A five-year old John Deere hay mower/conditioner, known as a MoCo model, was pulled through the ring at Ted Everett's auction near Monrovia earlier this month. He and his crew assemble a large offering of sued machinery from around the country every other month for sale at auction. Two and three rings operate at one time.
A new model of the same size costs more than $30,000. What's a five-year-old model worth? The auctioneer will tell you it's all about condition. This one was in excellent condition, had obviously been stored inside, and still had bright paint. The bidding was brisk, even though it was off-season for hay equipment. The MoCo 956 finally sold for $11,000.
An older John Deere round baler, a 535 model, also came though the ring. It may have had age on it, but it was cleaned up and free of rust. This model sold for $5,300. Even a small, older Vermeer series 400 baler (the kind the company probably makes Legacy parts for if they no longer routinely produce the parts) brought more than $1,000.
What is the buyer of used farm equipment looking for? He's obviously looking for quality. And if it's a dealer taking equipment back to another state, he wants something he knows he will be able to sell when he gets it back home. Equipment comes to this auction from all over the country, and winds up going back out to equipment traders and dealers who are either looking for a specific tool for someone, or who think they can re-sell the item for a profit in their area.
What's a Myers large-capacity manure spreader in reasonably good shape worth? Two weeks ago the auction said it was worth $3,500. Someone recognized there was still a lot of life left in that spreader.