There’s a remote risk of this catastrophic failure happening due to bad maintenance, installation, or building, but there’s no risk of this happening due to normal rotation/swing. In other words, assuming the machine is in good working order and used for realistic applications, this will never happen.
Here’s a video that explains how excavators achieve infinite swing angle without tangling the hydraulic hoses that go to the motors in the tracks. The dude in the video knows his stuff.
neidu3@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Now. The joint isn’t threaded, it’s a slew ring. Think of it like a wide diameter ball bearing with some extra locking mechanisms to hold the top part in place.
What happened here is most likely a damaged or worn slew ring.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
So is it possible to swing infinitely any way? Or is there a limit because of electric cables or something?
neidu3@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Unlimited, other than wear and tear, of course. Electricals and hydraulics go via a slip ring.