Recycled tomato cages

heirloomer08 · January 14, 2010

Just a note on what I do to make my own tomato cages. I live in Iowa and this is farm country. What I have used to make my own tomato cages with little or no expense is used woven wire. I have yet to find a farmer that doesn't have piles of old fencing in his grove. If you go talk to the farmer and tell him what you would like to do with the woven wire he will most likely give it to you just to get rid of it. Sometimes the farmer might require a small fee to get it but just work something out with them. When I make mine I count out 9 full squares and the 10th square I cut in the middle of the square the height if the fence. That will leave you a piece of wire on each side of you piece. Make a hook on each of these short wires and make a circle and hook them to each other in the same line. Once they are hooked together crimp them down tight so they don't come apart. The tallest woven wire is only about 39" tall so you will need two of these cages to make one tall cage for tomatoes. I usually wire them together or use what is called "hog rings" to wire them together. The hog rings work really well as they are already shaped in a "C" shape and all you have to do is use a pliers and crimp them around the other wire to combine the to cages. If is a lot faster then twisting wire pieces to put them together. But, just a helpfull hint, hog rings are very sharp at the ends as they are designed to go through the tip of a hogs nose. Most any farm or hardware store should have or be able to get the hog rings for you. What I use to hold the cages in the garden are the steel fence posts that the farmer uses to hold his fence up. Most of the time you can get used post from farmers as they sometime have an older syle that they don't use anymore. Last year I made 50 cages out of this material and I don't think I spent more than $30 to do it. But, you have to keep in mind that I live in farm country and have some fantastic neighbors that are farmers. Also, most of the time but not all of the time they will give it to you just to get rid of it. Once the farmer is done with holding the livestock in with it it still will hold your tomatoes for years to come. It also would be a good idea if the farmer donated the material you might return the favor by giving him some tomatoes.
I hope this will give somebody some ideas and a way to recycle a used material.
Later, heirloomer08

yotetrapper · January 14, 2010

I would love to see some pictures of your cages if you have any.

heirloomer08 · January 14, 2010

Hi Yotetrapper, right now they are under about 30" of snow. I will dig one out this weekend and send you a photo. Also, if anybody knows how to get a photo posted here let me know and I will also post a photo to this thread.
Later, heirloomer08

TZ-OH6 · January 15, 2010

You sure are right that it is a pain to dispose of if you don't want it any more.

I already had cages so when I pulled up our broken down livestock fence I used it as trellis material. I cut it into ten foot sections and hung it on electrical conduit pipes for easy handling. 2x2s, with a nail driven in near the top, and tied to shorter T-posts hold the panels up.

The fencing is actually pretty cheap new, about 1/3 the price of CRW (300 ft roll), but a bit flimsier.

heirloomer08 · January 15, 2010

I guess I have to say I just can't through much out. I will always come up with a use for a lot of things. Although, I will have to say my wife sometimes has a completely different outlook on my "trove of treasures".

yotetrapper · January 16, 2010

heirloomer when you get the pics, I can post them for you. To post them yourself, you'd need to host them on a site such as photo bucket, or image shack. Once you upload the photo there, they give you a code that willl look something like this....[img]..http://www.picture.jpg....[/img] which you could then copy to a message here to post.

pacmanJohn · January 23, 2010

Sounds like I do something very similar. I have used metal tent stakes (3 per cage) driven into the ground to hold the cages. I'm 6' 4" and I'd say the cages are somewhere around chest high on me (maybe a bit shorter). I think I'm going to have to also utilize the metal posts as the heirlooms and cherry tomato plants pull the wire over on a few of them.

stormymater · January 24, 2010

nice garden & cute kid!

veggie babe · January 24, 2010

looking good in Kentucky

Neva

yotetrapper · January 28, 2010

Here, this is a pic of heirloomer08's cages. This one is made from two pieces of woven wire, connected together, and is 50-51" tall and 26" in diameter. The finished size of the cage will depend on the size of the woven wire you get.

heirloomer08 · January 28, 2010

Thanks so very much yotetrapper for posting the photo for me. When I get some time I am going to have to figure out how to post photos myself.

