbi-folddoors.com/

Wilson Doors
http://www.wilsondoors.com/
 
hydraulic

182andhangardoorandhalfmoonhou.jpg


182andhangardoorandhalfmoonhou.jpg


182andhangardoorandhalfmoonhou1.jpg
 
Another Option

One other option is to use a Horton StackDoor.
No power needed and easy to open. The lower rollers are ball bearing races...
Doesn't open like the clunky airport rental ones... :)

Details here...

http://www.stackdoor.com/

This is mine.... The door is 49 ft. by 12 ft., and we installed it with two people in half a day.
Structurally, I prefer it, since there is not a ton or more of weight hanging from the cross beam.
It opens in a "conertina" fashion.
You do need the inset track option, otherwise you get a 1 inch metal angle sticking up above the floor... ideal to trip over.

N28478-outside-hangar-A.jpg


gil in Tucson ....
 
About the Stackdoor concept. I think the rails in the ground would cause serious problems during our icy/snowy winters.

I think, from what I see in the pic, gil, you don't have those problems. :D

There a few hangars in this area with the door sub-sections hanging on roller/pulley-type systems and sometimes the wind will pack even those with snow, which turns to ice, which locks everything down. :(
 
My Hi-fold door is all electric (no hydraulics). The motor is mounted on the lower portion of the door for easy maintainence. I do have the auto latch feature. I love it. The remote feature is nice but over priced. It would be very easy to convert a standard remote GDO reciever. A couple of problems I saw with the Hydro-swing door; The door swings out a lot at the bottom (You can't park close to the door and then open it). A small window near the operator would be required to make sure you wern't opening it against something outside as far as I'm concerned. The other thing is it's totally hydraulic system. Unless you have a tractor or a spare hydraulic pump, you can't operate it with a power failure.
Mel...DAR
 
Skyhook said:
About the Stackdoor concept. I think the rails in the ground would cause serious problems during our icy/snowy winters.

I think, from what I see in the pic, gil, you don't have those problems. :D

There a few hangars in this area with the door sub-sections hanging on roller/pulley-type systems and sometimes the wind will pack even those with snow, which turns to ice, which locks everything down. :(
Click to expand...

Skyhook, Actually I have the ice/snow option on my door....:)

It's a rubber seal along the base of the door that touches the ground to keep snow out. It's on the outside of the recessed tracks.

Here in AZ it's needed to keep dust and pack rats (nasty, destructive rats that will eat anything... including car/plane wiring and interiors) out, but the makers call it a snow shield.

gil in sunny Tucson... hoping the hawks and bobcats breed faster than the rats.... and only seen snow twice in 6 years....
 
A rubber seal (skirt) at the bottom would probably take care of the problem. Hmmmm.

Those with Hi-Fold; who hung the thing? The company says that is a simple thing... I'm concerned about what I will need to lift and hold the top portion in place while attaching it.

Bi-Fold price (considerably higher than Hi-Fold) includes mounting and they will, for considerable price, sheet it.

Still weighing options.
 
We used a fork lift to install my Hi-fold just because we had it. It would not be difficult to raise it with come-alongs.
Mel...DAR
 
Skyhook said:
Those with Hi-Fold; who hung the thing? The company says that is a simple thing... I'm concerned about what I will need to lift and hold the top portion in place while attaching it.

Still weighing options.
Click to expand...

Skyhook,
The Stackdoor puts no weight on the upper rail. With a ladder (or scaffolding) you install an upper inverted U track on outside of the upper rail, which come in short lengths with couplers.. easy to bolt up.

The door panels come stacked on the pallet in the correct order in sets of two. Two of us could easily lift a pair of doors, and then just swing them up into position. Then the next pair gets installed, and hinge pins inserted into the panel previously installed.

The door comes skinned in grey Lexan, and an added benefit is the extra light that comes into the hangar. Some hangars can feel like the black hole of Calcutta when the doors are closed.

Also, when you come to getting lights, go for 400 watt lo-bay halide... great white light, and quite even. If you are going to be building at night 50 ft.-candles is good to aim for...

gil in Tucson
 
"Also, when you come to getting lights, go for 400 watt lo-bay halide... great white light, and quite even. If you are going to be building at night 50 ft.-candles is good to aim for..."

Thanks for this and the other tips.
 
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