Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication Nationwide

Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication: The Fort Worth Owner’s Guide

We stock and install Ghost Controls-compatible gate hardware across Fort Worth, with most bracket repairs, hinge replacements, and welded fabrication jobs running $175 to $485 installed, parts and labor included. The price is quoted and agreed before we touch a single bolt. Most owners discover a problem the morning the gate hangs low, scrapes the driveway, or the opener strains and trips its breaker, usually traced to a cracked weld, a wallowed-out hinge post, or a bracket that let go under years of Texas heat and wind.

Call (817) 562-7979

Ironworks Gate Co. is an independent service provider, not affiliated with Ghost Controls. We are the local shop Fort Worth homeowners call when a Ghost Controls gate has a structural problem the opener cannot compensate for.

Which Ghost Controls Models This Applies To

Ghost Controls builds two main lines: the AXDP and AXD series for residential swing gates, and the TSS1/TDS1 series for heavier or wider driveway gates. The welding and fabrication work we do is not opener-specific in most cases. A cracked hinge on a Ghost Controls gate is a cracked hinge, whether the board behind it is an AXDP or a TSS1. What matters is the gate itself: its weight, its swing geometry, and where the stress concentrated.

Here is the compatibility gotcha most Fort Worth owners run into. Ghost Controls hinges and brackets get paired with the gate leaf, not the opener model. We match what we weld to three measurements: the gate leaf weight, the post diameter, and the hinge center-to-center spacing. If the post is 4-inch schedule 40 steel and the leaf is a 14-foot tube gate, that calls for a different weldment than a 6-foot ornamental leaf on a 6-inch post. The factory Ghost Controls hardware covers standard residential weights up to about 850 pounds per leaf. Past that, aftermarket weldments with thicker ears and reinforcement gussets hold up better in Fort Worth clay soil, which heaves and flexes gate posts every wet-dry cycle.

Our recommendation, drawn from 42 years of doing this in this city: repair the weld and replace the hardware with OEM Ghost Controls when the gate is within factory spec. When the gate is heavier than spec or has been patched before, use a quality fabricated equivalent with a heavier hinge pin and a reinforcement plate between the post and the bracket. We stock both on the truck.

Signs Your Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication Is Failing

• The gate leaf sags at the latch end. This usually means the lower hinge weld has cracked or the hinge pin has worn its hole oblong. A sagging gate pulls the opener arm out of alignment, which makes the Ghost Controls motor work harder and trip its internal overload.
• The gate grinds or scrapes the driveway when it swings. Fort Worth’s clay soil expands and contracts with rain and drought, shifting gate posts every season. A gate that cleared last winter may drag in July once the post leans just a quarter inch, and that drag loads every weld on the hinge side.
• The opener strains, beeps, or reverses mid-cycle. The Ghost Controls board senses resistance. If the hinge is bound or the bracket is flexing, the board backs off and the gate stops halfway. That beep is the control board telling you something under the gate is fighting it.
• You can see a rust line or crack at the weld, hinge, or bracket mount. Once a crack starts at a factory weld, Texas wind loading on a big gate opens it wider every cycle. A visible crack is a repair this month, not next year.
• The gate wobbles or shudders at the end of its travel. That shutter usually comes from a loose post bracket or a broken weld on the hinge leaf. The opener’s limit switch hits, the motor stops, and the gate’s momentum keeps shaking whatever is already loose.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

In Fort Worth, the installed price for Ghost Controls welding and fabrication work runs $175 to $485 for most jobs. A simple hinge pin replacement with a new bushing lands near the bottom. A full hinge weldment with plate reinforcement, post re-plumb, and re-hang of a heavy leaf lands near the top. Every quote is itemized: the part, the fabrication time, the labor, and the exact number of hours.

The price is quoted and agreed before any work starts. No surprises on the bill. Included in every job: on-site measurement, match to the correct Ghost Controls geometry, welded repair with proper penetration and post-weld cleanup, and re-alignment of the opener arm so the motor lives a long life. Every weld and every bracket we install is covered by our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it is not right, we come back and make it right.

DIY or Call Us?

There is a safe middle ground. You can oil the hinge pins, you can inspect for visible cracks, and you can check whether the gate drags. What you should not do is weld on a gate that carries spring tension, or attempt to re-hang a leaf that weighs several hundred pounds. A gate under tension stores enough energy to break bone if a hinge lets go while it is unbolted, and a 500-pound leaf off its hinges can pin a person against a post before anyone can react. Welding on an opener-connected gate also risks frying the Ghost Controls board if the system is not properly isolated first.

If the gate sags, scrapes, or the opener strains, call us at (817) 562-7979. We will send a technician who welds and knows Ghost Controls opener geometry, which means the gate will be square and the opener will not fight it.

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