crazyal
Super Member
I'm making the wife a cart for her tomatoes. Right now we use 5 gallon buckets (one inside the other with holes in the upper one so the roots can get down to the water in the lower one). But they are ugly. They make jackets you can put over them but they aren't cheap. I don't sew so making them is out of the question. So I've decided to make a vendor cart. I found a pair of old steel tractor wheels for the project. I'm going to make the frame out of 2x2x1/8" angle with cedar decking boards for the sides.
Now for the question. I have to make a cage for the tomatoes. It'll be custom to fit the cart. I was thinking of picking up stainless TIG rods to make it out of. I could have a friend TIG weld them together but it would be easier to do it myself since it's going to be time consuming, I'm thinking fit one piece, weld it, fit another, weld it, and so on. I could mig weld it but I only have 75/25 mix for welding mild steel. I don't mind picking up a 1# spool of stainless wire but I would like to avoid getting a bottle of trimix that I'll never use. I've read 75/25 will work for one pass and may rust but I'm not really that worried as it could be painted. I just don't want the ends that get stuck into the dirt rusting. What would be a good stainless filler rod to use, I'm guessing 308? I assume I should I use the same mig wire.
Here's an idea of what I'm looking to build but the bed will be lower because the tomatoes grow about 3 to 4 feet tall.
Here's the wheels I'm going to use. If anyone knows what they came off of and their approx year I would love to know.
Now for the question. I have to make a cage for the tomatoes. It'll be custom to fit the cart. I was thinking of picking up stainless TIG rods to make it out of. I could have a friend TIG weld them together but it would be easier to do it myself since it's going to be time consuming, I'm thinking fit one piece, weld it, fit another, weld it, and so on. I could mig weld it but I only have 75/25 mix for welding mild steel. I don't mind picking up a 1# spool of stainless wire but I would like to avoid getting a bottle of trimix that I'll never use. I've read 75/25 will work for one pass and may rust but I'm not really that worried as it could be painted. I just don't want the ends that get stuck into the dirt rusting. What would be a good stainless filler rod to use, I'm guessing 308? I assume I should I use the same mig wire.
Here's an idea of what I'm looking to build but the bed will be lower because the tomatoes grow about 3 to 4 feet tall.
Here's the wheels I'm going to use. If anyone knows what they came off of and their approx year I would love to know.
