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Went to an auction

Started by DanG, July 29, 2007, 10:42:56 PM

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DanG

There was a big auction about 2 miles from my place on Friday, so I went over there.  There was bunches and bunches of stuff for sale, most of which I couldn't afford to even bid on, for fear that I might win. :o :o  This was the second and final phase of the shutdown of a 1350 acre farm.  First auction was for the real estate, and I heard it brought $4.3 million.  This one was to sell of the equipment, tools and supplies.  The ol' boy is retiring, having made enough money to suit him.  He was a smart farmer, and believed in the "value added" concept, so he was equipped to do most everything.  One of the many crops he grew was tomatoes, so he had the stuff to plant, grow, harvest and process them.  Most folks hire all of that done while they sit on their ass, and they soon go broke.  This guy did the work, along with his hirelings, and got rich.

Anyway, I was standing next to this thing when it came up, and tossed in a $25 bid.  The price inflated a bit, but I was in at $75 when everybody else lost interest.  Frankly, I didn't really care if I got it or not, though I always thought it would be nice to have one.



What it is is a strapping station.  It is a two spool rig and is about 9' tall and 4' deep.  Included in the deal are the two almost full spools of ½" poly strapping, plus one full one still in the box.  They contain 7000' each and sell for $190 each, according to my catalog.  I took a quick look into the onboard tool boxes and there were no crimpers or tensioners.  Just in the nick of time, I spotted them in a "miscellaneous pallet" that was about to come up.  I bid on that and got it for $45. :) :)  That's the boxes you see stacked at the bottom of the pic.

A few minutes later, I won the bid on a pile of roller chain for $25.  I've been thinking of building a live deck for the mill, and this stuff will be just right. ;D



There are 6 six foot pieces here.  It is about an inch wide.  There is also a 10' piece, still in the box that is about ¾" wide.

Here's the plunder I got in that misc. pile.  There are two crimpers, a large box of clamps, 10 strap tensioners, and two "carton staplers" that put in those big copper staples that rip open your hand when you open a box.  In my catalog, these items range from $60 to $125 each.  A few are showing some wear, but most are in good shape.



The strapping station was used to bind bundles of tomato stakes when they were pulled from the field.  The stakes were sold as well, but I didn't buy them.  Probably should have though.  350,000 4' pencil-pointed stakes sold in one lot for $300! :o :o  If my math is right, that is about 12 for a penny!  In contrast to that, a large green tractor with 650 hours on it went for $93,500!

It was a fun day, but Lord have mercy it was HOT!
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Furby

So they harvested the stakes eh ???

isawlogs

Furby beat me to it ...  :D :D :D
Nothing like an auction to bring a man home with treasures , Ya can bring that strapping station up north , I will take real good care of it .  ;)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Brad_S.

Nice haul!
Auctions are my Achilles Heel. I have to stay away from them because I can't help but bid on something. :-[
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

Jeff

I may have to butt in here on this thread about the estate auction I went to last month up north. I took pictures of what I DIDNT buy there as I only had 35 dollars to my name. Figures. Lots of cool stuff and stuff going cheap. Cheap that is until they started getting into the Remington and Winchester Collectibles this old guy had. Original prints from the 19teens, there was a mint daisy double barrel B.B> gun that went for 500 bucks.

The saddest thing was the one thing I saw there that I wanted that went for only 70 bucks. A Hydraulic underwater chainsaw. Never used. Tank, pump. hoses and fittings, extra chains, the whole shebang.  :-\  The circle saw blade in the photo went for 40 bucks and the two man saw for 10



When is the last time you saw a Diablo snow machine let alone one that is pretty much just out of the box? (some of you probably never saw one) In this case TWO just like they come out of the crate. Famous leg pinchers! :)


Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

isawlogs


Man all of those look like they been in a box since new ... did he ever use any of it  ???
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Jeff

I think he was a hoarder.  Those Diablos went for less then $800 bucks a piece. Pretty cheap for a piece of history 40 years old.


I found this link for a sales ad.

http://www.adclassix.com/ads/67bolensdiablo.htm
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

sawguy21

 8). I have trouble keeping my hands in my pockets at auctions too.  :D
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

DanG

I kept wishing I had the camera with me, but at the same time I was glad I didn't.  It was hard enough just being there for 9 hours, and I left before it was done.  I was proud of myself for my discipline, because some really great stuff went for money I could have paid but couldn't afford, if ya know what I mean.

I did miss some stuff I shoulda bought, though.  A '99 Ford van in good shape went for $1200 while I was in line to buy a bottle of water!  There was a 24' tool bar, made of 4"x¼" square tubing,  with 5 steel implement seats on it that went for five bucks while somebody was talking to me. :-[ >:(  An older, but fine D7 dozer went for $6500, and a large American excavator fell for $8500.  I could have bought either of them, but chickened out when the time came.

Yes, they harvested the stakes, but that'll be in another thread. ;D :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Furby

My name is Furby and I have a problem!  smiley_wavy

DanG

Yes Furby, we know. ;D

Sawguy, this was one of the worst auctions I've been to about keeping your hands down.  They had about a half-dozen hawkers out in the crowd looking for the slightest movement.  If a gnat flew up your nose, you had to go hide somewhere, or just wait till the item was sold!  If you bid on something, a hawker would be right in your face, egging you on.  If you indicated a bid, he would shout loud enough to bust your eardrums.  I like things a little more laid back than that.

