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Gabion baskets


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1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

Do you know about the metal ferrule type things that you can put on the wire to make cages, come with pliers to squeeze shut. 

 

16 minutes ago, vfrdave said:

Hog rings


i have just used about 6 thousand of these attaching rabbit netting to my stock fence ! This is the product I use.

i turned up at my 80 year old dads yesterday with a bunch of stock Netting, various wire and clipping options And explained what was required.... he will build the prototype and then when I give it the seal of approval will launch into full time construction!.  The basic idea is to use two layers of sheep fencing for each tubular cage,  the mesh is smaller at the bottom to stop lambs getting through so I will flip over one layer so that the smaller holes are at both top and bottom and also offset the vertical wires to create much smaller holes, hog clip it all together and then attach them all together with heavy gauge galvanised wire, if required I could also run a full length run of stock netting along the front to even it all out and help bind it all together. I will use heavy gauge galvanised high tensile Steel netting as I think this will have the longest life span. Will report back with photos as the project progresses. 

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46 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

sack ties and a twiddling tool

Had to google that one !

i agree that hog clips could be a bit naff....maybe keep them for the initial put together and then use something more robust. I am leaning towards heavy gauge Mild steel  galvanised Line wire And just come up with a simple way of twisting it on, that way I can quickly cut x thousands of bits at a specific length and just go from there.

the sack ties are new to me as is he twiddle tool so am a bit reluctant to order up a load if I don’t understand it’s function for my specific job..... Anyone got one I can try out ......

also I have seen galvanised wire react badly (Deep rust) when I have used stainless steel tie downs, (I now use a bit of hose pipe to create a separation between ss and gal fencing wire) 

anyway thanks any advice as it’s a new project and it’s good to get some collective input.  Col 

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1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

I would look at stainless sack ties and a twiddling tool...

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I bought a twiddler years ago.  Don't use it often.  But when I do it's brilliant.  Needs a bit of persistence , practice, but after that it's like riding a bike.

 

You can make up lengths of twisted wire for use later - you get to feel for the correct degree of twist after a bit.

The result is very strong wire - and gabions are the perfect place for that.

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37 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Get some 1mm galv wire and a pair of nippers, tie them up just like reinforcement cages. 


could be the easiest and simplest way. Once it’s all tied together, filled with rock and back filled I expect it will very good for a long time. 

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21 hours ago, Cpd said:


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.....

 


Not sure I understand where the next line fits in. 

 


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 
 

 

 


 

 

 

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Ywes that one looks very good ,bit like my 30ft tal retaing wall on my plot -

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On 23/06/2020 at 13:35, timsk said:

 

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.

Hi Tim,

I didn’t give you the full story though. We placed bird feeders, fruit, nuts etc on top of our gabions all through the winter and carried it on as we enjoyed watching  all the birds up close. We got to know their routine and even gave them names. Unfortunately this is what attracted the rats (we didn’t mind the field mice?) The pest control guy told us to remove the food and water bowls (obviously really) and guess what, the rats disappeared. Next door have a massive raised deck area and they barbecue regularly. Pest control guy reckons the rats live under their decking.

So crack on?We really miss watching all the different birds so close but hey ho. Give it another year and our jasmine will look great growing around these upright gabions.

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9 hours ago, SiBee said:

Hi Tim,

I didn’t give you the full story though. . .

Thanks SiBee.

I mentioned your original post with the gabion columns and subsequent one about the rats to my wife and she was struggling to understand why rats would be attracted to them. Me too! We concluded that perhaps the gaps between the logs attracted wildlife which, in turn, caught the attention of the rats. Anyway, good to know the real explanation which allays my concerns about the rats although, as many others have commented, the baskets themselves are surprisingly expensive for what they are.

Tim.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 23/06/2020 at 07:41, Russell griffiths said:

Could you make them out of sheep netting?

Well my first lot of home made baskets have been  installed ! Iused high tensile sheep netting doubled up and offset to make the holes small, wired them together and then they were filled with Stone salvaged from site. It worked really well and saved me a lot of money but it did take some time all said and done. Got a lot more projects to do so will need to get on and build some more...... 

940926CE-2B0E-4292-8163-019FED552A7B.jpeg

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5 minutes ago, Cpd said:

Well my first lot of home made baskets have been  installed ! Iused high tensile sheep netting doubled up and offset to make the holes small, wired them together and then they were filled with Stone salvaged from site. It worked really well and saved me a lot of money but it did take some time all said and done. Got a lot more projects to do so will need to get on and build some more...... 

940926CE-2B0E-4292-8163-019FED552A7B.jpeg

 

Handy having somewhere to store them until you need them...

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I'm a bit late but another user of fine mesh metals used 3mm with 4mm front and top faces. Used rubble and front faced with local gabion stone, no need for separate wire separator just use a nit of ply that you can pull up as you go. If you need to walk on them a lot while building put some boarding over to protect the shape. Some pics in my blog of this in progress and when complete. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 23/06/2020 at 07:41, Russell griffiths said:

...

Could you make them out of sheep netting?

...

 

Yes, if you are stacking feathers.

No if you are using rock.

I made some out of our spare  sheets of A393, (5 or so) got rid of a load of rubbish stone in them, but covered the cages with MOT1 and then earth.  The cages formed the corner of a carpark.

Part of our ecological mitigation strategy. Somewhere for the newts to do whatever newts do in winter.

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21 hours ago, davejura said:

Is there any advantages over using helicoils, or should I save a few ££s?

They are quick and secure. Lacing wire I imagine does the same but will take more time to achieve similar secure connection. Will they be visible? The helicoils look ok I think.

 

How high is your retaining wall?

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10 hours ago, davejura said:

3 metres. Not going to be highly visible.

 

do you have an approved design from SE ?

 3m high sounds like at least 2 rows thick ,maybe 3  + steppped maybe  depending on soil type 

thats a lot  to hold back 

 

maybe worth a look

https://www.gabionbaskets.co.uk/gabion/gabion-wall-standard-design

 

 

 

 

Edited by scottishjohn
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Yes, got approved design from SE. Was supposed to be rock armour, but their SER guy wouldn't sign it off! We are 2m x 1m x 1m running front to back x 2 layers, with second layer stepped back. 3rd layer is 2m x 1m x 1m running along the wall. We have had a shipping container sitting on the built up ground now for 2 years, and nothing has moved yet, so should be OK.

Looked into lego blocks, but where we are the delivery killed it.

 

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I think a lot depends on what material you have on site, how much time you can put into this and how far you are from a lego concrete co. I managed to use a lot of rubble faced with nicer stone which was economical as most materials were here for free. But paid someone and it took time for a lot of gabions vs buying in blocks. Mine were visible so blocks not so good but if yours are hidden then more choices. With a 3m wall - can you stagger then over a wider area? I had ours as 2m a large lawn area (containing our soakaway) then another 1.5m some 20m apart so the overall height inc slope of lawn is about 4m but the gabions are not so complex due to the staggering - of course not always possible. Another strategy we've gone with is king post retaining walls as temporary works - just installed some 9m steels for the next one! That's a cost effective solution for some locations with steels and sleepers but I wouldn't want it for a long term structurally important solution.

 

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If you got time --buy a concrete lego block mould and make your own 

 I looked ta buying and as you say its transport -- basically £800 transport for a truck load --27 blocks 

I still think maybe  all the labour  I would use lego  blocks -price of quality gabion baskets is not cheap anyway --then all the time doing them 

 

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