I enjoy doing research and the IKEA Tarva bed was available with shipping to my remote area of Thailand (for $80!) so I bought this one and the Grimsbu to conduct strength tests (see here for the IKEA metal bed strength test).
Testing the strength of the IKEA Tarva bed frame
I had to add a three-inch concrete block to the slats to make a more level platform for sitting the concrete weights on. It is not perfectly level with the top of the rail so this might not be the safest setup.
I realize that the slats are taking a small amount of weight. but I balanced the weights over the rail as best I could without the concrete weights falling over, which they almost did a few times.
Check out my strength test of the IKEA Luroy slats here.
Benchmark measurement
I keep my tape measure in the adobe shed/toilet building so it is always damp there. The dampness did some damage to my tape measure so it is not perfectly clear and easy to see the measurements.
I will buy a new one for the next round of bed testing, which will likely be back in Canada rather than here in Thailand.
The starting distance between is 7 7/8″. Let’s see how far we can bend the wood rail before it sags too far or breaks!
Measuring frame sag with 92.4 lb
I am using my homemade concrete weights that I use to work out with an Olympic bar off grid here on the farm.
Real steel plates are crazy expensive here and I don’t want to waste too much money on the farm gym since I also need a gym in two places in Nova Scotia.
There was no change with 46.2 lb.
The frame is sagging 1/8″ with the first 96.4 lb concrete weight. Not terrible, not great. The rail is a THIN piece of pine wood, a softwood.
It is not one solid piece, but built with smaller pieces and jointed and glued together.
I do not have high expectations for this cheap bed haha.
Testing with 137.7 lb
Holding strong at 7 3/4″ so it is still only causing the rail to bend 1/8″, which I find very surprising.
Testing the frame with 179.9 lb
I am expecting the wood to start to fail, or at least sag considerably.
But the weight doesn’t seem to have changed the measurement…I did not expect this at all!
Can it handle 222 lb?
Yup, it is holding strong and hasn’t moved much or at all. I have to admit that I am impressed.
260.1 lb and getting nervous
I am getting nervous with this much weight. My hands and head are in a great position to have the concrete weights bouncing off of me if the wood frame breaks while I am measuring.
Oh, and it still isn’t moving as it is only sagging 3/16″ since we started the test.
Time to implement safety protocols. A pallet should be good enough to protect the tile floor. I will worry about my toes, hands, and head later 🙂
336.9 lb on one wood frame rail
I can’t believe that it is still holding this weight and I am measuring the total sag to be 1/4″.
I wanted to keep adding weight but I am worried about the wood breaking and damaging the floor, or me.
I also want to keep the bed in one piece because I am using it to make an article about how to make a bed stronger.
After that experiment, I will destroy the bed through extreme testing that should be very entertaining! So bookmark this page so you don’t miss it (hint, it will involve an elephant).
Conclusion: The IKEA Tarva is strong!
I am still digesting the results of this test. This model far exceeded my expectations and I have a newfound respect for this low-cost furniture manufacturer.
Check out my article about if Ikea beds break easily here.
After doing some research on using pine for furniture I found a few interesting reasons that this bed is stronger than I expected. Check out the quotes below and follow the links to read the rest of the research.
The results show that the influence of the knots and flaws, the turpentine and moisture content, the paint decoration and colors, the textures and veins, the shape characteristics of furniture parts, the basic structure forms of furniture units, and the connection methods significantly great affects pine furniture design.
College of Furniture and Art Design, Design Methods of Pine Furniture
It seems that pine strength degrades after heavy stressing of the wood over time. And the speed at which the weight is added to the wood speeds the weakening.
And since I added the weight slowly during this test it won’t affect the durability as much as someone jumping on the bed.
So I do question the long-term sturdiness of the pine used to manufacture this model. Hmm, perhaps I will repeat this test 20 times to see if the bed rail sags more with repeated stress.
Thus, after 20 alternately symmetrical cycles, the longitudinal modulus of elasticity decreases by approximately 28%, and with the increase of the loading speed, for some cases, there was even destruction of the samples.
National Library of Medicine, Degradation of Mechanical Properties of Pine Wood Under Symmetric Axial Cyclic Loading Parallel to Grain
Sources
Design Methods of Pine Furniture Li Hua Tang, WenJin Liu College of Furniture and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, Hunan, China tang-lihua@163.com,csfulwj@163.com
Stanciu MD, Teodorescu HD, Vlase S. Degradation of Mechanical Properties of Pine Wood Under Symmetric Axial Cyclic Loading Parallel to Grain. Polymers (Basel). 2020 Sep 23;12(10):2176. doi: 10.3390/polym12102176. PMID: 32977665; PMCID: PMC7598592.
