Driveway gates are a perfect fit for any home or property. Especially when one of its residents is elderly or pregnant. However, these gate kits are of even more valuable for disabled farmers.

We get inquiries from amputees to paraplegic farmers, to veterans with physical and mental disabilities, to elderly farmers with impaired vision and arthritis – and everything in between. Today, there are so many farmers that report having a disability that impacts their farm in some way – about 20% to be exact.

Here’s How Driveway Gate Kits Help Disabled Farmers

Life on the farm is not easy. It’s especially challenging for those with disabilities, as even the most boring tasks can require getting assistance from others. A disability is by no means an inability – and some of the people with the strongest will power and determination are dealing with daily challenges that result from an accident, injury, or disability.

Unfortunately, most farming equipment isn’t designed with the modifications necessary to accommodate the needs of those with disabilities.

Farm driveway gates, however, offer a helping hand to many disabled farmers across the states. They aren’t the end-all solution, but they’re moving the status of farm adaptations available to those with disabilities in the right direction.

Our company, as well as other manufacturers of these kinds of products,  are seeing to it that disabled farmers don’t need to rely on others for menial duties around the farm. Without further ado, here’s how these gates make life easier for farmers with disabilities.

1) Movement without assistance.

A self-opening gate alleviates the need to have someone open the gate for you.

This is by far the best feature of a product like this. Getting around in a wheelchair can be challenging, especially with all the tools you’ll need to do cattle checks unassisted. From a wheelchair lift to tractor hand controls and all the tools you’ll need to actually check your cattle or property barrier – the list seems endless. 

Further, you won’t have to deal with electrical shorts or maintenance as it’s a mechanical, non-electric, automated gate opener kit.

With this, disabled farmers won’t need to call for assistance when you enter or exit. With a bump gate, for example, the gate opens with a gentle push, and farmers with disabilities can open property gates with ease. Not only is this helpful, but it boots morale. Getting back some independence has a way of making farm life fun again.

With a bump kit, you also don’t have to worry about closing the gate behind you. Another essential part of removing the friction of entering/exiting your property.

When Cattle Goes Rogue

When animals escape, an entirely new challenge rears its ugly head. It can be very frustrating and costly to chase a rogue animal and bring it back onto the property. This frustration is amplified when a farmer is physically unable to capture and return an animal traveling at a slow pace.

Overall, the system is designed to swing back in place while providing a generous amount of time for someone to pass through to the other side.  

With an automated gate on the property, that’s less you’ll have to worry about.

2) Regulate the movement of others.

Farm driveway gates serve the vital purpose of keeping what ought to be inside the fence, inside it, and what should be outside of it, on the outs.

With automated driveway gates, farmers have more control over the property and security from unwelcome outsiders.

A closed gate sends a signal to trespassers and predators. It tells them they are not welcome, and escape will be harder than if the gate were propped open.

Farmers can regulate movements in and around the farm from a distance, by simply installing a mechanism to keep property gates closed. Straying animals and wandering children won’t be a problem, and neither will larger, more aggressive uninvited guests. 

3) Little to no maintenance.

Once you have it installed, you’ll be good to go for a long while.

You won’t have to worry about a malfunctioning gate due to circuitry failures or damage resulting from a torrential downpour.

Its simple and robust design ensures your driveway gate never has any downtime. What’s more, it’s extremely rare for such a gate opener to break down compared to more “sophisticated” designs with electrical circuits. These electrical kits are expensive to repair and more susceptible to damage.

The bump gate’s immunity to the elements is unrivaled while it provides a similar solution to the fancy technology with no recurring costs. 

4) You won’t need to hire gate staff.

This one piece of equipment can save you more than an hour for each cattle check. The normally quick process of opening the gate, driving through, and closing the gate is simple for an able-bodied farmer. It may be more cost-effective to continue doing it manually.

However, it can into a 10-step nightmare for a farmer who has a disability. Here’s what cattle checks look like for many disabled and elderly farmers:

• You would have to park the vehicle.
• Lower a wheelchair lift to exit the vehicle.
• Get onto your wheelchair, or grab your cane.
• Navigate over to the gate (the lift isn’t usually very close to the gate).
• Then open the gate.
• Return to the vehicle.
• Drive through.
• Navigate to the lift again.
• Repeat the steps again.
• Close the gate.
• Return to the vehicle, then continue on your way.
• And repeat these steps at every gated entry/exit on the property.

This process can be exhausting and lead to burnout, fatigue, frustration, and worsening injuries. In the long-run, hindered accessibility can lead to depression. The amount of friction disabled farmers experience in a single day is unimaginable for most of us.

So many opt to hire gate staff to get around this. 

Staffing for Menial Tasks

When a farmer realizes he or she needs some extra helping hands around the farm, the gate is one of the first areas to staff – as it sees constant activity.

To ensure convenience and security, many disabled farmers get gate security staff to take care of watching the perimeter. However, the only thing worse than paying someone to do a job that you would be happy to do on your own – is paying someone to do a job that doesn’t yield a return on investment.

This scenario is akin to paying a CEO to run your business when it’s barely profitable. Unless you like pouring money down the drain, you should consider a workaround that gets the job done without the added expense. A driveway gate can be used without assistance, so you don’t need to get someone else to do the necessary but less valued jobs for you.

Where This Simple Technology Takes the Cake

Aside from the above benefits, a farm driveway gate has a lot else to offer.

In addition to furthering the convenience and accessibility of your property, these gates better security, afford privacy, and may even up the value of your property to prospective buyers. The advantages of farm driveway gates ensure that they are handy accessories, not only for disabled farmers but for all farmers in general.

The Future of Accessibility

Our hope is that the Agrability departments across the US and several other consumer-funded entities continue funding the resource centers for disabled farmers.

Additionally, we’d like to see more farm manufacturers develop modified tools for those with disabilities. Ultimately, having specific equipment made for disabilities would be the best kind of innovation for the farming and agricultural community.