Gabion baskets

[Russell griffiths]

Anybody got a cheap source of gabion baskets, got a bit of a project on this winter, will need a load of them. 

Cheers russ. 

[nod]

8 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Anybody got a cheap source of gabion baskets, got a bit of a project on this winter, will need a load of them. 

Cheers russ. 

I’ve bought loads from Songmics 

Germany 

They take about five days to arrive 

[iSelfBuild]

How many do you need, what size? My friend supplies the trade but will only really accept large orders.

[Russell griffiths]

I will have a measure up. 

[SiBee]

I have used : “fine mesh metals “ twice in the past. Decent stuff. When I priced up buying my own sheets of weld mesh it worked out more expensive than buying made Gabon’s from these guys. They do come flat packed and don’t bother with the 1m coil closers as they look naff.

[K78]

I honestly think gabions are crazy expensive. Concrete Lego is a lot cheaper, quicker and stronger. Gabions look better though.

 

You can get great prices on blocks if you haggle because cement companies have loads sat on site. 

[Cpd]

1 hour ago, K78 said:

I honestly think gabions are crazy expensive. 

Got to agree there...... for what that are one would think they would be cheaper...... boohoo said piggy ! 

[K78]

4 minutes ago, Cpd said:

Got to agree there...... for what that are one would think they would be cheaper...... boohoo said piggy ! 

 

Empty cages were more expensive than the blocks I used.

 

Ivy will cover them eventually.

[Cpd]

Love the simplicity of it and the structure, no good to me as no local suppliers and transport to my island would be very cost prohibitive, gabions are my only real choice as I have plenty of stone to fill them on site or close by and I can fit a lot of empty gabions in my 10x5 trailer. 

[scottishjohn]

11 minutes ago, Cpd said:

Love the simplicity of it and the structure, no good to me as no local suppliers and transport to my island would be very cost prohibitive, gabions are my only real choice as I have plenty of stone to fill them on site or close by and I can fit a lot of empty gabions in my 10x5 trailer. 

and you don,t need a crane to drop gabions in place

[K78]

14 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

and you don,t need a crane to drop gabions in place

 

I didn’t need a crane to build that wall. 

 

Farmer and a digger worked out fine. The blocks have lifting shackles cast in. 

Edited July 15, 2019 by K78

[K78]

21 minutes ago, Cpd said:

Love the simplicity of it and the structure, no good to me as no local suppliers and transport to my island would be very cost prohibitive, gabions are my only real choice as I have plenty of stone to fill them on site or close by and I can fit a lot of empty gabions in my 10x5 trailer. 

 

The hardest part was pouring the incline foundation which reduced the width at the base of the wall. The weather was awful. 

 

Gabions sound like your best option being on a island. 

 

Giant Lego really saved my build. Funny that initially I didn’t bother getting a quote as I assumed they would be one of the more expensive options. 

 

I had a quote for a timber crib wall. Thinking it would be the cheapest. Came back at £65k. 

[matt-shrops]

brought mine from Hyt-ten in Wolverhampton.

Cheapest I could find and delivered.

[Tin Soldier]

bought mine from vida xl

 

https://www.manomano.co.uk/filter/stone-fence-2508?brand_names=VIDAXL

 

free delivery, which for me up north, is amazing

[Cpd]

Thread resurrection......  I am getting very close to needing to order quite a lot of gabion baskets. Being based in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland may make delivery from some companies  prohibitive...... most of my proposed walls are between one to two meters high but all can be rounded down or up to the nearest 500mm 
I have four main areas and  a back of the fag packet calculation gives me an area of 185 Square meters but of various priorities as listed below. 

