Rebar ties and tool

River-X

5 year old buck +
When caging your trees, who uses the rebar ties and tool? If you are not familiar with it I would gladly post some pics of them in use. It really saved me some time and is just plain easier than cutting wire lengths and twisting, not that it’s real hard, but it is much quicker if you have a bunch to cage. Only about $9 or $10.
 
I haven't thought of that but it sure would be easy.
 
Yeah, it works pretty slick
 
Here is a pic of the tool and a couple ties…74808326-368A-4522-9915-009DC37A6B91.jpeg0EAA54A8-BC01-4710-9310-AE6A541695E6.jpeg
 
I got these at Menards, but I’m sure a Home Depot, Lowe’s, local hardware etc. store would have the near concrete rebar supplies.
The tool was $5 and a package of 100 ties was $4.300106873D-24D7-4749-BFD5-52696AFA70F0.jpegF4DAC35B-8627-4A86-8D4C-C558B3A549E7.jpeg09E7F611-B0D7-4EFF-A93D-D5F1AD1B9D7C.jpeg
 
No intentions of removing the cages throughout the seasons to do work inside of them?
 
Absolutely. That is actually what prompted me to start using them. They are not real thick so I can snip them off easily. Pull a few out of my pocket and with a quick flip of the wrist, it is tied back up. I went out to the farm this morning and noticed I had to slip some cages off my crabapples to get rid of some burdock plants before late fall. That’s what made me think about posting this thread.1DCC2449-88DF-4053-B5A8-50A71E250BFB.jpeg
 
Looks like more work than good ol’ 8” Outdoor Zip-Ties…. Not a bad idea though! I bet they last a few more years than zip-ties.


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If not secured well I usually find my cages strewn around after what I assume is a buck getting his antlers into the side of the cage and removing it without my permission.
 
Mine has spiral grooves and you just pull it a couple times
 
I tend to just use a roll of tie wire and bar pliers, since I have them in my work bag anyway


Mine has spiral grooves and you just pull it a couple times
The first ones of those our company bought were red colored and soon were named after a certain part of a male dogs anatomy.
 
Looks like another decent trick. BnB's trick of using flexible rubber insulated copper wire works really well for me. I cut mine each about 11" long.
 
I use remesh cages. They are so sturdy, that they stand on their own and don't need t-posts for support. I use a single T-post to keep them from being pushed. I just use cable ties to tie one side to the post. When I cut the cages, I leave the horizontal pieces at other end full length. When I close the cage, I simply bend them around the T-Post. This keeps them closed, but it is easy to unbend them if I wan to open the cage for maintenance.
 
I use a heavy guage electrical wire. It twists on and off easy. So far so good, only three years on them so far though.
 
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Lots of great ideas. Some I will be incorporating in the future.
 
I use remesh cages. They are so sturdy, that they stand on their own and don't need t-posts for support. I use a single T-post to keep them from being pushed. I just use cable ties to tie one side to the post. When I cut the cages, I leave the horizontal pieces at other end full length. When I close the cage, I simply bend them around the T-Post. This keeps them closed, but it is easy to unbend them if I wan to open the cage for maintenance.
Its what I do as well, usualy just enough bend in that wire to hook the t-post attached side, no need to keep bending each time I open the cage - to many x bending and the remesh will break, just bend it to a hook shape and when you close the cage hook it in place. Works for years that way. I usually just lift the other end (whole cage) and slide it down the t post when installing - I dont use anything to attach or tie the cage.
 
Its what I do as well, usualy just enough bend in that wire to hook the t-post attached side, no need to keep bending each time I open the cage - to many x bending and the remesh will break, just bend it to a hook shape and when you close the cage hook it in place. Works for years that way. I usually just lift the other end (whole cage) and slide it down the t post when installing - I dont use anything to attach or tie the cage.

You're probably right. I'm just so poor with maintenance that I haven't opened and closed mine enough to notice. :emoji_astonished:
 
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