With things pretty slow here let me ask an easy one. I frequently get into 2 or 3 inches of water and mud with a Bobcat E35i. Cleaning the mud and grass off of the track roller frame at the end of the day is not too difficult; but does take some time and it can be messy. What harm might result from leaving the fresh mud in place, aside from potential of it freezing as the night temperatures drop this winter and locking the tracks?
Don't think in terms of what harm can a little mud do. Think about what good can be done by cleaning it off; 1. A little mud today is a lot of mud tomorrow. 2. It gets you in there to spot any damage or loose components before they become a problem. 3. You'll feel better in yourself knowing that you have cared for your machine. 4. You'll improve the universe. A zen master once said "if you want to make the world a better place, start by cleaning your toilet"
its not just cleaning mud off, its looking for any missing or loose bolts or anything else that may be out of place, same as when doing an oil change on your machine or truck, you poke around at everything under the hood and chassis to see if anything else needs attention, so just look at it as time spent doing an inspection as your cleaning...
Cleaning time is inspection time. Icouldnt tell you how many times all that poking and prodding has found small issues that I could correct before it got to bad. Everyone likes a nice clean machine anyways.
Thanks to all for your good input.
I can't add too much to what others have said. I know it seemed like many people could not understand why I tried so hard to keep the equipment washed down in the quarry where I worked. I think they figured it was a waste of time as it was "just going to get dirty again!" Well in the last 20+ years that I was the primary person caring for the equipment I can not remember one time we had an overheating problem due to a dirty radiator. Like others have said many times I found something loose or damaged while hosing down a machine, hold down for hyd. hose, dry and cracked hose, broken ground wire, fan belt starting to fail and so on. Same can go for simple things like sweeping the floor in the shop. It not only makes for a more pleasant place to work but when that dam snap ring goes flying while trying to install or remove it makes finding it a lot easier. And if having a problem finding that small part that went flying, sweeping the floor can not only help you find it but can make the boss think you are working not just wandering around lost!
Dittto^ I used to hose off undercarriage after every job, but I've been a bit of slacker in that regard as of late. I could spend a good hour or two hosing undercarriage. I do try to keep access hatch bolts clean in case I need to adjust tracks or change drive motor oil. I do make it a point to hose it off quarterly. As for interior compartments, like engine and hydraulic bay, they are ALWAYS super clean. I have caught weeping leaks due to hoses or nuts loosening up (machine vibration loosens everything over time) because I keep those areas clean. Especially important to keep rads clean, especially in my machine, which isn't tolerant of hot days (full metal jacket with not enough venting on exterior body). I try make sure I'm parked on loose gravel when freezing temps hit. If your on any wet ground, you may find yourself stuck when it freezes. I can't say keeping undercarriage clean prolongs life of undercarriage...probably keeps rust at bay, as packed on mud becomes an incubator for rust formation. The only time I've had to do repairs on undercarriage is when I work extensively in muck...the sand/clay/silt eventually work their way into roller bearings and blow them up. And high speed turns on firm ground seems to wreck them. And it is always a good idea to remove drive motor covers after working in heavy muck, and wash them off. I get a lot of corrosion in there, as mud packs in there and does it thing.