The story of Carmo poles ( Raw material 1/6)

How can it be that there is a 20-year full warranty on wooden posts?

When you need the warranty, the company no longer exists and no one is home. These are comments we often hear. In the coming period we will be focusing on the 20-year full guarantee on wooden posts. These are not wooden poles, but Carmo poles.

Carmo poles for the agricultural sector

FruitSecurity Holland delivers high quality wooden Carmo posts for the Agricultural sector. Wooden posts that last longer than 1 production round. This is what is needed for hail nets, rain covers and support. FruitSecurity Holland has searched for a wooden posts producer where the producer believes in and can guarantee a good product.

We have found this at Carmo Wood. FruitSecurity Holland and Carmo Wood have an exclusive partnership for Northern Europe. Carmo Wood is a company based in Portugal and Carmo has 10 locations there. The guarantee on the product is given by Carmo in cooperation with the company Koppert. Koppert is the company that supplies the products for the treatment of the wooden poles and supervises the process of treatment.

We have the two companies in the picture that will guarantee the wooden poles. How is it possible that these companies will guarantee the wooden poles? In the coming series of articles we will explain this to you. The following points will be discussed: Raw material - Production- Drying- Treatment - Control - Guarantee.

What are the important aspects in a wooden pole? Compressive strength, Torsion (twisting), Bending/Elasticity and lifespan.

Raw material Carmo wooden poles

Carmo Wood posts are produced from slow growing pine trees (Pinus Pinaster, Mediterranean conifer). This in sustainable and certified forests in a temperate climate. Carmo wood posts grow on poor soils, sand or mountain slopes, developing high mechanical resistance.

Carmo Wood's technical team is trained in forestry engineering and has several foresters who provide support to suppliers.

There are 3 types of assessments conducted:

1. Preliminary assessment of forest potential;
2. Assessment during the felling operation;
3. Subsequent assessment of the delivery.

The trees come from thinning operations (sustainable) or crop cutting. Pinus Pinaster is called Mediterranian conifer or Zeeden in Dutch. The trees are known for the following:

• Slow growth;
• Few knots- Characteristic of the species and controlled simultaneous planting;
• Very resistant, little to no external attack;
• %Hardwood vs. %Sapwood- about 80-90% sapwood;
• Larger conicity (Cone-shaped) compared to other species;
• Density- about 620 kg per m3;
• The tree is cut at the base (without using the crown of the pine for the wooden pole), so the knots of living branches do not enter the pole. This is a critical factor in the strength and resistance of a manufactured wooden pole.

An important part of the secret of the Carmo pole begins in the forest. In the next part, we will explain the production process!