Cages

Tyler

5 year old buck +
How many feet of cage do you typically put around your trees?
 
I'm the biggest rookie there is, but for mine I cut 10' lengths and tried making about a 9' circle, overlapping about a foot. I've seen pics of bigger and smaller.
 
I usually do a 4 foot circle. So 4x3.14 = about 12 feet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I like remesh because it is heavy and stands on its own without the cost of multiple posts. Openings are lager than most welded wire, so I like a little more diameter. Remesh is about 5' tall and I typically use about 15' or so per cage.

Thanks,

Jack
 
15 ft will give you just under a 5 ft circumference. 15/3.14=4.77
 
I go for a minimum of a 4' dia. cage. I use concrete mesh that's 5 ft. tall for the same reasons Jack mentioned above.
 
15 ft will give you just under a 5 ft circumference. 15/3.14=4.77
Yep, you got the math right!
 
I also use concrete mesh. If you can find the old stuff from farms, it is much thicker, and stronger then the new stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am doing 12.5' sections of remesh. Bought 150' rolls and will get 12 cages per roll for a 4' diameter.
 
Count me in the 5' tall remesh cut at 15' lengths, producing 5' dia cage. 150' roll makes 10 cages.
 
I use 4 ft high welded wire. 100 ft roll yields six pieces cut to 16'8".
 
Not to derail the thread too much here, but is a bolt cutter the best way to cut the remesh down to size? Or something else?
 
Last edited:
Not to derail the thread too much here, but is a bolt cutter the best way to cut the remesh down to size? Or something else?

That is what I use. The first year I just used a wire cutters, that was a lesson learned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wouldn't do anything less than 15' if you are on full-size root stock. Yes, bolt cutters or an angle grinder/cutoff wheel if you have power close.
 
Not to derail the thread too much here, but is a bolt cutter the best way to cut the remesh down to size? Or something else?

I use bolt cutters as well. I cut right next to cross wire leaving the excess wire on one side of the cage. When I install the cage, I simply bend those wires back around the other end of the strip to close the cage. It makes for easy opening and closing by me for grafting and such, but animals can't open it. One more thing I do is to string soft rope (paracord works) through the cage and back near the top middle. I do this twice at 90 degrees around the cage. It creates a rectangle in the center of the cage bounded by the intersection of the 4 strands of rope. This rectangle surrounds the central leader. This allows the trunk to blow and flex in the wind which trees need, but limits how far it can go. This keeps it growing straight up in the middle of the cage keeping the central leader safe from deer.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I do at least 20ft. I used to do smaller then the branches were growing into the cage and bending them. There is no correct answer in IMO. Your doing the right thing by caging so start with. Obviously, the larger the fence u put around your trees, the more money it will cost but who ever said our addiction was cheap. I use the welder wire 4ft, but changing to 5ft this year.
 
what is the cost of concrete mesh?

bill
 
Menards has a sale on 150 ft mesh this week for $90, normal about $105. A little better than the 11% sale I got a couple of weeks ago
 
I have used the concrete mesh before. My father in law is a builder and he once had some left over that he let me have. It is nice to not need posts.

My grandfather in law has been in the process of taking down fences at his farm and has a stockpile of nice posts that he refurbished and painted in his spare time. So I have had a nice source for those but I hate to keep asking him to have more.
 
Top