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I told hubby that next year I need to put a stake into each tomato cage, since most of them were pulled over by the heavy tomato loads the plants have. He agreed. I said the stakes probably need to be 6 feet tall, as they'll need about 2 feet in the ground to support the tomato plants.
I'm not going to buy 50 six foot T-posts. I have some, but not 50. So maybe some pallet stringers will help out.
The good thing about T-Posts is that they are a once in a lifetime investment. But that investment does come at an initial high price...
I bought several T-Posts about 30 years ago and still use them today.
For tomato stakes, you probably don't need the strength of a T-Post. My neighbor bought a bunch of 2X2 furring strips, cut the bottom to a point, and drove them into the ground. They are plenty strong to support his tomatoes...
He expects to get maybe 3-5 years out of his furring strips before they rot out and need to be replaced. Since he is in his mid-70's, he is not buying something for 30 years use, if you know what I mean.
I think you could certainly save money and use pallet wood 2X4's for your project.
There are various ways to splice a pallet wood 2X4 to make it longer. A little while back, I posted a simple lap joint that used glue and screws to hold the 2 pieces of wood together. Just trim the bottom of the new post to go into the ground and I think that would work...
Another option is a stronger splice using a cut like this...
Both those type of options would not be very expensive if have the pallet wood, but they would take a little time to splice together.
I thought of another pallet wood option that I think would work in your application. You stated using a 6-foot-long pole with 2 feet in the ground. You would simply need two pallet wood 2X4 stretchers that are the standard 4-foot-long. Cut the point on one of the stretchers and pound it into the ground. That gives you 2 feet buried into the ground and 2 feet above. Then you could simply screw the other 4-foot-long stretcher to the one in the ground. That would give you 4 feet above ground without needing to splice any posts.I have a table saw, and other circular saws, so I would probably trim a 2X4 pallet wood stretcher down to a 2X2 post, cutting off those indents for the pallet forks. I think a 2X2 post would look better out in my garden that having an uncut 2X4 pallet wood stretcher sticking up with those indents showing. But I already have all that equipment and it would not cost me any money to rip my pallet wood 2X4 stretchers.
If you decided to rip a pallet wood 2X4 on a table saw, make sure you have removed all nails! You don't want to have an injury if you hit a nail and get kickback. Or ruin your expensive table saw blade if it cuts that nail. I purchased a demolotion blade for my circular saw for the express purpose of cutting pallet wood that might have a hidden nail or two in that wood.Google picture of using a circular saw with a wood/nail demolition blade to rip pallet wood 2X4's....
I bought a metal scanner on sale from Harbor Freight for about $25.00 for my pallet wood projects. It does a great job detecting hidden metal in the wood that I might not see with my old eyes. Here is the everyday price...
I use it all the time before I put my pallet wood on a saw to cut. It helps me pinpoint if there is any hidden metal in the board. If the spot where I need to cut is metal free, that's all I need to know.
I also bought my circular saw demolition wood/nail blade from Harbor Freight, on sale, for less than $10.00. Another good investment...
Because I wanted to do a lot of pallet wood projects, it was a no brainer for me to invest in a scanner and a demolition blade. Even so, considering you have to pay almost $300.00 for 50 T-Posts, this might be an option for making your own posts. A small investment in tools that should last you many years.
Or, like I said at first, just pound one 2X4 pallet wood stretcher into the ground and screw another one into it above ground. Less work and no need to buy new equipment. I know that my tomato plants would grow and cover the complete post anyway, so it might not be worth the extra time and effort to rip down the pallet wood 2X4's into 2X2 posts.