 

priority area  = 35 m2 

Driveway project area = 75m2 
Cottage area 45m2 

Polly tunnel 30m2 
 

I expect cost is going to restrict me form ordering them all at once and therefore maybe I will need to do it in 3 stages. 
I definitely would like to uses ones with square / rectangular mesh shape not the more rounded / hexagon  pattern 
I am assuming that 1m cube is a good standard size but see  Lots at 1m x 500mm and wondered if anyone had used these. 
Is there a specific gauge of wire that I should be aiming for 4mm ? 
It’s very much a practical project not fancy garden stuff..... 

have people got any new information or feedback from projects they have done, quality of goods, longevity, flawed design, etc 

 

@Russell griffiths @iSelfBuild @nod @SiBee @matt-shrops

 

I will try my various local Builders Merchants As well as the recommendations above but just wanted to see if people had any further feedback. 
thanks for any Additional information. 
Col 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SiBee]

Hi Col,

Thinking of what to say? My oldest gabions are 5-6 years old now. The mesh I picked was 75mm x 75mm x 3mm dia galv wire. The stone fill I used came (free) from the quarry at the bottom of my garden. This has crumbled over the years and something in the stone has reacted with the mesh and caused the gabions to rust? Also, we keeping walking on them so the top of the gabion wall is no longer level.

Would I use them again? Definitely. Would I use the same supplier? Defiantly.

We couldn’t afford to buy stone to fill them, we just got creative with what we could get for free.

[vfrdave]

Try F H Brundle in Glasgow

https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/search?query=Gabions

 

[Russell griffiths]

I’ve had a number of projects where gabions would have been perfect, but every time I’ve priced them up it all works out too expensive. 

 

In the past I used them but it was always with a big landscape architect and cost was not really the issue. 

 

Could you make them out of sheep netting?

a friend of mine has just made some cages out of sheep netting, he has made them round by just joining the net back onto itself, but if you put these in a row you could flatten the front. 

 

As long as you place the front rocks so they won’t fall through the back stuff can just be loose. 

[scottishjohn]

youcan buy cages with a secondary wall to keep the front layer inplace while you fill the middle 

packing them tightly ,like a dry stone wall is the secret --very time consuming if the rocks are not good shapes 

 my suspicion is sheet netting is too thin for long term

localfarmer used some to make a retaining gabion wall --starting to look squint after about 5 or 6 years looks like he did not take alot of time locking the sotnes together in the baskets.

a dyker will tell you that the most important part is not the big stones but placing the little bits to make up the gaps between the big ones so it cannot move over time 

If you asking the basket to do all the support --then thickness of wire will be important 

making round ones? --think you will need  big river pebbles to make that work  not sharp cornered ones

 could be wrong -just my take on it

 

you can see in above pictures what happens if you just dump in loose stuff between big bits --it moves and then basket is not fulland distorts 

I personally wold never use that type of "rotten rock"--as it just keeps falling apart -but ido understand he was trying to use what he found in garden 

Edited June 23, 2020 by scottishjohn

[Cpd]

Thanks for the extra info folks, I like your creativity @SiBee the log filled baskets will be a great insect habitat, I think the iron in the rocks has caused a reaction with the galvanised surface of the baskets and is something I  Had not thought about....I have similar shite rock with iron parities in it...... and I live within a few hundred meters of the sea.....  

 

thanks @vfrdave for the link still depressingly expensive for a 1x1m wire box......

 

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

I’ve had a number of projects where gabions would have been perfect, but every time I’ve priced them up it all works out too expensive. 

Like me back when I was running my company cost would not have been a problem but there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then and my cash reserves went with it....  I really like the idea of the sheep netting and  I think it would be a good solution to some of the areas that are not so much structural, like retaining the bank behind my proposed polly tunnel, I have some left over high tensile rylock from my garden fence (450m.....) and will have do an experiment To see if this is suitable. Growing various climbing/ draping plants on and over them could go a long way to making it look good. 
 

@scottishjohn some good points made and as a stonemason I am capable of filling the baskets Well, it’s all a bit frustrating as given the time I would just build Dry stone Retaining walls But I just don’t have the time as I have so many other pressing projects and retaining these areas is key to getting those projects started....  Covid has left me without an income and I think I just need to bite the bullet and accept that some projects will need to be delayed, only buying the bare minimal baskets and look into alternative solutions like the home made basket idea.

when someone else is paying me to build a wall for them I have all the time I want but can only dream of having the time to do this on my own property, pic of low retaining wall I built in Hornsby NSW Australia about 8 years ago. 

