Commercial Garage Door Opener Types: What Each One Fits, and What the Duty Ratings Really Mean

Commercial garage door openers — the industry usually calls them operators — are easiest to compare in two layers. First identify the movement layout: trolley/drawbar, shaft-driven/jackshaft, or sliding, with specialty configurations for some counter, center-mounted and integrated doors. Then compare hoist, gearhead, DC, fire-door and duty labels. Door and track geometry narrow the family; peak-hour and daily cycles narrow the duty rating.

Start here. This is the table most comparison pages are missing.

What each label on a commercial operator spec sheet actually describes

Sources: DASMA TDS #160 (Rev. 1/19) and TDS #350 (Rev. 6/26) for terminology; current manufacturer pages from LiftMaster, Genie, Manaras-Opera, PowerMaster and Raynor. The “kind of label” column is Uptime’s normalization of those sources, not a formal industry classification. Verified 19 September 2026.

Last verified: September 2026 · Dataset v1.0 · 56 selected model/configuration rows · 5 manufacturers · 7 downloadable tables, 139 rows total
By Uptime Dock & Door Research — the research and reference section of uptimedockanddoor.com. Uptime Dock & Door is an independent publisher that refers commercial door and dock work to repair companies. We are not a manufacturer, laboratory, standards body or repair contractor. About us · Editorial standards · Report a correction

Jump to: The common layouts · The labels that are not parallel types · Which operator family to evaluate first · Trolley or jackshaft · Duty ratings and why the names do not line up · Work out the duty you need · Horsepower, voltage and phase · The safety standard that changes how your door behaves · The selected 56-row ledger · What to put on the quote request · Methodology · Limitations · Sources · How to cite · Download the data · Questions people ask

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<a id="three-layouts"></a>

The three common movement layouts, and the specialty products outside them

The reviewed catalogs are easiest to compare by separating three common movement layouts — trolley/drawbar, shaft-driven/jackshaft and sliding — from modifiers and specialty configurations. The three layouts cover most of the named products in the selected ledger, but they are not a claim that every commercial operator ever made fits one universal three-part standard.

Trolley (drawbar). Mounts above and behind a sectional door. A rail runs back from the header, a carriage rides the rail, and an arm connects the carriage to the top section. DASMA’s primary term is drawbar operator: an electric operator mounted above the door in a horizontal position that moves the door by pulling and pushing the top section. PowerMaster still labels the family “drawbar”; most of the other reviewed catalogs say trolley.

Jackshaft or shaft-driven. Mounts at the wall, ceiling, hood or another manufacturer-specified position and turns the door’s shaft system. DASMA’s sectional-door definition says the drive turns a torsion shaft. Rolling-door product pages use the same jackshaft or hoist language for their own shaft and barrel arrangements.

Sliding. Moves one or two door leaves horizontally. The selected PowerMaster and Manaras products cover sliding, freezer, cooler and partition applications. If the door travels sideways rather than upward, this is the family to evaluate.

Specialty product-specific configurations. Some products do not fit neatly into those three labels. The selected sources include a compact rolling-counter operator, a center-mounted gearhead product, dual-trolley configurations and high-performance doors whose operator is part of the door system. Keep the manufacturer’s own configuration name rather than forcing it into the wrong box.

Several current manufacturer application notes expressly assume a properly balanced door. A binding, damaged or improperly balanced door is a door-system problem, not evidence that a larger operator is the answer.

Is it an opener or an operator?

Both. “Opener” is the word many facilities use; “operator” is the technical term used throughout the manufacturer catalogs and standards reviewed here. DASMA’s terminology sheet cross-references Garage Door Opener to Operator and defines an operator as an electric or air-powered mechanism that opens and closes a door.

Sources: DASMA TDS #160, Rev. 1/19, for operator terminology; current Manaras-Opera product pages for the properly balanced-door application condition. Verified 19 September 2026.

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<a id="not-types"></a>

The labels that look like parallel types but are not

Many guides list trolley, jackshaft and hoist as three equal types. That mixes movement layout with manual-operation and drivetrain labels, which is why two quotes that look different can describe closely related equipment.

