Martin posted on September 19, 2012 06:56
There's big and then really big.
Roberts & Sons installed a garage door in Chester, Utah recently, which was literally off the charts.
Martin Garage Doors does not even list the 26 foot wide and up to 20 feet high doors the company has recently installed, in the price books. But as a custom manufacturer, Martin's ability to specialize knows few bounds.
The 22 X 20 doors are part of an ensemble of six big doors being used on a warehouse for mining equipment. The complex also includes two 18 x 18 garage doors, which Roberts & Sons installed. All of the doors are fully insulated with a steel back and several involved high lift.
Dennis Roberts is not easily impressed or intimidated by challenges, but even he admits the Chester Utah install was out of the ordinary. His company bought a scissor-lift to take the track over the beam of the warehouse and used Telehands as part of the install. The triplex springs used on the doors were so heavy. Roberts said it took four men to move one spring from the pallet to the lift.
Roberts & Sons seems to be falling into a pattern of selling bigger-than-normal garage doors in the last six months. The company installed one 26 x 14 door for a farmer with bigger-than-normal equipment and also a 20 x 14 and a 24 x 20 in the region. The 26' wide door also required a special quote to receive a price.
Dennis said his brother taught him how to install the big doors and that the same principles are used in handling the doors as you would with smaller pieces. Working with bigger doors does change the psychology of handling more normal sized doors.
“You feel like you can flip a 16' wide door panel like it’s nothing,” Roberts said of the more average size garage door.
He said in his years of experience he has often had to do small engineering feats on the job, to make the door application fit the existing circumstance.
Like Roberts & Sons, a number of Martin dealers have learned there is a margin to be made in installing Martin Commercial Garage Doors. Occasionally, Martin Door Mfg. quotes and receives orders for doors up to 30’ wide.
Martin customizes each door to the customer--- even if a dealer can’t find a price.