Tractor Supply stores give free t-clips with post purchases. The stores usually have excess because not everyone takes them - I was given a bag of 1000 last time and they wanted me to take more, but I prefer the plastic clips:
I use t-posts, Tenax plastic fence, and Zareba yellow plastic insulators as clips. Those are nice since they clip on and off quick. Rabbits and squirrels chew right through the bottom of the plastic fence, but it’s great for deer. It’s quick to put up and take down.
Sounds like a cool spot you have!
I fence some of my trees individually with the Dalen’s sturdy plastic dear fence. It’s almost “invisible” from across the yard, if that matters to you. It’s 7 ft tall, so when I lift it off ground, it keeps the deer and elk at bay. I agree with the advice on making larger enclosures- I think this makes sense whether you want to keep trees small or if you want to train branches to be above the animal’s reach. That zone within a few feet of the trunk should be nibble free as you train the scaffold branches.
I’d also suggest that you plan on a way to open up the enclosure- I use the releasable UV resistant zip ties (8”) to attach end to a post. Easy access helps with training, trimming, weeding, mulching, etc.
I’ve never found a way to completely exclude animals; better to set my expectations that I’m going to share the harvest. More about keeping trees healthy so I get fruit.
Good luck with your orchard!
Thanks, very neat spot. If I can keep the animals mostly satisfied with something else and wind coming off the water doesn’t bother them I should be fine. 
After reading this and elsewhere I think I am going to try the 5 ft fence I have on hand in a roughly 40" diameter. It’s very heavy duty being 10 and 12ga wire plus I already have it. The “almost invisible” portion would be nice but as long as I keep it neat and straight everything should look good, I hope.
My hope is to keep everything above them being on B.118 and MM.111 rootstocks.
For sure. Good tip on easy access. I plan to use spruce/pine mulch at the base after removing the top layer of field growth so I should be okay year one. It’s when that grow wants to return I’ll have to be careful.
That is a good line of thinking on the sharing crop. Tree health is important. Plus I’ll never win over the red squirrels. 
Downlake,
I started with fence circles around my trees. Just about imposable to prune them properly. The deer would stand on their hind legs and nibble away!
I put up an electric fence. I used the wire fence cut in half to be the bottom part of the e-fence. With the first hot being 2 inches above the wire fence. Going up 5 ft was plenty to stop the deer and raccoons.
My T posts are 20+ ft a part… I tensioned the wire fence from corner posts.
Our trees are open center with scaffolds starting at 15 inches off the ground. Easy picking, easy spraying and pruning. glad I invested the time to secure the trees. E-fence parts are not expensive. Deer and 'coons learn real quick to look elsewhere.
So here is a photo of one of the trees final results. Hopefully it does the job well.
5ft 2x4 no-climb fence in a 42" diameter circle with 2ft hardware cloth in a 3.75" diameter circle. Hard to tell from the photo but the bottom of the no-climb fence is also stapled into the ground with 12" u shaped pins.
I do something similar but with 4 foot field fence and 4 foot diameter. Like you I also use hardware cloth but use a coffee can as a template, so when I have to work on the tree i can reach down from the top and rub or prune off any suckers. Also you are going to have to get in the cage eventually so you want to be able to open it up fairly easily. It looks.like you clipped the wire to the t-posts. I just bend the horizontal wires in against the last vertical stay to keep the cage closed. I let mine float because when a deer touches the cage it makes just enough noise to spook them.
What did the redbrand wire set you back? Looks like redbrand sheep and goat fence.
Smart idea with the coffee can.
Yeah, I did clip the wire to the posts but it should be easy enough to undo them as I did the same as you and with the last vertical prior to the post wrapped the horizontal around. I used a hog ring to be sure there wasn’t any deer with thumbs undoing them 
Should be an easy snip and then open and gain 180 degree access.
I had the fence handy from another project but it looks like it is going for $240 for 100’ at my local farm store. It is the Square Deal Non-Climb Horse Fence I like using it way better than the welded wire stuff.
Looks good. I cut the bottom ring off so that the resulting spikes stake it to the ground. My location is remote so I can use remesh which is $110/150’ at Menards when I bought last. A role is heavy
I stay clear of welded wire fencing, woven is much better.
If you need to do more trees this is what I use. It works well for deer here. It’s very quiet here at night, so the slightest strange sound spooks deer.
330 foot for $170.
https://www.ruralking.com/bekaert-14-gauge-47-330-gaucho-high-tensile-field-fence-118155
Why do you prefer woven. I don’t use a ton of fencing, but I prefer welded wire. I can space the posts really far apart and don’t have to run tension wires. I can also make individual cage circle that just need 2 posts (although I have ruined some trees by trying to use none like I often do with cattle panel.
Mainly because I raise cattle and strech my wire good and tight.
I have just used a single t-post on the “spine”. Coupled with the bottom “stakes” the cage won’t move.
Yeah, I don’t know if any of mine actually have more than one T post, but recognize that it would be best to be constrained at at least 2 points. I more often have 0 than 2.
Most of the trouble has been when I’m hasty and try to use none and on a slope, or the piece is deformed.
BTW, I prefer cattle panel squares, and even better would be cattle panel circles. They are self standing, and I can reach my hands through to cut blackberries, pull weeds, adjust tag to read, pick low fruit, etc. But they are a pain in the butt to make from a flat panel and relatively expensive.
Generally, just because it is stronger and the welded stuff tends to break over time in my experience anyway.
I’m going to tag the fence itself for that reason and redundancy.
I put the t post one vertical over from the “spine” simply so that it would be easier to open. I agree, pushing some staples into the ground or cutting off the bottom and pushing it in definitely helps secure. I like the staples better because they come out easy when needed and allow the fence to move.
That looks really nice. What does that cost per setup?
100’ Roll of fence is $240 and used 11ft so that is $26.40
50’ of hardware cloth is $28, used 16" so $0.41
$6.49 per t post, so $12.98
couple of hog rings and some ground staples probably another $1 or 2.
So roughly $40-42 each or so if you had to buy everything new. I had some of it kicking around thankfully.
I used cattle panels i found used. I have them in a circle, 50 of them around fruit trees and a bunch of hog pannels around spruce. Then aluminum screen around the trunk. My biggest issues have been removing suckers because i have to climb in the ring and remove the aluminum screen. PIA. Otherwise they are nice because i didnt have to add posts. The trees are outgrowing the cage though so ive added a section of 4 inch field fence to make some of them bigger. I thought at this point i could remove the cages but the deer here are next level and im way to invested to risk it.
pictures please
