We needed something to retain all the rubble base for the workshop. Gabion baskets were ideal. The fencing we used has been lying around for many years. Good time to use it up.
You guys explain things really well for us average lay people and your humor makes it even better. Had a good laugh over the 'looking away from the sparkly bits' part.
The part to consider when constructing gabion cages is the wire used. Galvanised will work but you need to consider earth salinity and weather as this will erode the baskets quicker. The best material to use would be 316 4-5mm low carbon steel mesh as it’s the least corrosive in the elements.
If you leave the "spikey bits" on, you can use them to wrap around the panel you are joining,...???I would cut the wire so that the ends had the spikey bits on all sides and use them to connect. It's stronger than nylon zip ties, and its the same strength as the rest of the gabion cage, and it already in the wire. Use a fence wire wrapping technique to join edges.
The zip ties were just to hold them prior to welding. But yes, you could use the wire of the fence itself. Would save buying twisting wire I suppose, which is why we welded ours. We had the welder and the fencing so didn't need to buy anything else.
Thanks for the quick response David :o)I dont suppose you make up the baskets ? I need 3 approx 2m long x 0.5 deep x 1.5 high ! If you DO make them..let me know how much and I could pop up from deepest Lockerbie ! I,m in process of building a garage as and when money allows, but the aim is to use the rubble i,m digging up as a retaining wall against an old farm like building behind where the garage will be and these baskets seem like the ideal solution ! Cheers for now
Hi fellas...love the vid ! Found it by accident when looking at the cheapest way of building a retaining wall against an existing outbuilding which had no foundations...judging by the accents you,re the same side of the border as me..where are you based ?
Not sure about chain link fence, I think it would depend on the wire gauge. We were upcycling the left over fence wire and didn't have any twisting wire to join the baskets, but we did have a mig welder. Just using the things we had at hand.
New to welding. Was that mig? What size a machine could I get away with for this project? Thanks. Great video guys. You made the job look very doable and fun. Cheers.
Can you response a answer? I built in my house one gabion of 3-meter X 1.80 x 0.10 initially (slim). Between two columns supporting him. The problem I have now that I just finished is that the wire is shrinking so it was getting more stones inside and started to increase the width (of irregular shape) and a sliding door that ran behind, before it was margin of 10 mcs Now do not let it run ... Any suggestions for "tuning" the gabion? I need reduce your width! Of course without removing all the stones and starting to come back ... are small stones and weeks that I am doing ... Any ideas would be appreciated! Regards, Marcelo.
No, I haven´t any supports inside... I think the same... I need patience and reshape... I think make a 1 mt x 0.90 mt x 0.10 mt baskets first, and then assemble this for construct the wall of 3 x 1.80 x 0.10. May be in this way the width not increase. What do you think about?
Support panels made from the same wire as the rest of the basket. I welded my panels in, but you can use single twist wires to tie them in. It was either 2 or 3mm fencing wire we used.
I haven't done the math on it, but I bet if you tripled the number of plastic ties, you'd get pretty closet to approximating the holding capacity of those welds... especially if you did some clever stitching at the edges with your ties. Would save a lot of bother. Also, I wonder if perhaps adding scrap vertical metal elements mightn't be a good way to stiffen a foundation wall, vs a retaining wall? Very plucky demo, don't mean to criticize, just thinking! Good job, keep at it! .
The alternative is to use short lengths of fence wire twisted with pliers. But we didn't have the fence wire and did have a welder, that's the only reason we welded. I wonder how many cable ties would equal a weld? :)
Two things... 1. "Barely sklilled" bwahaha 2. "Don't worry about the curly wires".... Sure thing as long as you have the equipment and know how to use an arc welder!!!!
Maybe you have neighbors or friends with a welder who are willing to help in exchange for a box of beers? I'll do it for two 6 packs of Pepsi and some hot chips if you live in my area.