Hoist is jackshaft-related in DASMA terminology, although manufacturers may list it separately. DASMA describes a chain-hoist operator as a jackshaft-type operator with a chain hoist attached, and a hoist electric operator as similar to a jackshaft operator with an auxiliary emergency chain hoist. Raynor makes the relationship visible in its current Basic names: CMJ is Jackshaft, CMH is Jackshaft With Hoist, and CMT is Trolley.

So when a quote says “hoist,” ask what manual-operation arrangement the named model provides and how it is engaged. On Raynor’s CMH, the Hoist-a-matic chain is self-engaging and an electrical interlock cuts motor power when the hoist is engaged. A different manufacturer or model may use a different arrangement.

Gearhead is a drivetrain, not a mounting position. LiftMaster and Genie both publish a GT gear-reduced trolley and a GH gear-reduced hoist. The gearing label does not tell you where the operator mounts or which door it fits.

DC is a motor and power-outage choice. PowerMaster’s current D-GJ and D-MG pages both state a 576-watt, 24 VDC motor with battery backup. Only the D-GJ page explicitly describes continuous-duty operation; the D-MG page does not. Read the named product page rather than carrying a statement from one model to another.

Duty class is a manufacturer’s own shelf label. The words light, medium, standard, heavy and super duty do not convert directly across brands. The published numbers below are what make the labels comparable.

Sources: DASMA TDS #160; Raynor ControlHoist Basic; current LiftMaster, Genie and PowerMaster product pages linked in the selected ledger. Verified 19 September 2026.

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<a id="which-door"></a>

Which operator family should you evaluate first?

Start with the door and its movement path. Not horsepower, not brand. For a sectional door, standard lift turns into a horizontal track above the opening; low headroom uses a compact track arrangement where clearance is limited; high lift rises farther vertically before turning horizontal; and full vertical lift continues upward without a horizontal run. The table gives the first family to evaluate and the condition that still has to be checked.

Sources: ANSI/DASMA 102-2018, section 8; DASMA TDS #1501; DASMA’s Technical Data Sheets index; and the linked manufacturer product pages in the selected ledger. The table is a planning crosswalk, not model approval. Verified 19 September 2026.

The standard-lift jackshaft requirement most guides get wrong

Wall-mounted operators look tidy. The standard says something narrower than “wall mount works on any sectional door.”

ANSI/DASMA 102-2018, section 8.2.1 requires manufacturer-specified provisions that maintain adequate cable tension before a motorized jackshaft operator is used on a standard-lift or low-headroom sectional door.

Here is why, in plain terms. A jackshaft moves a sectional door through the shaft, drums and cables. Cable tension is lowest around the fully open position, which is where the operator begins closing the door. If the system does not maintain the required tension and cable retention, a cable can lose proper engagement with its drum. DASMA’s TDS #1501 treats that as a door-system issue with consequences that can include uncontrolled movement, equipment damage and severe injury.

The safe buying questions are high level: does the door manufacturer support this arrangement; what manufacturer-approved cable-tension and retention provisions are part of it; does the operator have the required control and monitoring features; and who will inspect and test the completed system? Entrapment protection does not by itself keep a sectional-door cable on its drum.

For low-headroom track, TDS #1501 says to consult both the door and operator manufacturers because an open low-headroom door is nearly horizontal and may have little or no cable tension.

None of this means a jackshaft can never go on a standard-lift door. It means the arrangement is conditional rather than the default, and the exact door and operator manufacturers have to support it.

What a trolley requires from the door and structure

Trolleys have their own requirements. DASMA TDS #166 (Rev. 6/25) says a drawbar connection should follow the door manufacturer’s instructions and addresses:

• Top-section reinforcement near the operator-arm connection.
• An adequate header bracket and supporting structure for the rail and repeated operating forces.
• Ceiling attachment to structural framing, not finish material alone.
• Removal of pull ropes and manufacturer-approved treatment of mechanical locks so they do not fight the operator.

