Mighty Mule Automatic Gate Opener for Heavy Duty Single Swing Gates for 18 Feet Long or 850 Pounds (FM500)

This opener replaced the GTO1000 that operated perfectly for 13 years. I chose the FM500 because I needed a push to open unit. Plus it seemed beefier than the FM350 and didn't require a car battery. using the video and manual, I installed the unit in about 2 hours. I followed the instructions to set the open stops and it was perfect on the first attempt. The piece that bolts to your gate has slotted holes so that if you drill your holes centered in the slot, you easily adjust your closing stop moving the gate piece. It comes with only one remote, but I had 3 left over from my previous opener. I was easily able to set my old remotes to the new code. Simple to install. Easy to adjust stops, timed closing and other remotes. Works perfect. If one month from now, I start experiencing the issues other people have, I'll adjust my review.

We live on the north Oregon coast... this actually our second Mighty mule. Eventually they need to be replaced... however, we live directly on the ocean front... salt air kills everything eventually. One thing I can say is that Mighty Mule customer service is pretty good. When we've had questions they are available and helpful. We purchased a bit heavier, stronger version this go around and I expect to get many years of use with this one as we had with the old one. We have a single gate that is chain link in construction about 15 feet long. It's not terribly heavy, but again, we are on the ocean front so we carefully maintain the motor and moving parts. We use in with buttons in our vehicles and have the remote inside the house for when we are not in our vehicles. I never hesitate to update my reviews if new info would be useful. I also respond to questions/comments. My goal is to help real buyers with my honest, uncompensated opinions.

Just purchased another FM500 to replace one in use for 5 years. Started having opener show signs of wear and need of service. On cold days which warm up say 20F morning to 60F+ in afternoon. Gate will overtravel open position signaling ( Long Beep ) with slack in linear drive. This opener is used 4-6 times a day every day. All that is necessary is push gate towards close, cycle power and close gate. If temperature is more steady or no heavy wind no problem noted. Overall for the price with 5 years of use a great product. Some learning curve with it when new. Unit has Solar 5 Watt Panel and 2 batteries. Been through 10 days without sun, Ice 1" thick during that time, Electric lock operating having to clear ice from arm and lock.Unit has a few instructions that are critical to follow to the letter follow them. I am pleased enough to purchase another unit. Batterys need replaced about 2 years, one going before the other. Plan to repair old unit and place on second gate used less.Price at Amazon best found. With Prime Shipping. I do CNC and Industrial control repair just to let you know

I've had two of these, one worked for 2 years and then stopped working. I bought another one simply because the install would be easier, and this one only lasted a few weeks before it started acting up. Basically would not work, I tried calling customer support and every time I called there would be 10+ other callers ahead of me, I tried their "Call Back" feature where they will give you a call once available, 1 hour later I did get a call however it rang once and then hung up....so after several 1+ hour attempts I am throwing in the towel and going with another brand. Mighty Mule clearly has problems with their products and their customer service department is obviously too small. HIGHLY SUGGEST A DIFFERENT BRAND!!!!!!! BTW- the problems were not gate related, as there was no binding on the gate and my 2 year old son can easily push the gate open and closed. The problems were electronic, I assume a glitchy board. MD

My dogs figured out pretty quickly that all they have to do is pull the gate forward to get out. I hired a professional gate man to fix the problem. He said there was nothing much to be done to prevent the play and charged me $100. I now have to chain the gate closed which defeats the purpose of having an automatic gate opener. The opener itself seems to be working fine for the two weeks we have had it.

It arrived earlier than expected, in good condition. Very easy to install on a farm gate, maybe a couple of hours. Excellent product and would not hesitate to purchase this product again.

Works great!

Very poor design for an actuator. Have had many problems since purchasing. Range is terrible for the remotes you need to be 10 feet from the gate in order for it to read the remote and I have direct line of sight to my gate. The brackets supplied were no good from the start. And I mounted in on a gate that is only 12ft wide and I can pick it up my myself so ways max 300 pounds. And now after a year the actuator has snapped completely in half. And after inspecting the broken actuator I see that it is not made of metal. only the screw is metal, the slide shaft is aluminum, which is fine but the outer plastic cover of the actuator is all that is holding the shaft straight to the screw. And one day in high winds while opening the gate, as the screw started to turn the outer plastic cover snapped because OBVIOUSLY plastic will not hold up to the stress and bend the screw shaft because the plastic snapped and rendered the actuator completely useless. Evan cheapy princess auto actuators have an aluminum guide for the actuator shaft and I'll be going there to purchase a replacement. These mighty mule actuators are worth $250 like the princess auto ones not the $501 plus tax like I paid. Complete junk. Either go cheaper so when it breaks you don't feel ripped off, or drop $2500 and go with a more expensive opener like the lift master or another brand. I've attached photos so you can see how cheaply made and underbuilt this actuator really is. The motor is ridiculously small for the price and size rating of this actuator. There are no rubber seals where the housing meets together. And there are merretts on the wires running to the motor that have not been heat shrinked or even taped. I'm in British Columbia Canada and I would return the item if I could but the brackets and mounting hardware were all long thrown out because of poor/cheap design and as you can see the actuator is nothing but a pile of scrap. Thank you very much!

This has been working well since I first installed it. Four stars instead of five because the battery didn’t last long and couple of the mounts holding the circuit board were broken on arrival but nothing catastrophic. Easy to follow instructions and easily installed by one person in a day.

Replaced an old GTO 1000. I had to move the brackets to install the new FM500 opener, but it was not that difficult on my gate. The build quality is excellent! Also GTO's technical support is great and they know their product. I've called them few times when I've had troubles with my old GTO 1000. Also I've called them when I've had issues with the exit wand. They are sending me an additional part free of charge to adjust sensitivity on the exit wand. That is EXCELLENT customer service!