Hi all, First and foremost, I am not an excavator operator but a student doing some research in excavators. I am hoping someone can help me on this forum. I will like to know if I set the excavator in a certain position ( ie. the boom, bucket and arm hydraulic cylinders at a certain length) will the positions change when I keep adding more and more load in the bucket (via lets say many shovel loads)?
If you position the machine, and then add load to it by some other way than digging, the excavator will stay in the same position, unless it has a mechanical failure, or if the load exceeds the capacity. If it is overloaded, the machine will hold position of the boom and bucket, it will just tip the machine when it becomes overloaded.
Thanks for the speedy reply Jerry. So you're saying that there isn't even a small marginal angle (about 0- 20 degrees more or less) change in the bucket position before it tips over in overloading conditions?
Nope
As I said, on a properly functioning machine, there will be no movement. Take an older well worn machine, and there may be some leak down in the hydraulics.
If you're talking academic margins, there is deflection in the structure, hoses, and cylinders which do result in movement of the load. Also, the ground bearing surface will deflect, which is noticeable in soft terrain.