Garage Door Opener Help

[BrianG]

Well, I completed this project a few weeks ago. Why is it that I can mod/fab up R/C parts easily enough and it works first time around, but any projects larger end up being a royal PITA and everything goes wrong?

I re-inforced the beams as we discussed. Then, I cut the necessary notches. Beam 1 and 2 went without a hitch, but beam 3 snapped in half as I was cutting. The only thing keeping it from collapsing was quick reflexes. So there I was on a ladder holding up part of my garage swearing up a storm. Luckily, I happened to have a 2x4 nearby that I used to prop it up until I came up with something more solid. In retrospect, I'm kinda happy it broke when it did rather than after I hung the opener on it and then come crashing down after(maybe even on my car).

Anyway, this is what I came up with. Not pretty, but quite solid. Some wiring later (yeah, I know it's not "legal", but good enough), and viola!