RECORDS were smashed last week at the Salmon Gums clearing sale held by Brindley and Gale Landmark Esperance, with three of the machinery lots cracking the $400,000 mark.
Held on behalf of Dave and Fiona Osborne, trading as DS & FM Osborne, the sale, held 106km north of Esperance, was the final one of the season for the Esperance region and it certainly ensured it finished with a bang.
The recent rain and hot weather made for a steamy day, but it didn't deter the 154 registered bidders as they sweated it out on the 128 lots offered to push prices to record levels.
With a sale gross of more than $2.5 million, it set a new sale gross record for Brindley and Gale Landmark Esperance, significantly eclipsing their previous best outcome set only one week earlier at a Munglinup sale.
The second record to fall was facilitated by the top-selling item of the sale, a 2015 model John Deere S680 header (718 engine hours and 574 separator hours), with a John Deere 640D front, which was knocked down for $465,000.
Brindley and Gale Landmark Esperance agent Peter Gale placed the final bid on behalf of the successful phone bidders ER & AM Marshman, Grass Patch.
The price was the highest-priced lot that Brindley and Gale Landmark Esperance auctioneer Neil Brindley had ever sold at a sale, and was the icing on the cake at the end of a successful season of sales held by the Brindley and Gale team.
The success of the sale was largely attributed to a good offering of high-capacity cropping machinery with low hours and in excellent condition.
There was an impressive line-up of machinery that attracted many genuine inquiries before the sale.
"We had inquiries from throughout Australia spread across four States," Mr Brindley said.
"It was a great sign that it would be a successful sale and on the day there were many confident buyers and plenty of bids.
"The lots had no problem in attracting several competing bidders and reached very good prices."
Also contributing to the massive sale total was another John Deere S680 header (702 engine hours and 564 separator hours), with a John Deere 640D front.
Also a 2015 model and almost identical to the top-selling lot, the header was sold for $450,000 when it was secured by the Veermeersh family, Belair Farms, Cascade.
Both of the headers were in excellent condition and looked like they had just left the dealer's yard.
They were also complete with a warranty that expires in October 2019 and had a recent full service by John Deere dealers Ratten & Slater, Esperance, in January 2017.
The green and yellow machinery was the flavour of the day as a 2015 John Deere 4045 SP boomsprayer (973hrs) with a 4700 litre tank, 36.3 metre (120ft) boom and complete guidance system, claimed its position as the third top-priced lot selling at $410,000 to Gedrow Farms, Salmon Gums.
Some of the early sundries on offer invited good interest, such as the three Sunbeam shearing heads which sold for $325, $750 and $800 respectively.
A quantity of limestone walling blocks went to an eager bidder for $1200; a portable solar pump and panels sold for $1700 and a steel rectangular wool table sold for $280.
A selection of John Deere header/tractor filters reached $200; a quantity of crop lifters made $240 and two clutches for a John Deere air cart sold for $350.
As the sale progressed to the plant and equipment on offer the competitive bidding started in earnest, resulting in many of the lots being knocked down for reasonable prices.
A 15,500L fibreglass water carting tank with ladder started with a bid of $2000, before bidding quickly pushed it to a final price of $8000, while a 7000L fibreglass water carting tank sold for $750.
"Must haves" on a farm included a mobile Mono water pump with a Honda motor which reached $2100; a Gentech 3.4 kVA generator with a 4.8kW (6.5hp) Honda motor ($1000); a 2000L mobile fuel tank on a four wheel trailer with Honda pump ($4000) and an Airman PDS 1255 industrial air compressor with hose attachments ($7000).
Bidders chased the Himac H36 circular saw with a Honda motor, starting the bids at $500, then enthusiastically competing until the price reached $3100.
The mobile field bins sold for various prices from $2500 for a 30 tonne Parker open top bin with gravity discharge, to $6000 for a 32t Parker bin complete with a roof and gravity discharge for $6000.
The 40t Longy's open top mobile field bin made $4500 while the same bin with a roof reached $6500.
The last bin on offer, an 86t Parker open top tandem axle mobile field bin with gravity discharge, was well contested with the price pushed to $9000.
Spirited buyers ensured that the grain handling equipment all swiftly sold. A Rushton Engineering grain bagging machine, which had only been in use for two seasons, was almost knocked down for $9000 before SJ & BM Rolland, Cascade, raised the offer to purchase the machine for $11,000.
It was a similar story for the Commander Ag-Quip 5110 SP auger (2009 model) with a 26kW (35hp) Vanguard motor. Bidding started on the auger at $11,000 with the final bidding pushing the price to $15,000.
Newmont Corporation, Merredin, was the successful purchaser of the 5110 Farm King SP auger (2014 model) with a 26kW Vanguard motor and hopper shute, at $21,500.
The utes and trailers up for grabs were next in line, with a mid-1970s model Toyota farm ute going for $1700 and a 2008 model Toyota Landcruiser GX70 series single cab ute with roo and tow bar reaching $19,000.
The top-selling trailer was a 2004 model tri-axle x 12.2m (40ft) Haulmore tipping trailer with divisions which sold for $37,000, followed by a 13.6m (45ft) flat-top, tri-axle trailer with two seed and fertiliser bins for $28,000 and a 13.6m tri-axle, flat-top trailer that reached $7000.
Tillage equipment included a 9.1m (30ft) International disk harrow achieving a price of $24,500, followed by a 16 reel Wilkins stubble rake for $8000 and a Pederick seven reel root rake for $6500.
The atmosphere at the sale intensified as attention turned to the large harvesting machinery and it was apparent many buyers had their eyes on the lots and the keenest bidded rigorously to ensure that they didn't miss out.
A CAT 916 front-end loader set the scene with the first bid at $3000 and then topping out at $15,000.
Prices continued to climb from there, with a Merlo 40.7 telehandler (2008 model) with bucket and forks selling for $59,000 to Greg Shipley, Canaan Farms, Scaddan.
The John Deere machinery proved to be a continual hit with the next two lots being keenly contested.
Halcyon Downs, Wittenoom Hills purchased the 1820 18.2m (60ft) seeding bar on 25cm (10in) spacings, complete with a 1910 tow-behind triple bin Air Cart at $72,000, while a John Deere 8295 220kW (295hp) tractor on duals with PTO and four remotes was knocked down for $150,000 to well-known John Deere dealer, John Nicoletti on behalf of Ag Implements, Merredin.
Four lots were passed-in during the sale which included a 25t Finch chaser bin on dual axles fitted with an extended auger; a 25t Trufab single axle chaser bin with a new tarp and factory-fitted fire equipment; two 2008 model Muscatt aluminium trailers which were offered as a unit with a tri-axle dolly and a John Deere 9560 417kW (560hp) track tractor (2620 hours) on 90cm (36in) tracks, PTO and powershift transmission.
But all of these caught the eye of several buyers who promptly negotiated on and purchased the lots immediately after the conclusion of the sale.
