The floating excavator had been submerged in the middle of a lake in Stanthorpe, Queensland, for a week. The only Heking floating excavator in the whole of Australia.
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Replacement value was $500,000, but the insurance company would only give the owner $250,000. It had been sitting in the mud and would have been totally damaged. It normally sat on the surface of the water and removed weeds, but had gone up on rocks, overbalanced and toppled on its side. Cyclone Debbie was also on her way.
Probably a total write off everybody thought, and the manager, Ron Horner unhappily knew he would lose $250,000.
However, he had another thought. He knew a young mechanic called Corey Gurney from Lithgow, and if anyone could fix it, Corey could.
However, he had another thought. He knew a young mechanic called Corey Gurney from Lithgow, and if anyone could fix it, Corey could.
Mr Horner has a connection with Lithgow, as he went to school in Lithgow and later owned the Lithgow Hotel. He was also a pioneer in the earth-moving game in Australia, specialising in excavators.
Mr Horner told the insurance company that he knew of someone who could fix it but they had to pay for him to fly up to Stanthorpe in Queensland and back to Lithgow and must cover all his expenses.
The insurance company was very skeptical but eventually said they would give him a go.
So Corey Gurney came and got to work.
“When I first seen it, it was a fifty-fifty chance. Divers assessed it and the owner sent a drone to fly around it to get a good assessment. That’s when we realised the engine hadn’t gone underwater,” Mr Gurney said.
However, the team was still under pressure with Cyclone Debbie and monsoon rains heading towards the town in a matter of days, threatening to soak the machine beyond repair.
Divers went into the dam to attach inflatable balloons to the machine so it floated to the surface. Then a team of several tractors dragged it out of the lake.
Mr Gurney cleaned all the mud out, removed the fish that had got entangled, washed and decontaminated every part of the machine, changed the oils and cleaned the electric circuit boards that everyone said would never work again.
He did it in four days.
“We worked tirelessly, I only stopped to sleep,” Mr Gurney said.
Imagine the look on the owner’s face when the engine, which everyone had thought irretrievable, roared into life. There was a grand celebration in the pub’s little village of 6,000 people.
The total cost of restoration turned out to be only $50,000 and saved the owner a quarter of a million dollars.
“What a freak you are, Corey, what a hero!” Mr Horner said.
The amazed insurance company could only agree!