I found out the next day that a lot of items that were sold were not really sold.  If the price was below reserve, they just went on to the next item and renieged on the sale.  Next time I'm at one of this guy's auctions, I'm gonna embarass the pants off of him.  I'll ask about it on the first item up and make him answer over the loudspeaker. ;D ;D  I know of one item that was rigged.  There was a flatbed semi-trailer with a nice piggyback forklift on it.  They seperated them and bid the trailer alone.  A buddy of mine won it for $2000.  Then they bid the forklift and it went for $4500.  Then they put them back together and bid it as a unit. ???  The "auctioneer" said, "I already have a bid of $7000, sold for $7000" all in one breath.  Nobody else had a chance to bid on the package. >:( >:(   I've been suspicious of this guy for a while now, and I'll be loaded for bear next time he comes to town. ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

sawguy21

 ??? I would not waste any more time with that clown.  >:(
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

bedway

I feel the same way Dang. I like to watch the Barett Jackson auctions on tv, but it drives me up a wall when them so called bidder assistents get in them peoples faces. Then when they start screaming i have to turn it off before i want to reach in the tv and grab the guy by the neck and strangle him.,,, :D,,bedway

tomboysawyer

I nearly always find the best deals at auctions are those odd lots.

Last auction I went to I had checked everything out before hand and one odd lot had three boxes with it. I really wanted it for the bag and accessories for my Rotozip, but there were other cool things too. I won it for $50. It was the ONLY auction lot out of hundreds that got put back up because the auctioneer claimed the demonstration people hadn't showed it came with all three boxes (it was IN the program). So I won it again for $135. *pithed me off.

In that lot, however, was about $300 worth of drill bits alone, the bag, the RotoZip head ($65 at HD), spray foam, string handlers, plumb bobs, and so many little tools that you always want at the hardware store but you make do without...

Odd lots are also the best deal for eBay sellers...

DanG

I usually end up with a bunch of useless or broken stuff in those boxes too.  This time there was a whole case of disposable temperature recorders that they use in the tomato trucks. At first, I thought I might could use them in a kiln, but found they only measure to 95 degrees.  I'll probbly just trade them to a grower for a box or two of 'maters. ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

olyman

dang--im with you--id bury that auctioneer at the next auction--might help to have a cop friend with you that knows the law--as they might try and remove you from premises--which should raise eyebrows in hte crowd--and lower his popularity!!!!!! :D :D

Wallys World

DanG, been there before.
Myself and my buddy went to an auction to see about a grain elevator to convert for firewood use. We won it for $80. After a few minutes the auctioneer called us up to the truck and said there was a reserve of $100 on the elevator. They wouldn't put it back up, and the farmer who owned it said that we bought it fair and square the the auction company owed him the other $20 because they failed to announce the reserve. Never the less we didn't get it. We went back to the auction yard a month later and bid on a 30 foot hay elevator and got it for $30. My buddy followed the paper work to the office, I went and got the truck and trailer and waited to get the thumbs up sign and loaded it up right away and got out of there before they could  make up any more problems. They were famous for having their "ring men" in the crowd just to run up prices. I bid on a few more items but just to get their goat I would stop and walk away after their guy would bid. I watched for several months as items got "solded" month after month. I guess if you didn't go there every month it looked like a lot of stuff was moving out.
Wally
Wood-Mizer LT28G25, Wood-Mizer EG10 Edger, Wallenstein Timber Talon log loader trailer, Wallenstein GX640 wood splitter, Wallenstein WP835 Fire Wood Processor, Kubota BX 22 TLB, JD 445, JD Gator, Home made arch, Stihl 024 Super, MS251, MS311, MS440 Magnum & MS660.

Quartlow

don't get me started on auctions. Nothing I hate worse than a buyers premium. Why the heck should I have to pay 10% more than I bid?  >:(  >:(  >:( ARGHHH

OK I'm better now
Dan your gonna love that strapping station. I have the strap, cllips and the tools. just need to build a cart for it.
I use it all the time, great for banding lumber!
Breezewood 24 inch mill
Have a wooderful day!!

DanG

I don't mind the buyers premium too much, Quart.  I just figger it into my maximum bid.  I usually get stuff cheaper than I was willing to go anyway. ;D

Theres another auction coming up in the neighborhood shortly.  Couple down the road selling out everything to hit the road in a motorhome.  Auction company I never heard of is listing it as an "estate sale."  I thought somebody had to be dead for that. ???  I'll be watching those folks pretty closely, too.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Furby

Nope, estate sales have evolved to just about any large sale that contains most of the larger items in the house.

Haytrader

Must be a "living" estate sale;
They have around here all the time.
If they aint dead, to me, it's just a sale.
First time I went to a sale that had a buyers premium, I didn't know it till I bought sumthin.

>:(
:D
Haytrader

DanG

I guess thats just one of them "live and learn" sorta things, Haytrader.  I just looked at the back of my bidder card and the 10% premium is noted on there, and there were signs at the sign-in tent.

It also states that the seller and the auctioneer have the right to bid if it is a reserve auction.  It just didn't say if this was a reserve auction or not. ::)  Looks to me like if you don't meet the reserve, they oughta tell you at the time of the bid.  Of course, on those items, it may have been the seller's person that won the bid, I guess.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

sawguy21

The large auction houses here do not allow the seller or his ringers to bid. If he gets caught, his goods get pulled and he gets blacklisted.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Don_Papenburg

I was at an auction a week ago . An old carpenter buddy was there BSin . Anyway the actioneer was having a time trying to get a bid on a joblot of junk, I just inacently lifted Bills hat a few times and the auctioneer said sold to no.33  . I said aint that your number Bill?  Shoot we didn't even think the autioneer was looking our way.   ;D ;D :D
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

sawguy21

old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

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