Jammed MTH Crossing Gate

Bob, it's funny you mentioned this. For about two-three weeks now, one of my gates is slower to drop and to rise than its partner which still works fine. My pair is from the original run, is yours? I don't know if these are servicable or if it's even worth it to try. Maybe any MTH techs who see our posts can shed some light. I forgot to mention that my slow gate is also very noisy.

Tony Sincius
TCA# 97-45101

Bob, I had the same problem with one last year after owning it for about 6 months. I tinkered with it but couldn't seem to fix it. I sent it back to MTH and they repaired it. Fortunately for me, it was still under warranty!!

Tony, as for your problem, have you tried adjusting the "timing" screw? Probably an obvious question, but thought I'd ask.

If you carefully remove the bottom plate on the gate there is a plastic drive gear that usually splits. CA the gear to the metal shaft.

More important the limits, (2) screws on the back of the control box need adjusted to set the upper and lower limits of travel of the crossing arm.

I'm not aware of this plastic gear being available as a replacement part. I've repaired a couple of gates more than once.

Joe, if you mean the time-delay screw on the infrared controller, both gates are wired together and have always dropped/risen together. Plus now the slow poke is very noisy during up or down operation and is also noisy when completely lowered. I've had these guys for years and probably a new pair is the way to go.

Tony Sincius
TCA# 97-45101

Mike CT -

Thank you very much for the diagnosis and solution. I'll give it a try shortly and post what I find.

Tony and Joey A, sorry to hear you had the same problem. My gates were bought several years ago, so I'm guessing they were from MTH's first run. They sat in the box since then and I only just today tried to install them.

The ability to connect with knowledgeable others is one of the things that makes the Forum such a great resource. I just wish I had more answers to give (and fewer questions to ask). Thanks again to all.

I have had a similar problem and found that the small screws on the box below the mast were lose. Tightening them eliminated the problem.

Are any of you dissapointed with all the motor/gear noise these crossing gates make?  I came up with a nifty way to make the gate work using a miniture robot gear reduction motor attached to the brass worm gear of the MTH gates.  I tried a 38 RPM gear motor but that took 25 seconds to run up and down with the 3.8 volts from the MTH circuitry.  The 75 RPM gear motor moves the gate up and down quietly in about 12 seconds.  Pretty close to the real RR gates.