Older Kit Spotted in Cyprus

As is so often the case, when I’m on holiday, I like to take myself off somewhere for a bit of digger spotting, and this year was no different as I hired a car for a day and headed off to the Troodos Mountains area in Cyprus.

When one has had enough of baking on the sunbeds in the coastal resorts, a trip up the Troodos Mountains, the largest mountain range in Cyprus, always offers some respite from the heat. The highest peak is Mount Olympus, at some 1,952 metres above sea level, so high that in winter heavy snow allows for skiing on the Sun Valley and North Face ski areas.

For me personally, it’s a great area to track down old machines, and following an ear popping drive up the mountain I discovered a few gems this year.

First up was a CASE 580 Super LE 4x4 backhoe loader, which I have to say, for its age was in fine fettle. With an operating weight of 6.025 tonnes, these machines which had a production run from 1996 to 2005 were highly regarded by CASE fans back in the day, and many like this example are still working in the field to this day. I suspect this one is used to clear snow on the roads during the winter season, and for general maintenance work on the mountain area.

Coming back down the mountain I spotted yet another CASE machine, this time an 1150H dozer, which had all the hallmarks of being an American import model, featuring the US style bonnet ROPS/FOPS protection. This example was owned by the Cypriot Department of Forests and is used for track maintenance and fire break work. Another fine example of a machine defying its age and working well.

While having lunch up at the tourist centre I stumbled across a little Kubota B7100 Bullpet tractor C/W a third-party loading shovel arrangement. This venerable little tractor had a number of improvisation’s fitted, like the concrete block counterweight, a not so luxury old plastic school seat, and a spanner acting as loader arm raise lever!

Further back down the mountain I spotted a nice New Holland/Kobelco E215B hydraulic excavator, which was sporting a riddling bucket.

Having descended the mountain, and making my way back to the Protaras resort area, I veered of into the village of Ormideia, where I had spotted an abandoned JCB 3CX. The Project 7 (P7) model was extremely popular in the late 1980’s and a firm favourite among the JCB faithful.

This example doesn’t look to have done much work for many years, and I am pretty convinced I had seen the same machine on a previous visit to Cyprus in my previous life back in 2009. She will probably still be lying there when I return next year!

I didn't see as many machines this year as during previous visits, but with more time, there are plenty about on the sunshine island, checkout my video below.