Wind-load-rated doors need special care because the tested assembly may depend on its locking devices. Do not remove or disable a lock unless the door manufacturer’s instructions permit it for the powered configuration.

Sources: DASMA TDS #1501, 12/08/22; ANSI/DASMA 102-2018, section 8; and DASMA TDS #166, Rev. 6/25.

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<a id="trolley-or-jackshaft"></a>

Trolley or jackshaft: the short version

Sources: DASMA TDS #160, #166 and #1501; Raynor’s current Optima dual-trolley configuration; current manufacturer application statements linked in the ledger. This is Uptime’s planning crosswalk, not a manufacturer’s approval for a specific door.

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<a id="duty-ratings"></a>

Duty ratings: what they mean, and why the names do not line up

A duty rating is how hard the manufacturer says the named operator may be worked: cycles per hour, and sometimes cycles per day. One cycle is closed → open → closed. It is not one opening.

DASMA defines the vocabulary — duty cycle, intermittent duty and continuous duty — but it does not assign a universal numeric threshold to every marketing tier. Its light-duty definition says the operator is intended and marked for limited or restricted duty; it does not turn “light,” “medium” or “heavy” into cross-brand numbers.

That is the problem in one sentence: the tier names belong to each catalog, not to one shared rating scale. Here is what happens when you line them up.

The same words, different numbers

Sources: current manufacturer pages linked in the selected model ledger and listed in the source register. A “no tier” entry means the exact tier name was not stated on the cited page; it does not prove the manufacturer has never used the term. Verified 19 September 2026.

Three findings fall out of that table:

★ “Medium duty” spans 10 to 15 cycles per hour across four reviewed manufacturers. PowerMaster publishes up to 10, LiftMaster a maximum of 12, Manaras 14 and Genie up to 15. ● The highest figure is 50% above the lowest because 15 ÷ 10 = 1.5.

★ Genie’s light-duty GCL-LJ is published at up to 15 cycles per hour and fewer than 30 per day. Its hourly figure is higher than LiftMaster’s medium-duty maximum of 12 and PowerMaster’s medium-duty limit of 10. The labels alone would suggest the opposite.

★ Among the four reviewed manufacturers with an hourly figure for the heaviest selected line, the range is 25 to 60 cycles per hour. LiftMaster and Manaras publish 25 for the selected lines, Raynor 30, and Genie up to 60. ● The top figure is 2.4 times the bottom one because 60 ÷ 25 = 2.4.

Manaras publishes two Opera-SH daily figures for different source pages. The current standard product page states 25 cycles per hour and greater than 100 per day. Its NEMA-modification page states 25 per hour and greater than 80 per day. The selected ledger uses the greater-than-100 figure only for the cited standard configuration and does not carry it to a NEMA version.

These are comparisons of the selected current pages, not a claim that the sample is the whole market.

The same letters, different machines

Sources: current manufacturer product pages linked in the model ledger. Raynor’s Basic rating is preserved as the manufacturer states it: “14 cycles/hour or 50 cycles/day.” Verified 19 September 2026.

A quote that says “GH operator” is not a complete specification. In the selected sources, GH can refer to a 25-cycle-per-hour LiftMaster or Manaras product, a Genie product published at up to 60 per hour, or a differently named PowerMaster gear-reduced hoist family. Ask for the manufacturer, exact model, stated application, cycles per hour and cycles per day.

How to read any duty chart without changing what the source says

Use the named manufacturer page, keep qualifiers such as maximum, up to, fewer than, greater than and or, and leave an unstated daily or hourly figure unstated. Do not turn “fewer than 50” into 50, turn “greater than 80” into 80, or borrow a value from a similar model.

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Work out the duty rating you actually need

You need two operating counts where the manufacturer publishes both limits.

Count the busiest hour. Use a door counter, building records or a safe observation method to record the complete closed → open → closed cycles in the busiest 60 minutes.

Count a representative operating day. Record complete cycles across a normal busy day, including shift and dispatch peaks that a quiet sample would miss.

