My poles have splits and cracks. Is this normal?

Our range of wooden round pole swing sets are made from whole tree trunks trimmed to size, making them extremely strong. These natural tree trunks respond to atmospheric changes and moisture content.  Naturally occurring splits will appear in the poles. In warm sunny weather, the wood shrinks, causing cracks, in wet weather it expands, and the cracks reduce in size. The cracks are perfectly normal, the wood opens up to relieve the stresses caused by the contraction when the wood is dryer than it was while growing in a tree.

You will notice that each crack runs along a portion of the pole and then ends. This means that the strength of the whole pole remains unaffected. The overall thickness of the poles and the fact that they are complete trunks mean that the strength is not affected by these cracks. Our safety tests are conducted on timber with the most extensive cracks. If you notice that one crack runs the entire length of the beam or that the splits go all the way to the very centre of the timber, please contact our technical team with photographs of the cracks and they will be happy to review,  if the cracks do not run the full length of the beam or to the centre of the beam the strength will not be compromised.

For more information, learn about our wood.