One of the most common questions we are asked by our customers is how much body weight Loll chairs will support. The first time we were ever asked this question, more than 10 years ago, we performed a simple in-house test. Myself and three other grown men stood together on a Loll Adirondack. We all stood on the seat with our arms wrapped around each other for balance. We started with one person and built up to four with a total weight easily exceeding 700 pounds. There was no failure. Nothing even moved. Besides the humor this situation created, it also proved that we were building a very strong chair. As a manufacturer it is imperative we test our products before we offer them to the world, and as important as in-house testing is, to add genuine credibility, responsible and reputable companies seek impartial third party testing. Testing confirms the integrity of the structure, its durability, longevity, and perhaps most importantly, the safety for the sitter. It’s difficult (if not impossible) to relax if you feel like what you are sitting on is going to collapse underneath you! An industry standard guideline for office furniture testing is BIFMA. BIFMA standards ensure that your office chair, desk, file cabinet, etc. will be durable and safe. The same testing guidelines do not exist for outdoor furniture but we used BIFMA standards recently to work with the University of Minnesota Natural Resource Research Institute to create a battery of tests that prove the strength and safety of some of our most popular Loll products.
Case Study: Adirondack Tall
Chair is marked for loading at the center of the seat and placed directly under loading cylinder with pad.
Test base is prepped and loading cylinder is connected to hydraulic lines and pump.
Load is applied at a sufficiently slow rate to prevent dynamic loading and applied until point of failure.
End of the observation was determined after a 40% drop in load occurred. Then inspected for visible physical failure.
Found center support at the rear connection popped out at 3,065 lbs. Chair only requires one part replaced.
Results: Maximum Load (lbs) at Failure
Besides all this, our furniture is tested every day in the real world and that really is the proof in the pudding. Want to see some real world examples? Click here to see photos customers have tagged of us on Instagram and here to see several featured commercial installations in places like restaurants, public spaces, high-rise rooftops, and more.