Then compare the two observed counts with every limit the named model publishes:

Required hourly use = complete cycles in the busiest hour
Required daily use = complete cycles in a representative operating day

Worked example 1 — the hourly limit does not fit. A distribution center records 16 complete cycles in its busiest hour and 45 in a representative day. A model published at “up to 15 cycles per hour” does not meet the observed hourly input even though 45 cycles per day may look modest.

Worked example 2 — the daily limit does not fit. A service shop records 8 complete cycles in its busiest hour and 55 in a day. A LiftMaster medium-duty model published at a maximum of 12 per hour and fewer than 50 per day clears the observed hour but does not meet the observed daily input.

Hourly and daily figures are separate constraints, not a formula for calculating how many hours a unit may run at its hourly maximum. Final selection also depends on the exact door application, track, size, balance, mounting, power, controls, environment and protection devices named in the manufacturer’s documents.

A higher-duty unit may cost more. A unit that does not meet the published application or duty inputs is not made suitable by a lower price. Neither this page nor any chart approves the final selection; the named door and operator documents and the qualified supplier or installer do that.

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<a id="power"></a>

Horsepower, voltage and phase

There is no single horsepower rule that works across these doors. Horsepower and door-system limits come from the named operator’s application and selection material, using the actual door, track, size, balance, gearing and operating conditions. What you can document before a quote is what the selected manufacturers publish and what electrical service exists at the opening.

Sources: LiftMaster Model J; Raynor ControlHoist Basic; Raynor ControlHoist Optima; PowerMaster Door & Grille Operators; and Genie Commercial Line Operators. These are named-product examples, not universal availability. Verified 19 September 2026.

Two practical points. First, three-phase is also a building-supply question — the required power has to exist at the opening or be provided as part of the electrical scope. Second, special environmental versions are often ordered as part of the operator, not added later. Genie states that its environmental modifications are factory built and cannot be added later. Put washdown, corrosive, freezer or classified-location conditions on the first request, not the last.

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<a id="ul325"></a>

The safety standard that changes how your new door behaves

ANSI/CAN/UL 325 is the product-safety standard for door, drapery, gate, louver and window operators and systems rated 600 volts or less. UL Standards & Engagement lists the active standard as Edition 7, first published 19 May 2017 and last revised 15 September 2025. It is a product standard, not the local building or fire code, and it does not by itself establish which edition a jurisdiction has adopted.

For commercial door operators, UL Solutions’ public explanation says an external entrapment-protection device at the floor-zone entrapment area is required when the door can close from a control other than constant pressure, such as a remote, timer or loop. The operator monitors that device; if the device is not working, closing functions are limited to constant-pressure-to-close.

DASMA TDS #382 summarizes the practical split for commercial door operators manufactured after August 2010: constant-pressure-to-close operation, or a suitable monitored external device such as a contact edge, photoelectric sensor or light curtain.

What that means when the crew leaves:

• Raynor’s current Basic and Optima pages say the operators are supplied standard with constant-pressure-to-close control. A new door that closes only while the close button is held can therefore be operating in its intended control mode rather than showing a fault.
• Closing from a remote, timer or loop requires the applicable monitored protection arrangement and control setup for the named operator.
• DASMA TDS #382 places the primary photoelectric beam no higher than six inches above the floor. A higher vehicle-detection sensor may be an added device, but it does not replace the primary monitored device described in that sheet.
• A failed or missing monitored device can also cause constant-pressure fallback. Do not bypass it. If an installed operator is already misbehaving, use the commercial garage door troubleshooting guide to separate safe observations from work for trained personnel.

One more term causes confusion: UL 325 usage Classes I through IV describe vehicular gate operators, not commercial door duty tiers. They should not be used as substitutes for a commercial door operator’s published hourly or daily rating.

Fire-door operators add another layer. UL’s public safety overview points back to the certified product, qualified installation, manufacturer instructions, the local code authority and the additional requirements that apply to fire-door systems. The ordinary selection tables on this page do not replace those requirements.

