CLEARING salegoers revelled in the chance to buy an unusual assortment of sundries in a small but tidy reduction sale conducted by Elders at Jerramungup last week.
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While some animated bidding was due to the chance to pick up some items rarely seen at clearing sales, it may also have been buoyed by buyers' eagerness to score a few brownie points on the home front.
Certainly, buyers who picked up one or more of the numerous whipper snippers, some still in their new packaging, would have been a welcome addition in any unruly garden and at prices ranging from $70 to $220 it was a bargain to boot.
Even the most reluctant bidders were tempted by the sundry lines with odds and ends in bulk supply and ranging from two kitchen sinks to automatic air hose reels (still in boxes), new high visibility work wear, litres of glass cleaner, lightweight plastic wheel chocks, and power surge preventers.
Farmers were also pleased to buy in bulk with one bidder walking away with 10 of the 11 foot-operated manual tree planters sold for $10 each.
The merchandise reflected years of contract work by owner Bob Lilleyman not only in the agricultural industry but also in forestry and last week's sale marked the second stage of his plan to ease into retirement.
After selling off his road trains and chaser bins last year it was time for the tillage equipment to go under Elders auctioneer Dean Hubbard's hammer but when it came to the big machinery, buyers resorted to more cautionary bidding.
Several major items were passed-in but prices reached a $58,000 high when David Pyle, Manypeaks, got what he came for - a 10-year-old Morris 12.1m (40ft) disc air seeder with a 7180 three-bin box - to give him an alternative to the tined implement he currently had.
Local Elders agent David Halleen held a buying order from a Manjimup farmer for the Ranger LW300K front-end loader that looked in good condition and had only done 950 work hours.
It came with a bucket and forks and sold for $57,000.
The other main item to sell was a 912T Marshall Multispread, mounted on a Mitsubishi truck, which went for $41,500 and sold to a local farmer.
The sale was significant for what it didn't sell and it wasn't for lack of maintenance or good condition that the two 62 tonne Grain Commander field bins were passed-in.
Both were in near new condition and didn't come near the asking price when bidding faltered at $18,000 then again at $18,500 on the second unit.
It was a similar story with the near new Grainstor EGS-900 bagging machine that failed to get a bid even when the auctioneer called a low $8000 starting price but four boxes of EGS-900 plastic bags (9ft x 250ft) were snapped up for $500 each.
An impressive 42 tonne tri-axle Balzar chaser bin was also unsold and a Farm King 480 grain cleaner also failed to ignite interest even at a call of $7000, while a rarely available Chatfield Ezy tree planter couldn't get action at a $1000 call.
Mr Lilleyman started out as a shearer, eventually running a contract team for 13 years and thanked his friend Ivan McNamara who gave him an opportunity to go share farming as an 18-year-old.
Apart from running an agricultural contracting business for seeding and harvesting he also spent 38 years as a forestry contractor ripping, mounding and planting trees as well as being contracted to Western Power for pole deliveries.
In the future he planned to phase out all his contracting businesses and run sheep and a little canola on leased properties adjoining his 330 hectare tree farm planted seven years ago for Synergy carbon credits.
His varied businesses accounted for the unusual offering but it was his leisure pursuits on the water that caught the imagination of many.
They included an aluminium dinghy (with a 7.3kW, 9.9hp Mercury outboard motor) on a new fold-up trailer selling for $1100.
The Yamaha GP800 jet ski also sold for $1100 but the 6.5m (21.5ft) twin hull Marlin dive/fishing boat fitted with two 67kW (90hp) Mercury motors (on a licensed trailer) was still on the market after failing to get a bid when the auctioneer called a low $19,000.
Other prices of note were paid for a set of John Shearer harrows ($2800); a skid-mounted Multi-tech tank, pump and hose reel for fire-fighting ($1200); a New Holland Twin Rotor 88 harvester and front ($5000); a Broomwade power pack ($2600) and a Jen-ell Agrispray ($900).
