After a number of comments regarding the restrictions of the rigidly attached EarthTainer cage system, and a few scraped knuckles of my own in emptying and refilling, planting them with the cages in the way, I've developed a new, user-friendly design. It basically takes a commonly available Pea Fence (6 panels each 14 inches in length) and with some leg bends, adapts the cage to "grip" the rim of the 'Tainer:
It is relatively easy to make the required bends to the 1/8" galvanized legs which will attach as the 12 anchor points:
Once the base unit is fabricated, a second cage (without any bends) is inserted to double the height to a total of 62 inches:
Four 1/8" wire rope clips then attach the outboard legs of the extension cage to the base unit:
It takes about 30 minutes to make the 36 bends, and assemble the cages together:
The cage assembly then simply snaps on to the EarthTainer, providing 12 self-supporting hardpoints:
Optionally, you can attach flexible tarp straps to the diagonal corners of the cage to provide further tension to the assembly:
The neat thing about this new design is that at the end of the Season, you can remove the cage from the EarthTainer and flatten it out:
Stores nicely up against a wall in the garage taking up minimum space:
Cost for the two panel 62" high system for each EarthTainer runs about $17.50 using the $25.00 off coupon at Gurneys.com
http://gurneys.com/pea-fence/p/12826/
Hint: Order two cartons (4 panels) plus a $1.00 pack of seeds, and you will be just at the $50.00 minimum order).
I'll be updating the EarthTainer Construction Guide with specific bend dimensions, etc. in the near future.
Raybo