 

[SiBee]

John explained my "set up" well. The baskets on their own will not be strong enough to keep their shape even using the ties between front and back. No doubt your stone placement will be better than mine ? My upright ones filled with logs are to act as a retaining wall for climbing plants to grow around and through. I have concreted a steel post to act as a support and they sit on bedded 50mm 2` x 2` flag. I did want the whole wall to look like this but the weight put me off and I ended up with the individual gabions as a compromise. Looks a bit naf to us but the plants are starting to take and the wildlife love them even rats!

I checked out the motorway embankment near me which used gabions and they have used 4/5mm thick galv wire and these look really sturdy. The supplier I used sells them in this size but the price starts getting silly.

I drive past a Mcdonalds and they have just used gabions for the new outdoor seating areas. Looks a good job.

If staying in the property, we would re do the gabion wall with some nicer infill.

 

[timsk]

38 minutes ago, SiBee said:

. . . Looks a bit naf to us but the plants are starting to take and the wildlife love them even rats! . . .

 

 

Looking at the pics in your previous post SiBee, I thought the columns look great and would pinch your idea as they're an interesting feature and ideal for Clematis, Honeysuckle and other climbing plants. However, your comment about rats has put me right off - no thanks - I don't want to do anything that will encourage vermin into our garden!

Tim.

[Onoff]

Absolutely loving the gabion columns. The filled with logs idea, cracking.

 

Money no object I'd have an arched gabion made up from galvanised walkway. Think Stargate...(with rats ? )

 

I might enquire of my fabricator just how much he'd charge for some plain rectangular columns that could be log filled.

[scottishjohn]

to be fair that staircase you show is not really dry stone dyking --they are all cut stones

Imean lay them inbasket as the farmer does when he builds his walls from random size bits he has cleared from the fields 

 If you got a lot to do  then concrete legp blocks will be cheaper -1.6x1.6x.6m about £100 a pop -you will pay that much for a proper gabion or close enough 

now delivery is the killer onlt 23 on a jugger naught

 

so why not buy a mould and make your own as and when you have time -

 i have certainly considered it for my job

local ready mix will sell me trailer loads of dry mix cheaper than i can buy cement and agregate -then just add water when i get home 

1.5cum in one of those big blocks -but maybe you get a smaller mould and hand mix it all ?

I could buy htose 1.6x1.6 x .8 units for 70each +carriage +vat 

 

carriage tom was going to be £700 per 23 blocks--so that made them £100 a block deliverd

 my local dykers seem to charge about £100-150 a meter to build walls -if you provide the stone to site-- so @1.6mper block  --thats cheaper 

just a thought 

[Cpd]

53 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

to be fair that staircase you show is not really dry stone dyking --they are all cut stones

you seem to be miss interpreting my picture, I am VERY aware what a dry stone dyke is and I clearly stated what my picture Is.....

 

On 23/06/2020 at 09:39, Cpd said:

pic of low retaining wall

Not sure I understand where the next line fits in. 

 

53 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

Imean lay them inbasket as the farmer does when he builds his walls from random size bits he has cleared from the fields 

I would also point out that dry stone walling, be it retaining or free standing is all about the key word (dry stone) there is no mortar used. The shape of the stones is irrelevant, my picture is of a dry stone retaining wall, those stones did not just magically come in that shape..... I worked every single stone by hand from Very rough Semi  dimensional stone To the sizes and shapes I wanted to create the perfect curves and to have flat courses Running through it as this was the style this specific job required. If I wanted it to look more natural I would have done something different, like below. 

 

i am starting to look seriously at making my own gabions and will post some pics when I have my prototype ready.  

 

pic of 2 meter high dry stone retaining wall I built in australia 8 years ago