Tomato cages

Several years ago My son made me tomato cages. He cut a cattle panel bent them welded a small pipe to the center. The pieces with open exposed ends were welded together. At first I thought he didn't really understand what I wanted, but I love them. They have stood the test of time. They also make a great portable trellis.  All my beds are hugel beets. There are several different styles and sizes. The one problem I have with the cages he made is there's hardwire cloth on the bottom of my beds. The pipe is to long for the short beds. I have used them upside down, just pushing them in the soil a bit, and for some reason it works, but it looks kinda funny.  This year I'm growing more tomatoes than I have cages. I decided to make a kind of cage in the corner of a few beds. I cut a 2X4 down to 6 1/2 feet long. I ripped it in half. The first one I used scraps ( I like to make stuff out of pallets, so there's always undesirable pieces). I decided I didn't really like it, plus I didn't want to have to scrounge around for wood. So I ripped a pallet 2X4 in 1/2" by 12" pieces. This looks better and is a lot easier.  I drilled a hole in the end of each piece, and mounted them offset from each side. I use old  coated wire  left over from my son's job. I'm happy with the results. They may break, or some other flaw that shows itself in time, but for now I'm happy. It was fast, easy, and each one cost less than $2.00.  I don't think they are bulky, or in the way. To top it off literally, I found interesting things we had to make a hook for some solar lights I made. One is an old faucet, one is an old horse shoe, and one is a little hook I did buy.
Last year I made what I thought was a great cage/trellis. I love the look of it, and it works ok for peas, but they are a little difficult to harvest. Unfortunately it's a terrible design. The hardwire cloth is too small to let anything through, so the tomato is caged to the point of being unaccessible. I like the look, so it stays, but it's not used for it's intended purposes. Oh well you win some you loose some.

Jen,

Those cages and the solar lights look great! The most creative reuse of something for a trellis I've ever done was an old TV antenna and 2 paperback spinner cages. It only worked, sorta. The paperback cages were used for many years, but the antenna was too bulky and heavy and wide...

Could the failed cage be turned into a rack for solar dehydration?

Thanks Jennie. I like to repurpose stuff too. I have a crib spring that I painted and use as a trellis.