Sources: UL Standards & Engagement, UL 325; UL Solutions’ commercial-door explanation; UL 325 safety overview; DASMA TDS #382; DASMA TDS #350; and the current Raynor Basic and Optima pages. Verified 19 September 2026.

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<a id="ledger"></a>

The selected reference ledger: 56 models and configurations

This is the cross-manufacturer table we built for this page. It contains 56 selected model or configuration rows from five manufacturers. The selection covers the movement layouts, catalog labels, duty tiers, specialty applications and cross-brand comparisons used in the article; it is not every current or historical operator sold by those manufacturers.

Every model name links to the official product source used for that row. “Not published on cited page” means the selected manufacturer page did not state the value and we did not estimate it. The manufacturer type label is preserved separately from Uptime’s normalized base-layout and modifier fields.

LiftMaster

Source: linked LiftMaster product page in each row; category page: Commercial Door Operators. Verified 19 September 2026.

Genie

Source: linked Genie product page in each row; category page: Commercial Line Operators. Verified 19 September 2026.

Manaras-Opera

Source: linked Manaras-Opera product page in each row; index: Commercial Door Operators. Verified 19 September 2026.

PowerMaster

Source: linked PowerMaster product page or current category page in each row; category page: Door & Grille Operators. Verified 19 September 2026.

Raynor

Source: linked current Raynor ControlHoist Basic or Optima page in each row. Verified 19 September 2026.

The downloadable duty ledger adds the manual-operation statement, power options, exact source locator, source status, evidence type, verification date and publish status for every row.

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<a id="spec"></a>

What to put on the quote request

Two quotes are only comparable if they answer the same questions. Collect the information from existing records, labels that are safely readable from the floor, facility logs and qualified checks. Do not measure or inspect near springs, cables, a moving door, an unsupported door, energized controls or other stored-energy parts.

1. Door type and lift — sectional or rolling; standard lift, high lift, full vertical lift or low headroom.
2. Opening size — clear width and height from plans, records or a safe qualified measurement.
3. Door make, model or label — if safely readable.
4. Fire rating — yes, no or unknown. If yes, say so first; it changes the system boundary.
5. Cycles — complete cycles in the busiest hour and in a representative operating day.
6. Mounting space — whether an overhead rail path is clear and whether the named shaft-side, wall or hood position is available.
7. Power at the opening — voltage and phase from records or a qualified electrical check.
8. Manual operation required — hand chain, disconnect, battery backup or another named provision, plus who is authorized and trained to use it.
9. Environment — dry, washdown, corrosive, freezer, dusty or classified.
10. Controls and protection — three-button station, remote, keypad, card reader, loop, timer-to-close, interlocks, and which monitored devices are included, replaced or reused.

And the scope questions that decide whether the lower quote is actually lower: removal and disposal, mounting steel, door or track work, electrical circuit and disconnect, low-voltage wiring, sensors and edges, access-control or fire-alarm work, permits, lift or scaffolding, freight, commissioning, testing, training, warranty and exclusions.

This checklist organizes a request. It does not determine compatibility, approve a model or replace the door and operator manufacturers’ instructions.

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<a id="methodology"></a>

How we built this

We did document research, normalization and two disclosed calculations. Nothing here is a laboratory or field-test result.

What we selected. We selected 56 current manufacturer-published models or configurations from LiftMaster, Genie, Manaras-Opera, PowerMaster and Raynor. The sample was built to cover the movement layouts, catalog labels, duty tiers, specialty applications and comparisons used by this reference. It is not a census of every model in those catalogs.

Unit of observation. One row is a named model or manufacturer-published configuration, not every horsepower, voltage, phase, enclosure, control package or accessory SKU.

Source hierarchy. We used DASMA terminology and technical sheets, the ANSI-approved DASMA standard where accessible, UL’s official public material, and official manufacturer product or category pages. Dealer and forum pages are not evidence for the technical claims or model ratings on this page.

What the evidence labels mean.
★ Source-reported — the figure or statement appears in the cited primary source for the named model, term or rule.
● Calculated — Uptime computed the result from source-reported inputs and shows the arithmetic.

