I was calling my trellis the ‘Mother of all trellises” but that was being a little presumptuous. The cyclone fence around the garden was four feet tall and I thought that would be a little small for summer squash. My DW and I love the Butterbush squash and it vines about five or six feet so I wanted to increase the height of the existing fence to six feet high. The problem was the fence producers do not make couplers to extend the height of the corner or line post. I knew there had to be something out there I could use. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden ) What I found was automotive tail pipe couplers and since line/corner post came at a minimum of six-foot lengths and I would be scraping two feet, so I also used two-foot lengths of tail pipe. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden ) I reinstalled the original top rail on top of the extensions. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden ) The trellis will be holding about 110 to 120 pound of squash so I added a line post in the center of the span. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden ) I added cross members also to tie in the seams of the panels. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden ) I checked Tractor Supply’s web site and they claimed to have cattle panel on stock. After driving 20 miles I found out they only had hog panel. The hog panel is made using the same gage steel and the same size, 36” X 16’ so that is what I used. I wish I had taken a photo before I unloaded the truck. Can you imagine hauling 16’ long panels in a Ranger with a 6” bed? You can see at the far end of the trellis where I added a diagonal support to the corner post. When I finish the fence and gates at the open end, I will also add diagonals at the corner and on the line post. We get some strong summer storms with high winds so a little support will not hurt. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden )
Great idea on using the tail pipe couplings. Gonna have to keep that in mind. And that hog paneling looks like it was made just for this. I'm sure it'll hold up well for you and the squash.
You were wise to add diagonals John. That should stop any possibility of the trellis every being blown over. It certainly looks strong enough to support more than 120 lbs of squash. Love the way you've incorporated those automotive tail pipe couplers to suit your needs!!
Thanks all but I got this thread ahead of my self. I didn't have good luck with squash but the trellis is great for tomatoes and should be great for vining squash and cucumbers. I will post the thread I should have posted first.
Good thinking with the use of the tail pipe couplers,..that's something i will keep in mind for the future.
Good work, JB. That will serve you well for this squash planting but also in the future. Very nice work indeed.
