were raised towards the top of the embankment, the recovery crew repositioned their wreckers and began winching the excavator up the slope. In preparation for this final winching operation, the recovery team installed a two-part line onto the excavator’s bucket to focus more force on that part of the casualty. At last, the excavator was on level ground. Two rotators were used to lift it into loading height, and then lower it onto a lowboy trailer. Once secured for transport, the excavator was relocated back to the landfill from where it had been stolen. Due to the difficult nature, extreme circumstances and precision execution of this recovery, it was selected for WreckMaster’s 2021 Heavy Duty Donnie Cruse Memorial Recovery Award. All told, Chancey and his crew rose to the occasion, overcoming that sinking feeling.
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After a 14-hour day’s work, the excavator was finally loaded onto a lowboy.
40 • April 2022 | Towman.com
IN MEMORIAM Dewayne Chancey started with one truck in 1988, a Ford F-350 with a Chevron flat bed. To draw attention to his fledgling firm, still located at his company’s main location on Mike Padgett Highway in Augusta, Georgia, Dewayne applied metallic, multicolored paint striping to the truck body. Over the years, he grew the company with his hard work and a drive to be the best. Chancey’s Towing now has over 50 pieces of equipment and a large group of dedicated employees. Sadly, Dewayne passed away just a few days after this recovery, but he left them doing what he loved.