Saturday, May 30, 2015

A Small Farm Auction Adventure





I went to an auction today way out in the boonies (I mean way out) and about as close as on can get to the old Muddy Mo River without falling in as possible. As a matter of fact I was less than 1/2 mile from the Great Grandparents burial plot and only about a mile from where great Grand-dad drown in said river before I was born.

Ya half my family tree is 100% river folk from down that a-way. It was about a 40 mile road trip along a little hwy that follows the river and is littered with farm plots various family members have owned over the years. Most of them I only know about from having them pointed out to me since it was way before my time. We were once a pretty prolific family but who can afford 12 kids these days? I took my dad with me and he was waxing nostalgic enough about the area that I almost talked him into buying 7 acres they had up for auction as well. It was a pretty good deal honestly but he decided it was too far out for his age.

All in all a fun trip but if I had planned a little more carefully and taken about 5 to 10K in cash with me I would more than likely have made enough reselling the deals I found to not work for a couple of years. I am seriously not exaggerating either. I was holding back to bid on the above tiller and willing to go about $800.00 for it but I still jumped in a couple of times because things were going so cheap. After only an hour or so I was feeling so bad for the guy having the auction I stepped in and ran some stuff up just on general principal.

I bid a 8x12 stock trailer up to $600.00 after they were getting ready to slam the gavel (figuratively of course) down on it for $250.00. The thing was easily worth a grand. I took a gooseneck 16 foot heavy duty trailer up to $1250.00 when it was almost going for $800.00. It really was a shame to see some of that stuff go for so low and the poor old guy selling just grimaced several times.

Anyway we finally got to the tiller I wanted and I told the main buyer up front he wasn't getting it. The last go round we had was over a Ferguson 35 tractor worth $3500.00 easy that I stopped bidding on at 2 grand. He got it for $2025.00. What a steal.  Live PTO and external hydraulics in good shape but I have no room to house another tractor and really didn't relish driving the thing home 40 miles in the rain either, especially with the river threatening to come out of it's banks at any moment.

We got to the tiller and he stopped bidding at $575.00. I took it for $590.00 and then used his Ferguson 35 with a bale spike to load it up on the truck. He was pretty good natured about it since he had won everything else from me he had no room to complain but I told him flat out I would have went $800.00 for the tiller. I looked it up last night and they are selling used for around $900.00 anyway.

So finally my holy grail tiller purchase is complete. It's a Bush Hog 40 inch model they don't make em any longer and it is a bit smaller than I would have liked but original new price was around $1400.00. This one doesn't even have the paint worn off the teeth either and I know for a fact it works perfectly because I already hooked her up and tried her out. Well as much as the swamp that the ground around here has become would allow anyway.  She even came with an extra PTO Shaft. I also picked up a brand new 330 foot roll of RedLine fencing just like the three I just bought for $139.00 each for a whole 12 bucks. As I said if I had been a bit more prepared and not wanting that tiller so badly I could have walked away with some great bargains. It really was sad to see some of those things going so cheaply but a rainy day, way out in the boonies and a depressed local economy brings that kind of thing on I guess.

I would bet it's going to be more and more common as the long slow slide continues.

At least I got my tiller!!!!

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!


10 comments:

  1. Those prices are way cheap for my area as well. That tiller will be priceless one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sf - Oh it was much worse too. Like a grain wagon about 10 x 12 and over 8 foot high that went for 85 bucks. Three metal gates I was bidding on that went for 17.50 each. I should ahve went to 20 bucks but as I said I was holding back cause of the tiller.

      Delete
  2. That is exactly what we need! A farm equipment auction! Down in my neck of the woods that stuff already is priceless, having been relegated to the fantastically expensive categories of "antique", "vintage", and "collectors items".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leigh - They had a box blade that went for less than 100 bucks but the post hole digger actually went for a fair amount which surprised me. That tractor would have been perfect for your needs though.

      Delete
  3. Whew, I sure would have liked to had that stock trailer! That was cheap! We have looked here and junk and I do mean junk ones are quite a bit more than that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Holy crap.
    We have a local consignment sale run by the Amish twice a year and i go just to watch people go nuts. They pay more for the old stuff then it retails new.
    I'm not sure if it's because majority have more money then brains or are trying to convert the fiat cash into something useful

    ReplyDelete
  5. PP,

    Congrats on the tiller and the other items you picked up at a great price.
    Auctions and estate sales are great places to find things you really need at a reasonable price. Good to hear you jacked up the prices to help the family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You made the comment I was thinking at the end, Preppy, about the downpricing of things being a sign of the times. I think it is as well. We have a lot of stuff we have acquired over the years that is practical useless for most purposes but trying to go through the hassle of selling it is not really worth the time for the money you net.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.