It’s Your Choice: Hydraulic doors vs. Bifold doors
Each style of Schweiss doors have been tried, tested and improved. Choose the hydraulic or bifold door that best suits your purpose. This side-by-side comparison shows each style door. Both can easily be retrofitted to your existing building.
The choice is yours. Each style Schweiss Door has been tried, tested and improved over the span of 35 or more years and has different requirements. Our doors are all custom-made in order to fit your clear opening perfectly, without loss of headroom. Schweiss Doors is the leader in the door industry for its acclaimed agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential and specialty designer doors. If you are undecided on which style to incorporate in your building, Schweiss Doors can assist you in making your decision easier . . . Consider the following comparisons:
Bifold Liftstrap/Autolatch Doors:
The Schweiss Bifold door has been a popular choice for all types of buildings and hangars. Schweiss Doors revolutionized the bifold door with its introduction of patented liftstraps and design features which have virtually replaced the outdated cable-style bifold door. They’ve become so popular that bifold door owners with cables are now ordering liftstrap conversion kits to retrofit their existing doors.
Bifold doors require less parking space and allow you to park closer to your building as the door travels upward instead of outward like the hydraulic door. The liftstrap bifold door is popular for agriculture buildings and hangar owners who need all the headroom they can get. Bifolds also offer a natural slope in the full open position which allows water and snow to run off.
Bifold doorframe’s are raised with multiple heavy-duty liftstraps that are evenly located throughout the entire doorframe, that transfer the weight of the door evenly throughout the building structure. Polyester liftstraps are rated at 29,000 lbs. tensile strength, compare that to only 7,900 lbs. on outdated steel cables. Liftstraps never tangle, fray or overwrap and they carry a 10-year warranty. As the strap wraps on the lift drum the door quietly opens with a soft start, gaining speed as it raises and then comes to a soft stop. Strap doors raise much faster than cable-lift doors. With straps there are no pulleys to deal with, fewer parts, less maintenance and no problems. Liftstraps simply last and last much longer.
Straps are also incorporated into the reliable Schweiss bifold autolatch system. Autolatches seal your door weathertight with the push of a button. Manual latches are also available on Schweiss Bifold doors.
Schweiss Doors does not skimp on material. The bifold doorframe’s are made out of heavy square tubing. This super construction lets us offer you the best warranty in the business. The internal truss on a bifold door gives it a nice clean look and allows you to match your door covering to the building’s structure. When extra strength is needed, Schweiss offers an external truss which is located at the center of the door. A two-section door hangs out half the distance of other doors, putting less stress on your building. When the bifold door opens, the doorframe folds into a “V” or a wedge acting as a huge truss supporting each of the two-piece bifold door sections. Bifold doors are designed with two sets of heavy-duty hinges to share the loads of the doorframe.
The bifold door was designed for easy installation following a set of instructions supplied with each door. We make absolutely certain that the Schweiss door you order will fit your clear opening perfectly. We provide door weights, loading hinge locations, spec sheets and can provide shop drawings for you, your architect or contractor.
A full line of accessories like walk doors, windows, remote openers, lights, horns and photo eye sensors are also available for safety and ease of operation. Schweiss Doors ships anywhere and everywhere. We have the best rates in the industry.
Why you should only choose straps over cables
Schweiss Doors has revolutionized the bifold door industry with its introduction of patented liftstraps as a way to lift bifold doors. Bifold doorframe’s are raised with heavy duty liftstraps that are evenly located throughout the entire doorframe.
No longer should you have to deal with outdated steel cables that have a tendency to break, fray, overwrap or tangle if not maintained properly. Liftstraps raise your door faster, quieter and safer than cables and are very competitive in cost, plus they carry a 10-year guarantee.
Why are straps safer? Because they are stronger, with each 3-inch width strap having a 29,000 lb. tensile strength, compared to 7,900 lbs on cables. Straps are very low maintenance, outlast cables by a mile and are easy to install. As the strap wraps on the lift drum the door quietly opens with a soft start, gaining speed as it raises and then comes to a soft stop. This adds life to your door and provides less stress to your building.
Our straps are made of polyester material that has a long working life. Vigorous in-house testing of the new liftstrap system; the equivalent of many years of conventional usage was conducted without a malfunction. If you’ve ever had to replace a broken or frayed cable, you know it’s no fun. And when do they usually break? When you need the use of your door the most or during the coldest weather of the year. Liftstrap systems are in place on bifold doors in all 50 states and overseas. We have never had a liftstrap customer who was dissatisfied with or regretted having this superior product.
Schweiss took this fantastic innovation one step further with its introduction of straps on its autolatch system. Gone are the cables, pulleys and the clamps. The latch straps and liftstraps are user-friendly and latch your door tightly in place against all types of weather or high wind conditions.
You can now update your bifold cable door. Older doors and and other manufacturers bifold doors with cable systems can now be retrofitted with a Schweiss liftstrap conversion kit.
Heavy-duty cylinders with spherical bearings are lifted by a self contained hydraulic pump that can be located anywhere within your building. One-piece hydraulic doors seal very well, provide a shaded canopy when open and seal weathertight.
Hydraulic One Piece Doors:
Simplicity, quality and strength are standard on every Schweiss hydraulic door. The one-piece hydraulic door acts as a large moving wall that swings outward when opening. Using two powerful, heavy-duty cylinders on each side of the door, the hydraulic door swings up and away from the building so there is no loss of headroom, and there is no loss of headroom inside of the building.
Each door consists of only three major components: the door (prehung with frame), two hydraulic cylinders and a hydraulic pump. The entire weight of doorframe is transferred back to cylinder legs that premount to the building structure. The building is to be designed to carry these door loads. Schweiss Doors provides spec sheets that help your building manufacture / contractor design the building structure to accomodate the one-piece hydraulic door.
Schweiss hydraulic doors are designed with one set of extra heavy-duty hinges to carry the weight of the door; something no other manufacturer offers. Spherical bearings are placed at each end of the hydraulic cylinders to increase the life and performance of your door and cylinders.
With the push of a button, your door will quickly, quietly and safely open. The one piece doorframe provides an extended canopy in the open position, to let air and natural daylight into your building and offer an extended shade area.
Schweiss Doors has the best hydraulic pump and motor on the market. It’s compact, and can be mounted anywhere. It has three backup systems all in one unit in case of a power outage. Tractor fittings come standard on each pump unit to raise and lower your door if all else fails. Beware of underpowered pumps that other manufactures offer that are not designed for large moving doors.
Schweiss hydraulic doors are manufactured with a interior or exterior truss for support to provide strength and proper windloading to the door. The truss minimizes door sagging while in the open position. The internal truss has the advantage of allowing better drainage to an opened door.
Like the bifold door, the hydraulic door can easily be installed by the buyer following a set of easy-to-understand instructions. To save time and money, each door comes pre-assembled, pre-welded and delivered pre-hung within its frame.
Schweiss hydraulic doors are made stronger. While others replace the horizontal cross members with wood 2x4s, Schweiss doors have strong steel crossmembers. Steel tubes are welded on all four sides. Avoid wood on a moving and flexing steel door. Wood doubles the weight and takes away the R value when insulating the doorframe.
A full line of accessories like walk doors, windows, remote openers, lights, horns and photo eye sensors are also available for safety and ease of operation.
We make absolutely certain that the Schweiss door you order will fit your clear opening perfectly. We provide door weights, loading hinge locations, spec sheets and can provide shop drawings for you, your architect or contractor. Schweiss Doors ships anywhere and everywhere. We Manufacture the best hydraulic door in the industry.
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