Actually it didn’t take all day out there. It just felt like we were there for 28 hours. In the freezing cold. I am thankful for my Arctic-Lined Carharts. Even with them, I got cold. The sun tried to sneak out a few times but got chased away by the wind and the hail/snow/slush. Today it did at least all three of those.
A bunch of tractors and hay equipment was up for sale. Along with a few items for livestock handling.
We came away empty handed. The panels were going for about $100 each in lots of 27 and 28 panels. I was really hoping to get those picked up for at most $80 per panel. When the bidding got up to $2500 for each of those lots, we walked away.
Of course we had been hanging out in the wind and cold and snow while they went through almost all of the other equipment first. In all fairness I didn’t get really cold until the last 15 minutes or so. By that time the wind was absolutely piercing and the hail was coming in sideways.
Some folks got some great deals on tractors. The highest one went for about $50,000. A lot of money unless you know they go new for four times that. Some of the older tractors didn’t even bring $20,000. These were all in working order and can go out to the hayfields next summer and be part of the money making process.
The kick-youself-in-the-butt-for-not-going-after-it-deal-of-the-day (at least for me) was an old dump truck. It didn’t look like much, but the bed looked to be in good shape. It was packing a 3208 Cat engine with an Allison Transmission. It sold for $2000. I kept thinking the guy was going to bid on it. When I realized he was hesitating and I about jumped in there, they called it sold. Of course if we’d bid on it the price would have gone up, more than likely a lot.
To answer the question from yesterday about what a panel is…
This pen (enclosure) is completely made up of panels. They usually range from 8′ to 20′ in length and in a sense are portable sections of pipe fence. Most of the panels around here are 12′ and 16′. They are held together with either butterfly clamps or chain wrapped around the top and bottom edge on either side. Yes the one closest to us is ever so slightly bent. It happens. Which is why the panels at the sale were so appealing. They were heavy duty things. A few of them were bent up, but it must have taken a pretty hit from an angry steer to get that way.
The fun part of the sale today was catching up with a bunch of the old-timers that showed up there looking for a good deal too. I was one of the few women there, and it’s funny to me to watch these guys chattering away about who’s where and what’s happening, so-and-so’s old lady kicked him out, etc. It’s kind of like a bunch of women getting together at the beauty shop. Maybe a little more testosterone. Then again, maybe not.
Not too bad for a Thursday so far. How’s your day going?
