Consignment Auction Doldrums
From Dan Davidson at the DTN Production Blog
On Thursday this week I attended the winter consignment auction held at Michael Wegener Implement in Cornlea, Neb. Probably near 1500 pieces of equipment were for sale and I estimated there were 600 to 800 buyers, observers or sellers on hand. The morning started out cool and wet with rain and snow which than turned to cold and windy and buy the end of the day I was chilled all the way through.
It was interesting to see how the auction went. I was there as an observer and a seller, but not a buyer this year. I regret that I did not buy a few items because the prices were going for much lower than I expected. For example two sturdy metal shop tables sold for $75 apiece. There as a like-new saddle tank system with two 300 gallon tanks that sold for $50 (I want to buy two new tanks and have to pay $450).
I felt it was a buyers’ market and prices were not as high as a year or two ago when the farm economy was ramping up with the biofuels industry. There was also a lack of exuberance in the bidding process. It was a hard to get buyers to start bidding and when they did, the auctioneering team tried to cajole them into paying more what the equipment was worth and usually without much success.
I am not a machinery jockey and it was hard to know what equipment is really worth since I do not track this industry. However I always look at the local editions of Tractor House and Fastline to see what machinery costs, dream about what I would like to buy and discover that retail-priced equipment is pretty pricey. But prices at auctions usually reflect the true market value of an item at a given moment in time - not the retail price that we sellers hope to get. There were some great buys for guys who had the cash and the bidding wasn’t too competitive.
Some of the surprising buys!
There was an early model Kinze 12-row wide planter with row cleaners and good planter units that sold for $1150. The row cleaners were worth at least $100 apiece. A JD 7200 12-row narrow front fold with all the bells and whistles sold for $10,250. Older JD 7000 series planters were selling for about $200 a row.
Several JD 8000 series tractors sold in the 50,000 range and with tracks for about $60,000. JD 40 and 50 series tractors brought between $20,000 and $30,000. There were several JD 3010 and 3020 tractors with loaders that went from $4500 to $5000 and 4000 series tractors were bringing around $8000. A salvage 8430 sold for $2500 and I asked a salvage yard if they bought it and they said no because there no longer is a good market for those parts.
There were also antique tractors on the lot. A Farmall H in running condition and fair shape sold for less than $600. JD 50 and 60s brought a couple thousand dollars, JD 720s and 730s brought over $4,000 and a JD 830 restored brought over $6,000. An Oliver 1900 with a 4 cylinder screaming Detroit brought $5200. There was also a Cleveland trencher with tracks and gas motor that sold for $1100 - and according the seller, it was in operating condition.
A one owner 1981 Case 2390 that had its engine and transmission overhauled last summer sold for $6250 and the cab, metal and paint were still in good condition and the seller was shocked. Someone stole this tractor. Another Case 5488 brought $12,500. Since I am not a red guy, I did not tractor the price of red tractors or combines.
A like new Peck 10-inch 65 foot auger with swing hopper sold for $1700 but it had a crank lift. Another Bazooka 10-inch 70 foot auger with hydraulic lift sold for $225 but it only had a smaller permanently placed hopper for unloading a gravity wagons.
There were four used 8-10 yard scrapers that sold in the $500 to $600 range.
Several New Holland 1475 sickle bar windrows sold for around $5000 while their predecessor, the 116 sold for $1000 to $2000. An older Hesston sold for $575. Several used V-rakes in good condition brought about $5000. I bought one last year for $4000 in a private sale so I thought I got a good deal.
A JD 567 baler with netwrap and over 15,000 bales on the monitor sold for $18,000 and had sheet metal damage. I bought one last November with 4000 bales on the monitor and in like new condition and paid $24,000 so I thought the $18,000 price was about right.
Several late model JD 9660 and 9760 STS combines (without heads) sold in the $135,000 to $145,000 range). Several 7720s and 6620s combines brought only $6000 or $7000 and often less than the corn heads that came with them.
A UFT 600-700 bushel 2-axle grain cart with hydraulic folding unloading auger and in excellent condition sold for $1850. A like new big Balzer grain cart (over 1000 bushels with a humongous unloading auger) sold for $33,000 (auctioneer said that cart costs $90,000 new). Several 200 bushel graving wagons sold in the $700 to $1000 range.
So there were good buys to be had at the auction if you had the cash and the need (and even if you didn’t have the need). If you were a seller, you went away disappointed.
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