Sure have, they don't work very well if you are referring to what I think you are referring . For indeterminate varieties they grow taller than the cage and for indeterminate varieties they often get too heavy when large and laden with fruit and end up toppling them over or crushing them.

They sometimes work out, but overall I don't use them as I usually found additional support was required mid season. What I use now are metal t-posts. U-posts also work OK. These are just steel posts available at any hardware store. I get them in 7' or 8' lengths and pound them in with a fence pole pounder (not sure the actual name). The plants are then loosely tied to the post as it grows.

Another option is to buy a "tomato tower" that is listed on the SFG website. These are very strong, with the ability to have 4 tomato plants grown on each tower that can be used year after year....

I'm going to trellis my indeterminates. At least that's the plan. I agree that cages end up requiring more than that later on so why not figure out something that works the whole season long.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

On a trellis, concrete reinforcing wire is sturdy, cheap in bulk, about the right height (~4') and has 6" holes that help establish a visual on laying out the squares across that axis in the absence of a formal grid. Livestock panels work too, they look better but cost more.

I use them along with a stake or post. That way it stays upright when it gets heavy. A post alone doesn't offer support to individual branches and the cage alone can't take the weight of the whole. Together they work good. I read that this works especially good with upside-down cages. I'm gonna give that a shot. Kay.

Thought I should add, I use the 5' cages. The little ones are good for flowers that tend to topple, but that's about it....Kay.

here are 3 different do it yourself cages that you can build. I love the cattle panel ones because you can put plastic around it to save against frost. But, then you could with the other 2 structures also.
~tom

Here is a link that might be useful: Do it yourself tomato cages

I mispoke, the first example isn't cattle panels. It is concrete reinforcing wire. easy to work with and cut. The 2nd example is a wooden easy to make support. The third is a pvc example.
~tom

Walmart sells really heavy gauge tomato cages, and I see they are in colors this year. Woo Hoo! I use the heavy cages, five feet tall, and use one stake for stability. That way, all the smaller branches are supported too. My favorites are the four concrete reinforcing wire ones I turned into round cages. Don't cut the bottom row of verticals; they are used to push the cage into the ground. Perfect for burpless cukes which have a tendency to be heavy, but they love to climb.

a metal post will certainly hold up your tomoto plants. See pictures of what darth had uploaded from my gardens. You can do it and truly only take up one foot of space...give it a look...why even use the cages when all you have to do is pinch off the "suckers" and watch your tomato plants grow to be 7' tall on a stake or a tomato tower?......

A great discussion of tomato cages can be found at
this link. I think I saw it here a year or so ago, but it discusses types and advantages/disadvantages.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Staking

Has anyone had experience with these:

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I found packs of 3 for less than $20. My only concern is that I may need to prune a lot of the plant. Thanks

We tried concrete reinforcing wire cages last year. After last year's experience, I don't believe I will ever use any other method. The tomato plants grew 6' tall and filled out to look like a tomato jungle. They produced so many tomatoes that I had to learn how to can sauce.

Not a single cage was blown over, which always happened with store-bought cages because my area is prone to strong winds.

We made half the cages 24" in diameter and half 18" in diameter so that they would next and halve the off-season storage space. On the bottom squares we clipped the horizontal supports off so that you have vertical spikes that stick into the ground. Once the tomato plant grows in and fills the cage out, the plant itself helps hold the cage down.

That being said, tomatoes are one of the vegetables that I don't put into my square garden plots. They are placed in this large area that I dump all the yard waste I can collect off the curb, which makes it very fertile. The plants are just so big that I believe they don't fit favorably within the square foot paradigm. I for one don't wish to spend all my time trying to prune suckers off my tomato vines!

without question tomato plants fit into one square...there are pictures of it on this website.....