Disclaimer: This post was originally posted by Newbie, toothius. This user is located in Chicagoland, IL, Zone 5-6. This was originally posted on June 1, 2011.
I know this is an old thread, but thank you, John, for designing these cages and sharing them with us. I had hoped to do a more natural staking system with wood or bamboo, but since my boxes are in front of my house on the walkway (only place I can get enough sun), stakes wouldn't work very well. This is a very solid system. I used your measurements and they fit together perfectly and fast! It was also much cheaper than using pea cages from Gurney's, which were $27 for each box!
Since my tomatoes are still small, I've only made the first level. When they get closer to four feet, I'll add the second level. I didn't want to create an 8 foot eye sore in front of my house. Once they're filled with leaves and tomatoes, I doubt the cages will be as noticible. My wife said she didn't even notice them when she drove up to the house.
The extra wire for tying the cages together I purchased wasn't even necessary since, like you said, you can just cut your fence so that you leave some extra wire on either end, which you use to bend around the other parts of the fencing. Brilliant.