A NEW chapter for the Hewton family, Moodiarrup, began with the tough decision to sell everything, lease their property and move to Australind.
That meant it was clearing sale time for Rob and Dani Hewton, come rain or shine.
Last Thursday, the Westcoast Livestock team and plenty of registered buyers converged on the Moodiarrup property, despite the rain, to help relieve the Hewton family of all sorts of goodies from machinery to sundries to livestock handling equipment and even some antique items.
Topping the sale, as expected, was a 6430 John Deere tractor (4200 hours), which went for $66,000 to David Brumby, Cottesloe.
But the guidance system failed to meet the reserve price at auction.
Green and gold machinery continued to bring in the big money with a John Deere 466 round baler secured by AG & LJ Mills, Millbrook, for $20,500.
Other big ticket items included a Marshall Multispread which went to Kealy Farms, Williams, for $11,500 while a Commander Ag Quip 35 tonne field bin secured a top bid of $10,250 when it sold to Kojonup-based operation Coolangatta Trust.
A Climax field bin made $1400.
Along with the antique items on offer, they also included some (almost) brand spanking new items including a Heiniger TPW wool press which certainly caused a bit of a stir when it sold to DM & JM Hallett, Bridgetown, for a tidy sum of $17,000.
An Ajax wool press which followed sold for a much more reasonable $100, while a wool table and set of wool scales sold at $500 and $400 respectively.
Shearing heads averaged $638, ranging between $475 and $800.
Silos ranged between $300 and $700 each, a Jetstream auger made $1450 and a 41x9 Commander Ag Quip auger with a third wheel electric lift, was bought by PR & NC Jackson, Collie, who paid $9000.
Sheep and lick-feeders ranged between $1300 and $2100 to average $1641 each; a two-stand crutching cradle made $5500 and portable sheep yards reached $7000.
A mulesing cradle made $1050 and a set of scales followed up at $3000.
A Dodge 600 truck made $900 and a New Holland harvester only secured a top bid of $3500.
Smaller items up for grabs, such as fuel tanks, ranged between $10 and $575, while a 3PL post hole digger made $850 and a dual cab sheep crate went for $350.
Water troughs and tanks made between $5 and $1900, while various lengths of poly pipe sold from $5-$70.
One large gate sold for $1700, while the remainder of gates sold within the $10-$120 range.
Ms Hewton said it would be hard to part with some of the more well-loved items which had been in the family for a long time, but it was time for a new chapter for the family while the kids are at school.
"We wanted to keep the family together rather than sending the boys to boarding school so we made the choice to move," Ms Hewton said.
"One day in the future we might come back farming, but for now we're focusing on the family."