Side-Mounted End Gate Door Opener For Trucks

Side-Mounted End Gate Door Opener For Trucks TRUCKS Accessories 22-2-26 "It lets me open the center door on my truck's end gate without having to reach over the auger hopper. It's safer and keeps me out of the dust," says Elgin Routledge, Virden, Manitoba, about the opener he built that lets him open his truck end gate from the side of the truck. Routledge's patented "Handi-Arm" consists of a pair of hinged steel arms that bolt to the bottom of the door and to a steel shaft that runs horizontally across the back of the truck box. The shaft runs through hinges that bolt onto the box and has a long lever welded onto one end of it. To open the door Routledge simply pulls down on the lever. To lock the door in any desired position, he mounted a locking lever on the horizontal shaft. It consists of a bolt that runs through a hollow rod and into a nut welded onto a bearing welded to the shaft. Turning the bolt into the nut puts pressure against the shaft to keep it in place. "It works slick. I use my left hand to raise the door and my right hand to lock it," says Routledge. "I painted the end of the lever red so I can see from the cab whether the endgate is open or closed. I built it for safety, to keep people from having to reach over the auger in order to open the door. However, many people tell me that what they like best is being able to stay out of the dust as the door is opened." Sells for $89 (Canadian) plus S&H. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Elgin Routledge, Box 2339, Virden, Manitoba, Canada R0M 2C0 (ph 204 748-3368).

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