These cages work really well for me! I have 50 built and I'm going to build 75 more this spring.
thanks, heriloomer08

January 14, 2010	#1
heirloomer08 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Iowa Posts: 89	Recycled tomato cages Just a note on what I do to make my own tomato cages. I live in Iowa and this is farm country. What I have used to make my own tomato cages with little or no expense is used woven wire. I have yet to find a farmer that doesn't have piles of old fencing in his grove. If you go talk to the farmer and tell him what you would like to do with the woven wire he will most likely give it to you just to get rid of it. Sometimes the farmer might require a small fee to get it but just work something out with them. When I make mine I count out 9 full squares and the 10th square I cut in the middle of the square the height if the fence. That will leave you a piece of wire on each side of you piece. Make a hook on each of these short wires and make a circle and hook them to each other in the same line. Once they are hooked together crimp them down tight so they don't come apart. The tallest woven wire is only about 39" tall so you will need two of these cages to make one tall cage for tomatoes. I usually wire them together or use what is called "hog rings" to wire them together. The hog rings work really well as they are already shaped in a "C" shape and all you have to do is use a pliers and crimp them around the other wire to combine the to cages. If is a lot faster then twisting wire pieces to put them together. But, just a helpfull hint, hog rings are very sharp at the ends as they are designed to go through the tip of a hogs nose. Most any farm or hardware store should have or be able to get the hog rings for you. What I use to hold the cages in the garden are the steel fence posts that the farmer uses to hold his fence up. Most of the time you can get used post from farmers as they sometime have an older syle that they don't use anymore. Last year I made 50 cages out of this material and I don't think I spent more than $30 to do it. But, you have to keep in mind that I live in farm country and have some fantastic neighbors that are farmers. Also, most of the time but not all of the time they will give it to you just to get rid of it. Once the farmer is done with holding the livestock in with it it still will hold your tomatoes for years to come. It also would be a good idea if the farmer donated the material you might return the favor by giving him some tomatoes. I hope this will give somebody some ideas and a way to recycle a used material. Later, heirloomer08

January 23, 2010	#7
pacmanJohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Frankfort, KY Posts: 143	Sounds like I do something very similar. I have used metal tent stakes (3 per cage) driven into the ground to hold the cages. I'm 6' 4" and I'd say the cages are somewhere around chest high on me (maybe a bit shorter). I think I'm going to have to also utilize the metal posts as the heirlooms and cherry tomato plants pull the wire over on a few of them. __________________ John

January 14, 2010	#2
yotetrapper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Oakland MS Posts: 231	I would love to see some pictures of your cages if you have any.

January 15, 2010	#4
TZ-OH6 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mid-Ohio Posts: 847	You sure are right that it is a pain to dispose of if you don't want it any more. I already had cages so when I pulled up our broken down livestock fence I used it as trellis material. I cut it into ten foot sections and hung it on electrical conduit pipes for easy handling. 2x2s, with a nail driven in near the top, and tied to shorter T-posts hold the panels up. The fencing is actually pretty cheap new, about 1/3 the price of CRW (300 ft roll), but a bit flimsier.

January 16, 2010	#6
yotetrapper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Oakland MS Posts: 231	heirloomer when you get the pics, I can post them for you. To post them yourself, you'd need to host them on a site such as photo bucket, or image shack. Once you upload the photo there, they give you a code that willl look something like this....[img]..http://www.picture.jpg....[/img] which you could then copy to a message here to post.

January 24, 2010	#8
stormymater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pleasure Island, NC 8a Posts: 1,162	nice garden & cute kid!

January 24, 2010	#9
veggie babe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: east texas Posts: 686	looking good in Kentucky Neva

January 28, 2010	#10
yotetrapper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Oakland MS Posts: 231	Here, this is a pic of heirloomer08's cages. This one is made from two pieces of woven wire, connected together, and is 50-51" tall and 26" in diameter. The finished size of the cage will depend on the size of the woven wire you get.