Digger Man Blog Out of Office in Cyprus

I am currently on my first day of a long awaited and much needed R&R holiday in Cyprus, but of course I didn’t want to leave the Digger Man Blog faithful without something to read, so over the coming days, I am going to be re-visiting some old blogs from the past including some of my all-time favourites, starting topically with this selection of photos taken during previous visits to Cyprus.

As regular readers will know, when I go on holiday, I am always on the lookout for construction kit during my travels. I have always found Cyprus to be a great place to find old machines of all makes, still earning their keep on a daily basis.

Many of these classic machines have found their way to the sunnier climes of the beautiful Mediterranean island from the UK, where they have, more often than not, been offloaded as well past their best, but in Cyprus they just seem to keep them going longer.

Many of these shots appeared on my original Digger Blog back in 2008/9 during the Contract Journal days, but as that has now long disappeared off the internet, I feel it’s good to bring them back for Digger Man Blog readers to enjoy.

I spotted this old Caterpillar tracked loading shovel during a trip up the Troodos Mountains. Eagle eyed readers might notice that the machine is sporting a 977K decal, but I am pretty confident that it is actually a 955K model as it only has one top carrier roller, whereas the genuine 977K featured two top rollers. Also, of note in the background, are a couple of Cat backhoe loaders, and a Ford D series tipper.

Also spotted in the Troodos area was this 1970’s Caterpillar 955L track shovel, which was filling in an area adjacent to some new building that was being constructed. This seems to be a common practice in Cyprus, as you see piles of tipped material all over the place.

On another road trip out and about, we were traveling along some back roads towards Limassol when we came upon the beautiful coastal village of Zygi, and to my delight there was some work going on to build a new marina. There were a number of old classics working here, including this Cat 245, which was sporting a long reach dipper arm. At the time of my visit, this venerable old machine was undergoing some essential maintenance to a slack track.

At another location on our way back to Protaras, I came across a plant yard that had many various items of Cat kit. Some in tidy condition, and some that looked as if they had been cannibalised to keep others running, like the remains of this old dozer.

Not far from our hotel was the beautiful Cape Greko area, which is a natural park and a place of outstanding beauty, so I was somewhat shocked to find that just over the back from this idyllic location is a local rubbish tip! I found it amazing that they would tip rubbish in such a beautiful place, but nevertheless I couldn't help myself from spotting another two old Cat classics to take some photos of and vowed to go back on my own the next day.

I must admit I was getting some strange looks from the local refuse lorry drivers who were driving past me and the smell was pretty awful, but I got my reward in the end when I got to take some close-up photos of this Cat D8K dozer and yet another 966C wheeled loading shovel. 

Note the British 53 number plate on the back of the 966C, not sure how that came to be on there, when you consider that the 966C was first introduced in 1967, with production ending in the early 1980’s. There are still a lot of 966C’s at work around the world, hardly surprising when you consider that total production figures for the model are estimated at around 43,900 machines!

Still seems incredible that they are tipping here so near to the coast, but what a view the machine operators must get every day.