Colin Smith is a New Zealand electrician, builder, and entrepreneur who has spent most of his working life solving practical problems with his hands.

He began his career as an apprentice electrician in Lower Hutt, built a small electrical contracting business, worked in Australia, spent nearly a decade in building, then found his way back to his electrical roots — and what would become his main business: the design, manufacture, and automation of gates, which he built into a six-person operation trading as Gateman, before selling it.

Most people would have called it a day. Colin couldn’t leave it alone.

After relocating to a lifestyle property in Wairarapa, he found himself facing a familiar frustration: gates. He’d spent decades automating them for others. Now he wanted something better for himself — simpler, tougher, and far more affordable than anything else on the market.

After 18 months of development and refinement, the Farm Gate Operator was born. It draws on everything Colin learned over 25-plus years in the industry, distilled into a single, reliable mechanism that any farmer can install and forget.