How we did the arithmetic. The two published comparisons are 15 ÷ 10 = 1.5, reported as a 50% spread between the selected medium-duty hourly figures, and 60 ÷ 25 = 2.4, reported as the ratio between the highest and lowest hourly figures in the selected heaviest lines. We did not calculate service life or convert hourly limits into a daily limit where the manufacturer did not publish one.

What we normalized. Uptime created separate base layout and modifiers fields so catalogs organized in different ways can be compared. That is an editorial crosswalk, not an industry standard. The dataset keeps the manufacturer’s type label and source wording in separate fields.

How we handled gaps. A value the selected source does not publish is recorded as “not published on the cited page.” It is never estimated, set to zero, copied from another model or changed from “fewer than,” “greater than,” “up to,” “maximum” or “or” into an exact value.

Reproducibility. The source register names the issuer, document or page, edition or current status, URL, access date and use. The data dictionary defines every field. The included build script regenerates all seven CSV tables and the combined JSON from the same embedded records.

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<a id="limitations"></a>

Limitations

• This is a selected reference, not a catalog census. It includes 56 models or configurations chosen for the article’s comparisons. It says nothing about market share, sales, product quality or which brand is best.
• Duty ratings are manufacturer-stated for the named model and source. They are not independent test results and are not one common cross-brand test scale.
• Some sources publish an hourly figure and no daily figure. Those cells remain unknown. An absent value is not zero.
• A duty rating is not a lifespan. The reviewed primary sources do not provide a national service-life figure, so this page does not publish one.
• Ratings and applications can change by configuration. Motor size, voltage, gearing, enclosure, controls, accessories and the door system can matter.
• The dataset does not contain enough information for a universal sizing calculator. It does not approve a model, door weight, structural connection or installation.
• Manufacturer pages change. Every row states the source status and was verified on 19 September 2026.
• We did not test, open, install or measure an operator. This is a source-based reference and disclosed editorial crosswalk.
• Standards and codes are not interchangeable. A published product standard or voluntary industry standard does not prove that one edition is adopted in every jurisdiction. The applicable code, listing, manufacturer instructions and authority having jurisdiction still control the installation.

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<a id="sources"></a>

Sources

Standards, terminology and safety sources

• DASMA. TDS #160, Sectional Garage Door Terminology. Rev. 8/17; reaffirmed 6/18; Rev. 1/19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA. TDS #166, Guidelines for Connecting a Drawbar Operator to a Sectional Garage Door. Rev. 6/25. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA. TDS #350, Garage Door Operator and Gate Operator Terminology. Rev. 6/26. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA. TDS #382, Proper Installation of Photoelectric Non-Contact Sensors on Vehicular Commercial Door Operators. Rev. 05/22/22. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA. TDS #1501, Standard Lift Garage Doors with Jackshaft Operation. 12/08/22. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA (ANSI-approved). ANSI/DASMA 102-2018, Specifications for Sectional Overhead-Type Doors, section 8. 2018; listed by DASMA as current on 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• DASMA. Technical Data Sheets index. Current index checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• UL Solutions. New US & Canada Binational Standard Published for Door and Gate Operators and Systems. Published 2018-09-11; describes ANSI/CAN/UL 325 first published 2017-05-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• UL Solutions. UL 325 50th Anniversary & Key Safety Issues. Published 2023; current page checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• UL Standards & Engagement. UL 325 — Door, Drapery, Gate, Louver, and Window Operators and Systems. Edition 7; active; last revision 2025-09-15. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.

Manufacturer sources

• LiftMaster (Chamberlain Group). Selected current commercial door operator product pages: MT, MJ, MH, MGJ, J, DHJ, GH. Current product pages checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• The Genie Company. Commercial Line Operators and selected named product pages. Current category/product pages checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• Manaras-Opera. Selected current model product pages. Current product pages checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• PowerMaster (Commercial Electric Systems). Door & Grille Operators and selected named product pages. Current category/product pages checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• Raynor Garage Doors. ControlHoist Basic commercial operator page. Current product page checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• Raynor Garage Doors. ControlHoist Optima commercial operator page. Current product page checked 2026-09-19. Source. Accessed 19 September 2026.

