New Alexander Cave gate

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New Alexander Cave gate

Postby cob » Jun 14, 2006 7:31 pm

A true work of art by "Master Gater" RC Schroeder of Fifty-six, Arkansas. No keys... no combo... it opens with a garage door opener. All he has to do is drive by, press a button and... voila!!!

No more humping 400' of ridge line for him...

This is a true work of art and engineering, folks.

tom

ps: Now if only I can get the pictures to attach to this...Image
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Postby cob » Jun 14, 2006 7:36 pm

I DID IT!!!!! (I am so proud of myself)...

Kudos to all who contributed to this....

Especially RC, who went way above and beyond the call of cave duty....
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Postby Scott McCrea » Jun 14, 2006 7:46 pm

:wtg: :goodjob: :kewl:

Dang! That is sweet!

Hard to tell how it works tho. Got any pics of it open? Looks like the bar across the top has to be flipped open (away from the cave) so the lid can open (toward the cave), right? Does the garage door opener open both?

Is it made of stainless steel?

How big is the open slot above the hatch? It's for bats, right?

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
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Postby Scott McCrea » Jun 14, 2006 7:56 pm

4 8 15 16 23 42

Image

I knew one of those LOST hatches would pop up in Arkansas. :laughing:
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Postby cob » Jun 14, 2006 8:23 pm

Scott McCrea wrote::wtg: :goodjob: :kewl:

Dang! That is sweet!

Hard to tell how it works tho. Got any pics of it open? Looks like the bar across the top has to be flipped open (away from the cave) so the lid can open (toward the cave), right? Does the garage door opener open both?

Is it made of stainless steel?

How big is the open slot above the hatch? It's for bats, right?

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!


That is the beauty of it... hard to tell how it works. No , I do not have any pics pf it open... will send a request to RC (maybe he will beat me to it and post them without my askin?????)

yes, stainless steel.

the slot is for bats. as to how big.. compare to his angle grinder (5") in the pic with him.


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Postby barcelonacvr » Jun 15, 2006 9:05 am

Being a tradesman I can recognize extreme pride and quality in a well done job.Very nicely done and I am very happy to see stainless being used.A job done well the first time!! Nice cement work as well.

Like the mantra I heard all through my apprenticeship

"There is always enough time to do it right the second time!"(when I was rushing through a job)

Refreshing to see everyone did it right!! the first time
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Postby batrotter » Jun 15, 2006 1:46 pm

Cool! So does this cave has electric since it has a garage door opener?
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Postby Adam Byrd » Jun 16, 2006 11:02 am

Hey, now there is a sweet piece of work! The first thing I though of when I saw "garage door opener" was this: couldn't someone who really wanted to get inside just go buy a replacement garage door opener and waltz right in? I seem to remember a segment on the evening news from a few years ago about people doing this to real garages.
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Re: New Alexander Cave gate

Postby bsignorelli » Jun 16, 2006 5:14 pm

cob wrote:No more humping 400' of ridge line for him...


No s#*t...thats a steep hillside. You missed me getting run over by a bucket of gravel when we were lowering it down the hill....I did a head over heels thing as RC and Dave looked on. Dave said he was wondering if they'd have to carry my body out and RC said he was wondering if I'd do it again so he could snap a picture :-)

Thanks RC and thanks too to all who were involved.

Now we need to start the pool to see how long it takes for the locals to breech or bugger up the gate (:
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Can I get a suggestion?

Postby Howard » Mar 19, 2007 9:19 pm

I was in this cave once before with my cusin who had been there once or twice before me. I came home and told my family about my adventure and about the lake inside, thats as far as we had time to go, and now that my son is turning 18 he want to see what it is all about for himself. It would also satisfy his school project where he has to go out and experiance something new to him and write about it. I was excited to think that I could take him there on spring break, this weekend, But now I don't know how to get in. It's a shame too. he is an unussually respectful young man and I wanted him to experiance more than just the usual walk throughs that we take the whole family on. Can I get a suggestion?
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Postby killian » Mar 19, 2007 10:57 pm

Cob that's the coolest cave gate i have ever seen. Nice report. :kewl:
Man i sure do like caving.....
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Postby bigalpha » Mar 19, 2007 11:16 pm

batrotter wrote:Cool! So does this cave has electric since it has a garage door opener?



Cool indeed -- i am curious as to the electricity too.
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Postby Ralph E. Powers » Mar 20, 2007 12:14 pm

That is indeed a very nice gate. Kudos to the designer. If he reads this board please PM me I know of another cave which could use something similar to that and could use the blue-prints/specs.
Garage door opener? Hmm, something to think about. Considering the cave's location in terms of access I'd think probably that'd be over kill, but the round design and the concrete pad is very similar to what I had in mind.

Lemme know.
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Postby Howard » Mar 23, 2007 8:33 am

I'm in school all day, I know weird for a 40 year old, and not working right now, I know even weirder, but if any one needs a hand with a design or even the construction I do have a degree in drafting and a degree in tool and die. and I am pretty good with my hands. or so I have been told. ;0) I just like helping with stuff like that and with all the changes in my life right now I want to network for some more new friends This sort of thing would be great!! Maby if more people had security on their caves they wouldn't mind ocational spectators.
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Re: New Alexander Cave gate

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Mar 31, 2015 3:57 pm

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Alexander Cave last week while on vacation in Arkansas...
Last edited by UnderGroundEarth on Apr 6, 2015 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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