Poles for fruit production which combine longevity with stability and flexibility, which are at the same time light, easy to install and best of all are recyclable – bringing monetary return, are the benefits of Trellex.

The choice of the support system for orchards and protection systems generally depends on stability and longevity. By choosing wood, someone is probably choosing the most stable option. But as it is known, this comes with a big trade-off in terms of longevity.

By choosing concrete, someone can be sure of a long useful life, but to the disadvantage of a reduced lateral load capacity, the high weight and the waste disposal costs. Jan-Willem van Giessen who founded Trellex started to produce optimised metal posts for fruit production in 2019.

Mr van Giessen is convinced that metal posts will play an important role in fruit production and installing protection systems.

Metal – obvious advantages

The biggest difference between metal and concrete posts is weight. Concrete posts for one hectare of orchard with anti-hail-net weighs about 26-30 tonnes. Trellex-posts weigh approximately six tons. Less than a quarter! The low weight leads to many advantages, starting with transport, by being able to load more than four times the quantity of concrete posts!

This has a very positive impact on the transport costs. Further, the low weight simplifies handling during installation. Starting with the distribution of the poles on the farm until the correct positioning of the poles, the effort is reduced enormously.

Consequently, the installation performance rises, and the costs decrease. Especially when installing posts for netting in existing orchards, the low weight of metal posts facilitates the work substantially!

Trellex uses only steel strips with the proven Magnelis-Zinc-coat. The 250 gram coating consists of zinc, aluminium and magnesium for high longevity. The octagonal section combined with 2mm material thickness on the 95mm diameter pole sizes, and 1.5mm on 65mm diameter posts, guarantees optimal stability.

The 95mm poles are suitable as end-poles, with the 65mm designed to be installed in the inner areas of the orchard. There is also a lighter version 45mm diameter pole with a thickness of 1.25mm. This one is used for fencing and lower crops such as berries.

A special feature of Trellex poles is the inside-seam. By closing the profiles with a seam, the protection by the zinc-coat is not affected as it would be by welding. By having the seam inside, the poles can be planted with any orientation without being limited when it comes to the installation of the accessories.

Also important is the option to get the post with a pointed foot end. By closing the bottom, during plantation the poles gain more adhesion to the soil, and later they show higher resistance to being further pushed into the soil by vertical pressure.

Besides all the technical characteristics, Trellex posts are cost competitive.

Complete ‘V’ netting system

In addition to the posts, Trellex offers a wide range of accessories for orchards and protection systems. From easy installable anti-sink plates made of one piece, to Italian made anti-hail caps, the assortment provides everything needed.

Especially interesting is the Trellex Clickcross system to install the V-trellis as easy and fast as never before! The client can choose the height and the width of the cross-arms which can then by installed by ‘clicking’ into place without any accessory or tools needed.

Using the Clickcross system allows the growers to easily combine a V-system with a ‘classic’ netting system. And to be able to deliver complete netting solutions for orchards, Trellex is collaborating with Premex Trade, a North Italian company with decades of experience in the anti-hail sector, who can deliver everything needed – starting from the project to the material and the know-how – to achieve state of the art installations.

If you too are tired of heavy concrete or decomposing wood, start considering the advantages offered by Trellex poles!

For more information contact Marcel Veens