Step 10c - Update on Building the Gabion Basket Walls for our Walipini/pit greenhouse

[@outdoorztime2923]

Those walls are beautiful - gotta love Montana! The fruit of yall's labor will pay off for years to come. I started my first gabion wall yesterday. I'm using 5' x 16' cattle panels that have 4"x4" mesh openings. The rock I'll be using came from an old, school cafeteria demolition (originally built in the early 1930's).

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

@outdoorztime2923 I just subscribed to your channel because I wanna see some pics on this project! Very cool and proud! Using cattle panels is excellent. We made our first couple walls out of cattle panels as a test, very strong. Stay tuned as we will be uploading soon. We did some outdoor gardens in June for our tubers and corn. Had to put a 6ft high deer fence around it to keep those critters out (not to mention the dogs burying their bones). We had a massive amount of dirt to get rid of from the dig, so we have been hauling that away on another project. We are about ready to stabilize the north wall with anchors. Also been buying excess building materials needed from Craigslist and Market Place, so we are ready and set to move forward. Cheers J&K

[@outdoorztime2923]

@@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541 Ha... after seeing yall's, I hate to show mine. Saturday I drove my last t-post and drove it right threw my internet cable - go figure. We're back up and going today. The internet company was fast to run us another wire.

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

@outdoorztime2923 I had to laugh. Jim is a Master Electrician by trade and we own our own Electrical Contracting Company that we have really scaled back as Jim is retiring from the big stuff. Having said that, I had to laugh at your comment about driving a post through your cable. You would be surprised how often that sort of thing happens. Jim gets called out all the time on that kind of stuff.

[@LavenderLori406]

Your gabion walls are so pretty! You have inspired me beyond measure! Thank you for the step by step vids.

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

🥰 Thank you. That is the purpose of the videos. Small decentralized growers are key for our future.

[@ToddLarsen]

My one and only concern or gripe is that your view numbers don't have 2 or more commas. Your project is incredible, and more eyes need to see it. Thank you for sharing, and as always, keep building 👍

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

What a great and kind comment. Thank you @ToddLarsen. We still have a lot of snow here in Montana, but Jim being the master electrician and McGyver that he is has been working in our shop making a backup 3-phase heater for the Walipini just in case it gets way too cold like -30 or so. We will be posting a video showing that. He of course scrounged materials to make it.

[@dragonwarrior4589]

Montana looks so beautiful. I wish I could move.. looking to do a greenhouse built into a slope. Paul wheaton and his crew has excellent resources for everything related. Nice video. Wish you guys success!

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

@dragonwarrior4589. Thank you for your kind words. I wish you success on your build.

[@startupbusinesscoaching]

Love the walls!

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

Thank you @betheboss1. I'm going to be uploading a new video today or tomorrow. Cheers. J&K

[@startupbusinesscoaching]

@@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541 thanks!!

[@Shaboynga]

I really love this idea.

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

I'm so glad!

[@stevesrt8]

Interesting project. you guys do very nice work. subbed. cheers

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

I appreciate your nice words.

[@tmidi2227]

I am looking to build a gabion retaining wall, but the prices I am getting for prebuilt baskets are really high. For the baskets that you made how did you go about minimizing waste? Based on my sketch of a 3ft x 1.5 ft basket using a 2"x4" cattle panel, I would end up with a side that does not have the horizontal bar.

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

We ordered most of our baskets in 2020. We ended up changing our dimensions later and had to order more and did have some issue with supply. My husband is a contractor so he is very good at measurements. However, we did have some waste or extra panels left over which we will use as trellis for planters. Most cattle panels are a 4 gauge metal, which is very strong for a retaining wall. However most cattle panels have larger squares which means you need bigger rocks. Retaining walls made from gabion baskets have smaller diameter squares so you don't need to use big, big rocks. The gauge though is lighter at either 9 or 11. Our gabion walls are in sections. Each section is 2 feet wide. So think of this as a separate box that has a top, bottom, 2 sides and a front and back. Each section is cork screwed together to get your wall length. So if you are making out of cattle panel, you would need to do the same sections, or in other words, you would need to add the sides every two feet. Do an internet search on gabion baskets to see who sells in your area. If you buy from big box stores or big internet suppliers (ie. Amazon) , just make sure you are getting rust resistant, galvanized metal that is at least 9 or 11 gauge wire. If you wire cage is made of twisted wire, instead of tap welded, you will pay more.

[@30cjbeast]

Where did you get your baskets at? 😊

[@montanalivinginthebigskyco8541]

@@30cjbeast Thank you for your question. I bought the kits from several sources. I ordered some kits in 2020 and had little sourcing issues. Availability became an issue in 2021 and some orders were backorder then canceled. Other deliveries came incomplete. You may want to buy domestically. (If you are in the US, Earth Wall Products is a USA company). Check with large landscapers in your area for sourcing since gabion baskets are typically used in garden walls. We bought tap-welded baskets and I wish we would have gone with twisted wire. This would have saved time in reinforcing. I talk about this in one of my videos so that is something you may want to consider if your walls are tall. If you buy from big box stores or big internet suppliers (ie. Amazon, Wayfair) , just make sure you are getting rust resistant, galvanized metal that is at least 9 or 11 gauge wire. If you wire cage is made of twisted wire, instead of tap welded, you will pay more. Cheers J&K