The Industrial Tomato Cage Build

Hey everyone!!

So, I've been trying to stay busy here lately by any means
possible, even if it means building gardening supplies for my
mom...

My mom is an avid gardener, and always grows and cans a whole
bunch of Tomatos every year. Between normal wear and tear,
and the epic winds we have here in Ohio, the 99 cent store
bought tomato cages never last very long.

So, she decided she wanted something stronger.

One day, we sat down and came up with a simple design, and I
got my sister Heather to help me build them. We drove to the
city and bought a whole mess of 3/4" round bar stock, and all
the 1x1/8" flat stock my steel yard had in stock, came home, and
got to work.

The round bar sure was rusty, but the flat stock rolled quite
nicely in my $20 homemade ring roller. We got everything setup,
and I gave her a crash course in mig welding with the 187, and
she welded the rings closed herself, defiantly didn't do a bad job
for a first time welder.

Anyway... We made a couple videos about this project, just
thought I'd share. Hope everyones having a good week, enjoy the
videos Yeehaw!!
video1 video2
<object width="853" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X2pRrRQ6lMg?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X2pRrRQ6lMg?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="853" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>, <object width="853" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EM0RJ9vYkxA?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EM0RJ9vYkxA?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="853" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

holy carp! thats heavy duty and then some. Bill

Lanse

I think that is wonderful that your taking the time to teach your Sister to weld . Can t never tell She will always remember your time spent together making the plant retainers for yuor mom.
She will always remeber that She can do anything that she sets her mind to do .

Thanks foe the post , Have a great Day .
John

I have found the 6x6 wwf for concrete floors cut to 6 or 8 squares works just as good and lasts forever.
Cut off the bottom horizontal wire and twist the last wire back on itself. You wind up with a 18 inch round and 5.5 foot tall cage.

Over 40 years ago I made tomato cages from heavy duty reinforcement wire. They're about 20 inches in diameter. I'm down to about 18 cages.
I used bolt cutters to cut the heavy wire and I used heavy duty plastic ties, but over the years they didn't last so I now use binder twine. I cut off the bottom horizontal wire so the cages have legs. I jammed those legs into the soft ground to support the tomato plants until Fall.
I also mulch the plant inside the cages to hold moisture and to kill any weeds. Hal
PS: Here's a pic of cage and tomato.

Only thing about the 6x6 wire is I don"t like having to quarter up the tomatoes to get them out of the cage!!

You might want to do some test marketing with a few of those next spring to see if they will sell for a price to give you a profit.

Any garden shows in the area where you could show the cages? Or maybe consign some to a garden center?

Glad to see your sister wearing safety glasses.

I taught two classes of blind students at a Trade/Tech & Junior college. One of the blind student was a fellow who owned a service station. He used a wire wheel on a grinder and a wire came out blinded him in one eye. He went right back to work without wearing safety glasses - and the same wire wheel took out his good eye.

I made some for the better half using woven wire, rolled into a circle, anchored with a steel post. Any heavier needed, I"d make them out of hog panels (quarter inch wire, 36 inches high. Square holes give more support to the plant than your two rings.

Did you see on Fox news yesterday a special report about employment in SD? They reported a WELDER with overtime could make "north of 80K a year. And with low cost of living and no state income tax it was a real opportuninity. Then they mentioned WINTER.

Would rebar be cheaper for the rods?
The Hutterites make a lot of stakes and things for trappers, dog trainers, and they use a lot of rebar.

Those cages look to be pretty heavy with all that metal. Wire cages don't weigh very much and they will support any tomato plant. Hal

Is your sister single?

I'm sorry...couldn't resist. :lol:

Low cost of living? I wonder where they came up with that. Housing costs are nuts because they don't have enough people to build anything, they are working in the oil fields.

Does anyone else find the jumpy movement and distorted sounds of the fast-forward amusing?

Amen. No need for such overkill. Such a waste of money on that steel...