Per-row source URLs, locators and verification fields are in the downloadable duty ledger and source register.

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<a id="cite"></a>

How to cite this page

Page: Uptime Dock & Door Research. “Commercial Garage Door Opener Types: What Each One Fits, and What the Duty Ratings Really Mean.” Uptime Dock & Door. Last verified 19 September 2026. Accessed [date].

Dataset: Uptime Dock & Door Research. Commercial Door Operator Type and Duty Ledger v1.0. 56 selected model/configuration rows from five manufacturers; seven tables and 139 rows total. Compiled and verified 19 September 2026. Accessed [date].

No separate reuse license has been assigned to the compiled files. Source-reported product and standards facts remain tied to their cited primary sources. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it and note the change.

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Download the data

Commercial Door Operator Type and Duty Ledger v1.0 — seven CSV tables, 139 rows total, plus one combined JSON file and a data dictionary. Compiled and verified 19 September 2026. UTF-8.

• operator-duty-ledger-v1.0.csv — 56 selected models/configurations with manufacturer type labels, Uptime base-layout and modifier fields, duty, applications, manual operation, power options, source locators and evidence status
• operator-families-v1.0.csv — 15 operator families, modifiers and specialty products
• duty-tier-crosswalk-v1.0.csv — 6 tier or duty labels across the 5 reviewed manufacturers
• model-letter-crosswalk-v1.0.csv — 10 model letters across the 5 reviewed manufacturers
• nomenclature-crosswalk-v1.0.csv — 20 everyday terms mapped to the source terminology
• door-to-operator-map-v1.0.csv — 16 door configurations and the first operator family to evaluate
• source-register-v1.0.csv — 16 primary-source entries with issuer, edition or current status and access date
• commercial-door-operator-ledger-v1.0.json — all seven tables combined, with dataset metadata
• data-dictionary-v1.0.md — every field defined, plus inclusion, normalization and missing-value rules

Change log: v1.0 — 19 September 2026 — first release.

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<a id="faq"></a>

Questions people ask

Is a jackshaft better than a trolley?
Neither is universally better. A standard-lift sectional door with a clear overhead path commonly starts with a trolley. High-lift, full vertical-lift and many rolling-door applications commonly start with a shaft-driven/jackshaft or hoist configuration. A jackshaft on standard-lift or low-headroom sectional track needs the door manufacturer’s cable-tension provisions and support for the exact arrangement.

Is a hoist operator the same as a jackshaft?
In DASMA terminology, a hoist electric operator is similar to a jackshaft operator with an auxiliary emergency chain, and a chain-hoist operator is a jackshaft type with a chain hoist attached. Manufacturers may still list “hoist” and “jackshaft” as separate catalog choices. Read the named model’s manual-operation arrangement.

Can I put a residential opener on a small commercial door?
Do not decide by appearance or door size alone. Use a product the manufacturer publishes for the commercial application and whose listing or certification covers the product and intended use.

Do I need three-phase power?
Only if the selected model and configuration require it. The reviewed products include single-phase and three-phase options, but the exact voltages differ by model. Confirm the electrical service at the opening before the quote is finalized.

How long should a commercial operator last?
A duty rating is not a lifespan. The reviewed primary sources do not supply one national service-life figure. Service life depends on the named equipment, use, door condition, environment, installation and maintenance.

Why does my new door only close while I hold the button?
A common reason is the operator’s intended constant-pressure-to-close mode. A failed monitored protection device can also force constant-pressure fallback. Do not bypass the device; use the commercial garage door troubleshooting guide or the named manufacturer’s instructions to identify the proper next step.

What does a commercial door itself cost?
Different question, separate page: what a commercial garage door costs. The operator is priced separately from the door.

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An operator chart answers a selection question. If the door you have is already failing rather than being replaced by choice, the commercial overhead door repair page explains how a service request works and what the repair company confirms before quoting. Uptime Dock & Door refers work to repair companies; we do not sell or install operators.