Description
Protecting Your Fruit Harvest
A walk-in fruit cage is a great way of protecting tall-growing fruit trees like apple, pear or cherry trees, as well as lower-growing bushes or dwarf trees.
Our heavy duty fruit cages are simple to assemble, yet robust and hard-wearing.
The Benefits of a Fruit Cage
- Ripening fruit can be very attractive to birds, squirrels, deer and other wildlife. Before you know it, they can be making off with the 'fruits' of your labour. A fruit cage allows you to protect fruit trees or bushes of various sizes with a physical barrier (mesh netting in this case), ensuring a productive harvest at the end of the growing season.
- It also shields your fruit from pecking or similar damage which can affect the quality of your harvest.
- A tall walk-in structure allows you to tend to or prune your fruit trees or bushes without working in cramped conditions.
- A good quality fruit cage can remain in place all year long without having to be disassembled and reassembled.
Netting Pack
The netting for this fruit cage kit is ordered separately, however we have made this easier with a corresponding netting kit for each of our fruit cage kits.
Netting Pack For 1.8m x 5.4m Fruit Cage
The protective netting used along the sides of the fruit cage is a heavy duty extruded plastic with a mesh size of 18mm x 23mm, which will still allow entry for pollinating insects. A looser UV-stabilised mesh - 17mm x 17mm - is recommended for covering the roof of the fruit cage.
The mesh is fixed to the fruit cage using cable ties - 100 of these are included in the pack. The netting is designed to take overhang into account.
Materials
The fruit cage is constructed using thick walled aluminium poles, which are strong and corrosion resistant - but also lightweight enough to be assembled with relative ease. We use thick walled aluminium poles because of the added structural integrity they provide. They can easily stand up to year-round exposure.
The 33.7mm galvanised steel tubing is a heavier gauge than most crop cage manufactures, and has been chosen with long life in mind. The fittings used to connect the tubing are cast and galvanised steel to prevent rust, and are secured using stainless steel grub screws.
The clamp system we use is the same that is used on safety railings (the kind used along harbours and seaside areas - which points to their durability). For exposed windy sites you can add diagonal strengthening braces to further reinforce the structure.
Fitting requires the upright poles to be sunk 40cm into the ground to provide stability. All components including the roof, door, crop supports or mowing strip are connected using a 6mm allen key. The fittings are easy to remove or adjust if you make an error; the complete structure can be assembled in an afternoon.
Optional Extras
Our walk-in bird protection crop cages are available in standard form with a door included. We have a number of optional extras including:
Mowing Strip: The mowing strip kit includes fixing brackets and treated timber boards. The bird netting is fixed to the timber boards approx. 10cm above the ground, enabling grass to be strimmed or mown around the cage without fouling the net.
Strengthening Bars: Optional diagonal steel tubes add rigidity to the structure. These supports are only required in exposed sites if strong winds are a concern.
Fruit Cage Specifications
Size: 5.4m x 5.4m x 2m High. (The uprights used are 2.4m but .4m is buried in ground).
Steel: 33.7mm hot galvanized 'gun barrel' steel tube.
Connectors: Hot galvanized cast steel.
Grub Screws: stainless Steel.
Guaranteed for 10 years.
Component Parts Included:
- Fruit Cage 3 Way Corner Clamp x 4
- Fruit Cage 4 Way Clamp x 8
- Fruit Cage 4 Way Clamp x 4
- Fruit Cage Short Tee x 1
- Fruit Cage Hinge Eye x 2
- Fruit Cage Hinge Peg x 2
- Fruit Cage 2 Way Elbow Tube Clamp x 4
- Fruit Cage Hook x 1
- 2.4m Galvanised tubing x 17
- 1.8m Galvanised tubing x 26
- 0.6m Galvanised tubing x 2
For more on our fruit cages see our blog post here.
Instructions
Click the link for Assembly Instructions
Heavy Duty Steel Fruit Cage Assembly Instructions
