THERE was no rain in sight, the temperature hit 42 degrees Celsius midway through the afternoon and it was evident the tight economy was biting.
That was the scenario that faced Landmark auctioneer Grant Lupton at last week's clearing sale for Peter and Catherine Brennan at Calingiri.
At the end of the sale, the Brennans and Mr Lupton were more than happy with the result, which grossed more than $360,000, with spirited bidding among the 144 buyer registrations.
The result could be a little sweeter this week with negotiations still underway for several items, including a John Deere 9870 header, which was passed-in at $100,000.
The Brennans may find growing interest in Western Australian gear from drought-relieved Eastern States farmers, who could put a decent floor in used machinery prices in WA, lifting the value of their header.
It was presented with a 13.6 metre Midwest draper and a chopper and had only recorded 2000 rotor hours.
The sale's top price of $63,000 was recorded for a JCB Fastrac 3230-65 tractor (4553 hours) which was GreenStar-ready and came with a John Deere steering kit.
Bidding opened at $55,000 and quickly rose in $1000 bids as two farmers settled in to outbid each other before one bidder walked away at the call of $63,000.
It was sold to Harmony Farms, Dumbleyung.
Not far behind was a winning bid of $60,000 for a John Deere 9320 4WD tractor (8070 hours), which had five remotes and also was GreenStar-ready with a John Deere steering kit.
Ready for seeding was a Simplicity 13000 tow-behind quad air seeder with small seeds box linked to a Morris 9000 bar.
The unit was sold for $44,000 which should improve the gross margins on the cropping program.
With an eye on cleaning grain, bidding on a DE Engineers four-barrel grain cleaner with four sets of screens for wheat, barley, canola and lupins, saw the final bid stop at $35,000.
Other harvest gear included a 14 tonne Holtfreters chaser bin selling for $6600 and a 21.2m Farm King trapeze auger and 42 tonne Brereton hydraulic lift field bin, each attracting winnings bids of $6000.
A self-propelled Brandt 847 14.2m auger sold for $2400.
An old workhorse, a John Deere 4640 tractor (8633hrs) with a Trima front-end loader, attracted spirited bidding before being knocked down for $17,000.
It had a bottom-end rebuild and sported a new radiator, oil cooler and condenser.
Another $17,000 bid was enough to secure a LKF-60 seed and super bin with extended augers, but $19,000 was not enough to wrest a Bredal K65 eight tonne spreader.
It was passed-in with negotiations continuing with interested buyers.
A 1980 Howard Porter 12m step deck tri-axle with matching double deck cattle crate also was passed-in at $12,000.
Two farmers provided the bidding action in front of 12m Steiger offset discs nodding from $5000 to $9000.
The nods then stopped before Mr Lupton coaxed a final nod to knock it down at $9500.
Several precision guidance lots were snapped up, including a John Deere GreenStar 2630 display ($8500), a John Deere 3000 receiver with SF1 and SF2 activations ($2700) and a Topcon 100 series guidance system ($1400).
Smaller gear that sold well included a Berends hydraulic 3PL grader with a 3m cut ($4800); a 7000L Flexi-N tank ($3400); a Pederick eight wheel sidewinder pin-wheel rake ($2000); a Vermeer 604 series K Silage baler ($1600); a 1000L shuttle of Roundup Ultra Max ($1600); a Pizey Rockmaster 3PL posthole digger ($1400); two 100L Treflan and two 100L Avadex drums on one pallet ($1400) and nine rolls of Ringlock ($1350).