Especially for beech

Pomeranian Timber specialises in the processing of hardwood - predominantly beech. The Polish company invested in a new timber yard from Baljer & Zembrod to simplify and streamline log sorting, especially for its employees.

Pomeranian Timber is located in the north-west of Poland and is a sawmill that processes beech wood from the northern part of Poland - West Pomerania. The company cuts around 45,000 m3 of beech logs and a small amount of other hardwood species, such as ash, sycamore and alder, every year. Pomeranian Timber also exports sawn timber, window profiles and other timber products. We only work with companies that meet the strict requirements for the sustainable use of tropical forest resources. Pomeranian Timber strives to occupy a niche by supplying special products tailored to the requirements of specific customers and avoiding standardised large-scale production. This enables the company to remain flexible in times of economic downturn and to adapt to the market. The company's machinery and the corresponding personnel are tailored to this guiding principle in order to ensure the best possible utilisation of the raw wood. Pomeranian Timber employs around 100 people and, like many timber processing companies, faces a major challenge: the need to mechanise work as much as possible and reduce the amount of heavy manual labour.

New timber yard
In the search for solutions, a contract was signed with Baljer & Zembrod in 2020 for the delivery of a log processing and sorting system. "The system was designed in consultation with the customer, taking into account the specific requirements for the properties of the high-quality beech wood and in accordance with the local conditions. The plant is located in a special environmental zone that requires noise emissions to be limited due to the strict standards", reports Łukasz Rybarkiewicz, responsible for sales at Baljer & Zembrod in Poland. Installation and commissioning took place at the turn of the year 2021/2022. The system is operated by one employee. It consists of a feeding station for up to 60 tonnes of logs with a maximum log length of 14 m and a system for separating long logs before feeding them into a measuring conveyor. This is equipped with Jörg Electronic measurement,  including long log optimisation.

A Holtec chainsaw cuts the logs according to the optimisation. Baljer & Zembrod also supplied the ZE905-KH hole rotor debarking. This is designed for a minimum length of 2 metres and processes diameters from 15 to 90 cm. The ten sorting boxes were designed by Baljer & Zembrod in such a way that height differences between the sorting line and the box floor are avoided. This prevents cracks from forming in the valuable wood due to strong impacts against the box floor or between the logs. In order to easily remove the bark from under the conveyor systems, Baljer & Zembrod equipped the feeding station with an automatic scraper conveyor that removes the bark.

Depending on demand, the bark produced during debarking is either sold as biomass or burnt to heat the drying kilns. The Baljer & Zembrod plant processes around 200 cubic metres of logs every day. The quantity depends on the wood quality and other parameters, such as diameter or dimensions. It may also depend on the expected length of the short timber intended for production needs.

1. View of the entire Baljer & Zembrod timber yard at Pomeranian Timber
2. Debarking machine, type ZE905-KH
3. Baljer & Zembrod designed the ten sorting boxes in such a way that height differences between the sorting line and the box floor are avoided