Paul Richards, has been operating heavy plant for many years and has always been proud of his ability to keep a clean and tidy machine. His current mount, which he has had from new for around 8 months, is a Doosan DX140LC which he is operating for MJL Contractors. The machine has notched up 1,240 hours since it arrived and yet, as these photos show, it still looks like brand new.

I myself, have always had a fairly decent reputation for keeping a clean and tidy machine, but sadly for me, being self employed, I often end up operating the older machines in a company’s fleet. It is so much easier to keep a machine up together if you get it from new, and you can manage to keep the “not so careful” operators off your mount when you are not in, on a weekend or on holiday. Having said that, the standard of cleanliness in Paul’s cab took my breath away and he obviously puts a lot of work and effort into keeping it in pristine condition.

Paul’s tips for keeping a clean cab include keeping the windows shut at all times to prevent ingress of dust and mud, keeping his dirty boots on the removable mat he places on the floor, and a never ending supply of cockpit shine and polishing rags.

Keeping a clean and tidy machine on site often leaves the individual open to a lot of mickey taking and accusations of having an OCD condition on a par with Howard Hughes, but as most of us spend more time in the cab of our machines than we do at home on the sofa, it’s nice to be able to keep your temporary home in order!

Anyway this got me thinking about other operators cab conditions, so if you think yours is even better than Paul’s, why not send us a few shots of your pride and joy to share with your fellow Digger Blog readers. Maybe we can even get one of the polish manufacturers to offer some prizes for the ultimate winner?

I look forward to seeing your cab real soon!