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

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

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.

Installation could be easier if the instructions were helpful at all. It makes many assumptions, and is as if you are extremely familiar with the product. The board ent out on mine within one week. Customer service was friendly and replaced within a few days. They let me know that they are very susceptible to bad weather. Wish I would have known this. I would buy again, because of the price, and my new knowledge of instillation.

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.

Purchased brand new, installed the system and after one successful gate opening the arm started to malfunction. After being on the phone with tech support for an hour in the hot California sun, it was determined that it was shipped with a faulty part. I was given two options; ship the arm back to the manufacturer to fix (I PAY THE SHIPPING !!) or order a replacement part at my own cost and install it myself. Total BS!! Very poor business!!

This gate opener is reasonably easy to stall (although it was my second GTO installation). My only complaints are (1) I wish the wireless receiver were stronger, and (2) it does not have an additional power wiring point that I needed for hooking the power that my exit sensor requires. The second issue was possible to work around, so I can't complain loudly.Obviously, it worked good enough on our first installation so that I did buy this model for our second gate

Gate opener solution. But, its inexpensive and reliable. Even in Hawaii where we have a lot of sunlight, the solar solution leaves much to be desired. So, we finally ended up running low voltage wire from the garage to the gate. My neighbors have the elegant gate openers and their service calls are expensive. With Mighty Mule, the DIY types can do the install and debugging by following the somewhat easy to follow instructions. Mighty Mule service has improved a lot over the last ten years.

Works great. My gate is 13'6" @ unknown weight(aluminum). Opens and closes just fine. Read the instructions all the way through first then determine what you need to limit trips to the hardware storeInstructions are really lacking for mounting to a concrete post, but a neighbor up the street had one mounted to a brick column and that really helped when I was mounting to the fence and column.The kit has all the major parts, but is missing some hardware because of the many different mounting options.

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!

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!