Trellises - help me locate mine, please?

Have any of you ever used the handheld tape machines to tie plants to trellises?
Like this:  (will see if it'll let me just paste in a thumbnail)

I was thinking today of buying one.

About the tape/stapler...  are there alternatives for vining plants, as SFG seems to rely heavily where possible on going vertical with trellises?
Does anyone make a similar machine that uses sticky tape instead of staples?  (I see comments that the staple part has gone bad.)
Seems this machine would be a good investment.  I saw it on the Texas Prepper channel, and he really recommended one.

[ Can't find a way to edit that post or I'd have just tacked that onto the inquiry. ]

I looked up the 14g solid one-conductor electrical wire and 25ft lengths were available for under $7 at Home Depot here.  500ft rolls about $75.
That would last forever!    I know Lowe's must have them, too.  But I'll check our stash.  I'd already thought of some much thinner wire cutoffs
that I surely still have from years ago, but they're too thin for trellis construction, and the tape machine looks more convenient for tying stuff to
trellises.

Hope to finish off enough more grids and then erect my first trellis today just on the northern side of one box.  See how it works.
I may have to wait for a second hand, I'm alone in the garden this week.

Before moving to using tomato cages, I used clips for the tomatoes, and they worked great. Easy to install, easy to remove, easy to re-use.

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Garden-Tomato-Trellis-Clips/dp/B00579X2HC?th=1

OhioGardener wrote:Before moving to using tomato cages, I used clips for the tomatoes, and they worked great. Easy to install, easy to remove, easy to re-use.

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Garden-Tomato-Trellis-Clips/dp/B00579X2HC?th=1

OhioGardener, how big are your tomato cages?  These are for bush tomatoes? 
I've seen some big ones that fit a whole bed made out of sections of cattle panels, both side vertical and interior horizontal sections at the mid point and above.

I use the following.  All are washed at the end of the summer season for the following summers.  

I use the 1/2" green vinyl garden tape for overhead tomato supports and tying really thick stems to the trellis netting or stakes or cages.  I use a "half bow" so I can remove easily and wash.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/180-ft-8-MIL-Green-Plant-Tie-Tape-4-Rolls-ZL0014-8ML-4PK/314466795

I use the big green ones for the tomato, pepper and eggplants.  The little ones for skinny vining stems like cucumbers.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/allFENZ-2-in-Plant-Support-Clips-50-Pack-PSC50/315448500

I also use what OG uses for skinny vines like cucumbers and winter squashes, luffa, cantaloupe . .

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087R7F4WZ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B087R7F4WZ&pd_rd_w=kLmqz&pf_rd_p=57cbdc41-b731-4e3d-aca7-49078b13a07b&pd_rd_wg=HZeJ6&pf_rd_r=HWVR5W2A7FREWAV9S8WY&pd_rd_r=9101995f-2039-4bc0-b8c5-dd32f19a3859&s=lawn-garden&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWjhZRjU2V1ZaUFlDJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzgwMTExMTFaQlVTMUxSQVNNUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDM3MTk1MTAwRUdRNDg0SVg3MCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Soose wrote:OhioGardener, how big are your tomato cages?  These are for bush tomatoes? 
I've seen some big ones that fit a whole bed made out of sections of cattle panels, both side vertical and interior horizontal sections at the mid point and above.

They are for indeterminate tomatoes, which grow to about 8' tall generally.

I made the tomato cages out of cattle panels. They are 18" square. The cages are 8' tall, but about one foot is pressed into the ground to support them, leaving about 7' for the tomatoes.  They are super durable, and will be very long lasting.

So you are getting 3 of these 8ft tall tomato cages (18" square) out of two cattle panels.
Good deal. 

That means you're giving your indeterminate potatoes 1 and a half squares.
I would only be able to plant two tomatoes instead of 3 across the narrow back of my
trellised north side.  What should I do?

Soose wrote:So you are getting 3 of these 8ft tall tomato cages (18" square) out of two cattle panels.
Good deal. 

Actually I get 2 8' tomato cages out of one cattle panel. I cut the 16' panel in half lengthwise, then cut each of those sections into a 36" x 8' section. I bend the panel to a 90º angle lengthwise so each side is 18" wide.  Put two of those sections together to make a 18" square.

That means you're giving your indeterminate potatoes 1 and a half squares.

I put 4 cages along the north side of an 8' long bed, and plant other things, such as lettuce, radishes, etc., to the south side of them. Have successfully done this with 8 tomato cages for several years.

I would only be able to plant two tomatoes instead of 3 across the narrow back of my trellised north side.  What should I do?

Don't know, just don't know...

OhioGardener, thanks, your cattle panels are wider than ours.  Sounds like yours are 72" wide.  Ours are 50" x 16".  (I think they used to be 54" but I just looked.)

I'd like to know how to bend a cattle panel, please.  Clamp between boards and bend/hammer/lever?  Any tips?

[ Since I'm starting so far up in this raised bed, my little trellises (less than 5ft above planting surface) are just not going to be tall enough or long enough for most of these tomato plants.  I had no idea tomatoes could get so tall.  We have still not decided how to enclose the garden but one option, an 8ft ceiling above ground, just won't cut it with trellises so high.    ]

Soose wrote:OhioGardener, thanks, your cattle panels are wider than ours.  Sounds like yours are 72" wide.  Ours are 50" x 16". 

The cattle panels are 16' long by 50" high, just as yours are.  I cut each one in half to make two 8' by 50" sections, then cut the bottom off each section to make two 8' by 36" sections. Each of those sections makes one-half of the 18" square by 8' tall tomato cage.

I'd like to know how to bend a cattle panel, please.  Clamp between boards and bend/hammer/lever?  Any tips?

I place a 8' long 2"x12" board down the middle of the panel, so it will be bent at the 18" mark.  Then stand on the board and pull up the portion of the panel that needs bent up. Move down the board and continue pulling up the panel until it is all at right angles.

Somewhere there is a youtube video on making these tomato cages, I'll see if I can find it. I modified his directions a  little so that I used the entire 8' of the panel instead of cutting it down like he did, though.

Edit: This is the video that inspired me to make these tomato cages:

Thanks for the video and tips on construction. I am quite impressed with these cattle panels. So sturdy and affordable! I had seen a larger 4ft square cage. We've tossed around the idea of using cattle panels to roof our garden enclosure, too. If I had not pre-cut the two panels I bought into five sections for a different purpose (made them easier to get home in the truck), I would now cut them differently.