My support system - square CRW cages

[chesterfielder]

I needed a sturdy support system and of course I ended up looking at concrete reinforcement wire. Much has been said about making round cages from a roll, but living in a big city apartment created a couple of problems that I needed to overcome.

I have a small backyard that I'm using for a nice size garden, but I also wanted to use the patio area that leads down to it. I found a good deal on some square pots that would fit right up against the patio fence and railing so I could connect the cages to it. It wasn't only the shape of the pots that led to the idea of square cages, but I needed them to fold up for the end of year storage. So, here it is.

I used the 4'x7' flat panel CRW found at many big box stores, I got mine from L*wes. I cut them in half lengthwise which left me with three 6" squares and one partial square used for the connections wide and 13 6" squares long. I decided to use 10 squares as the height and the rest to insert it into the pot which left me with a respectable 60" height.

When I cut it in half I made sure the part I bend to connect them was on the outside so as not to go against the weld and have it break off.


The tricky part is making sure the connections allow the panels to swing flat.
To do this just wrap the wire underneath the opposing panels horizontal wire.


I finished the two half's and made sure they folded.


After connecting the two panels together, I made a few cuts and bends so it could easily fit into my pots.



Even with the bottom end bends, it still folds relatively flat.


I know this is a lot more work than the round cages, but as I only need ten or so it was no problem for me.
I think they turned out great, and of course painting is optional

[rnewste]

Excellent Craftsmanship!!

Did you paint them a powder coat of green paint, or do they come painted from Lowes?

Raybo

[chesterfielder]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Excellent Craftsmanship!!

Did you paint them a powder coat of green paint, or do they come painted from Lowes?

Raybo

Thanks! I couldn't stand the rust so I sanded and painted them myself.

[Bama mater]

Yes, Very nice work, Good job.

[Timbotide]

Excellent Work. Those should last you a long time.

[myhouseofBOYS]

could you also just bend the 4 ft part like a book and have a 7ft L shape with 2 ft long sides?

[chesterfielder]

Originally Posted by myhouseofBOYS

could you also just bend the 4 ft part like a book and have a 7ft L shape with 2 ft long sides?

Storage would be a little more difficult that way. And you still have to connect two sides together, so why not go for the home run and connect two more?

[myhouseofBOYS]

Originally Posted by chesterfielder

Storage would be a little more difficult that way. And you still have to connect two sides together, so why not go for the home run and connect two more?

except that I loose a square doing that no? Trying to cage a 2x4 plot with as few steps as possible .

[chesterfielder]

Originally Posted by myhouseofBOYS

except that I loose a square doing that no? Trying to cage a 2x4 plot with as few steps as possible .

Something like this?





Just cut the panels to whatever size you need, then use zip ties to connect them. I going to use mason twine on the inside for support.

Giant Belgium is the biggest one. Doing well, but it's not liking the windy day.

[myhouseofBOYS]

I swear I am usually not so dense but what exactly am I looking at. Did you bend around the "rebar" or are they zip tied at the "bends"? And if you did that didn't you loose a square where you cut the thing "in half" (or whatever %age) and had to discard the excess horizontal wires?
A row Looks like [][][][][][][][]
but cutting that row you get [][][][] and a ][][][] because one side gets the I and the other a 3 sided square. If I use 4 foot widths I am fine on the 4 ft sides but cutting it in half for my "2 foot" sides will get me one 2 foot peice and one peice with 18 inches of squares and another open 6 inch 3 sided "square" but no way to tie it off or to anything because it only has horizontal wires.
I like what I see I just don't know what it is I am looking at. I also need to avoid excess horizontal wires as I have 5 young children and thus would like to avoid impayling issues.

[chesterfielder]

Originally Posted by myhouseofBOYS

I swear I am usually not so dense but what exactly am I looking at. Did you bend around the "rebar" or are they zip tied at the "bends"? And if you did that didn't you loose a square where you cut the thing "in half" (or whatever %age) and had to discard the excess horizontal wires?
A row Looks like [][][][][][][][]
but cutting that row you get [][][][] and a ][][][] because one side gets the I and the other a 3 sided square. If I use 4 foot widths I am fine on the 4 ft sides but cutting it in half for my "2 foot" sides will get me one 2 foot peice and one peice with 18 inches of squares and another open 6 inch 3 sided "square" but no way to tie it off or to anything because it only has horizontal wires.
I like what I see I just don't know what it is I am looking at. I also need to avoid excess horizontal wires as I have 5 young children and thus would like to avoid impayling issues.

Yes a full row looks like [][][][][][][][]
The main reason I had to cut the full panel in “half” was to be able to fit them in my car , thus getting [][][][] and a ][][][]
That was ok with me though, because I was going to turn the [][][][] “half” into a ][][][] so I would have ][][][] ][][][] for my pot cages.
The large cage around the bed was an afterthought. All I had was a bunch of ][][][] panels. So yes, I kept the ] part on the panels and bent them around the poles.


But I could have as easily cut them off or wrapped them around like I did on my pot cages.

Since you need exactly 2' there's no way of getting around having [][][][

You could do this on the inside


You can then remove some horizontal, or even vertical sections, to protect the kids as long as it has enough stability.

I hope this helps

[myhouseofBOYS]

you think I could cap off the ends with these type of caps also? http://www.lowes.com/pd_135629-315-F...d|1&facetInfo=

[chesterfielder]

Originally Posted by myhouseofBOYS

you think I could cap off the ends with these type of caps also? http://www.lowes.com/pd_135629-315-F...d|1&facetInfo=

There would be no need to if they are in the inside