ELDERS Rural Services held its first clearing sale of the new year recently at Mt Horner on behalf of CT & JV Foster at their Tabletop Road property 'Huntswell'.
More than 300 people turned up to support the sale with about 180 bidders registered from as far away as Geraldton, Eneabba, the Chapman Valley, Northam, Dumbleyung and Mukinbudin, to name a few.
The end result saw almost a total clearance and a gross of $319,500.
The Fosters sold the property last year and decided to retire to Broome to spend more time with their family and catch up on fishing, which will happen in the near future.
Chris Foster said the sale saw a "better turn out than expected" considering it was still the holiday season.
"The sale went really well and we are happy with the result," Mr Foster said.
"Some things sold for less than expected while other things sold for more, so it kind of evened out in the end."
Mr Foster's father cleared the property in the 1960s and they took over in 2004.
He said they had been running a mixed cropping and sheep operation, including a Poll Dorset stud, for 25 years.
Elders auctioneer Gary Preston said it was unusual to have a clearing sale this early in the year as they are usually scheduled from February.
While there was a sea breeze during the morning the wind picked up just before the sale was about to start - blowing dust and sand and people's hats as they made their way through the lots following Mr Preston.
In total 196 lots were offered including parts and supplies for machinery, household items, sheep and wool handling equipment, vehicles, tractors and crop spraying and fertilising machines.
The top priced item was the Caterpillar Challenger T765 320 HP JD which sold for $106,000 to JR & NG Patience, Geraldton, after Mr Preston dropped the price a bit to stir up some interest before some competitive bidding started.
A Simplicity 9000L three bin air seeder took the second top price at $38,000 - sold to Kunine Grazing Co, Northam.
Tebco Fishing Co, Dongara, bought the Burando Hill, FarmKing 846 auger for $15,500 as well as a Toyota Landcruiser 75 series ute for $9200 and a John Deere LR175 automatic ride on mower for $3000.
A Marshall multi spreader 880T sold for $12,500 to Rushworth Farms, Dumbleyung.
A Chamberlain 4080 tractor with Pederick loader sold to Clinch Grain Cleaning Contractors for $12,000.
Spring Park Farms, Mullewa, purchased the Case IH 7240 tractor (9200 hours), which had a new radiator installed, and front wheel assist on duals for $11,500.
A John Deere 1820 40 foot bar with stiletto boots and points with 10 inch spacings sold for $10,500 also sold to JR & NG Patience.
A John Deere 444A loader and spare tyre sold for $7500 to IJ & AR McRae, Deepdale, while a Hardi Navigator boomsprayer sold for $6000 to LC & HM Hamersley, Walkaway.
The sheep handling equipment attracted a lot of attention with five feeders up for grabs as well as a loading race, scales, portable sheep yards and mulesing cradle.
The portable sheep yards sold for $3200 to MC & JA Culloton, Moonyoonooka, while the Universal lick feeders sold from $950- $1700 depending on condition and competition to various bidders.
A White Road Boss truck was sold for $5000 to Whybrow Farm Trust, Badgingarra.
A Mercedes 2228 six wheeler truck (unregistered) sold to the Great Northern Cattle Co, Ellenbrook/Upper Swan, for $4500.
Other items including a Croplands Super Mustang firefighter sold for $1500, while a slasher sold for $3000, offset discs $3800 and a hay rake for $1150.
Mr Preston said it was a "fantastic turn out" and it was "great to see people getting together with a positive outlook for the new year" considering the dry season that many had experienced in 2019.
"The sale went well and we are happy with the result," Mr Preston said.
"There was a lot of interest especially in the lick feeders and sheep handling equipment.
"It turned out to be a tremendous sale."
He said Elders would be holding two other clearing sales in Geraldton and Irwin in February and hoped they would receive similar support from the community.