My automatic coop door opener gave out during a cold snap last month

It was a cheap model I got online for about $50. Worked fine for a year. Then we had that freeze in early February, temps dropped to 15 degrees overnight. Woke up and the door was just stuck open. Motor was humming but the gear had stripped. Had to run out there in my boots and a coat to manually close it before the raccoons got any ideas. Took the whole thing apart. Plastic gears inside were totally chewed up. My fault for going cheap, I guess. Had to order a whole new unit with metal gears, cost me over a hundred. Anyone have a brand of auto door that actually holds up in real winter?

3 comments

3 Comments

palmer.spencer21d ago

Check the motor itself next time. Mine made that same humming noise but it was actually frozen solid, not stripped gears. Had to bring the whole unit inside to thaw.

smith.ray21d ago

Bringing the whole unit inside sounds like a weird pet.

nancy_butler21d ago

My old apartment had a cheap electric kettle that cracked during a freeze because the plastic housing got brittle. It's the same story with so much stuff now, plastic parts where metal should be. That door opener is just another victim of planned weakness.