Car Works Pushover Gate (Feb, 1951)
Car Works Pushover Gate
William Benke got tired of jumping in and out of his car to open the gate to his west Texas ranch. So he invented the automatic gate at left. The car pushes down the gate (top photo); rides over it (center); then, after hydraulic checks hold it down, it rises (bottom). Hawley Mfg. Co., Houston, makes the Push-Over Gate.
This worked great when cars were actually made of metal and bumpers where actually designed to bump into things!
You hit a concrete planter with your minivan now and the whole fender needs to be replaced.
What is the point of the gate if any car can just drive over it?
Also, I’d hate to drive a little too slowly, and have the gate rise up halfway between your two axles.
Good for cattle control on a large ranch where you go through several gates with a truck and don’t have electrical power at each gate. Some similar to this type also have conventional swing or slide rail operating sequentially from the weight of a truck. Sounding the horn drives cattle from where you enter and exit.
I always liked the bizarre mechanical gate opener featured in the orginal “Babe” movie, and similar ones I’ve seen in the wild.
The Farmer seems to spend more time fiddling with than using it.
Cattle grids have mostly replaced cattle gates – they won’t scratch up your plastic bumper covers either