The auction was fine. It started at 1 pm and didn't have too much junk. Also the auctioneers often grouped stuff and sold it that way. And they went in $5 increments, by $50 they were in $10 increments, and often tried $25 increments for bigger stuff. No $2.50 increments. That sped the process along as it priced people out quicker.
I was out of there after 4 pm. I think the auctioneers finished with the household stuff and the auction around that time.
I bought 3 railroad ties that were 8 and 1/2 feet long. I thought six wooden posts next to the ties went with the lot as the auctioneer started out describing the next items as the posts and ties. I missed when he settled on the lot as just the ties. I didn't find out the posts weren't included until after I won the bid and the auctioneer then auctioned the six posts next. So I merely got a good deal and not a great deal. The ties are in very good condition.
The mix-up threw me off so shortly later when the auctioneer moved to another spot and auctioned 14 older railroad ties next to a pile of scrap iron I didn't bid them up and they went cheap ($25!) Later I kicked myself for not bidding on them as I know now right where I would put them.
The other items I was interested in went higher than I wanted to pay. The mostly 10 ft and 12 ft gates were not my ideal sizes (either 8 ft, 14 ft or 16 ft) and they went for $90 a gate. Half the gates were damaged. Even though those gates sold for less, not cheap enough to make it worthwhile to try to fix the gates.
There were a number of other (good!) gates on various corrals and fences. Even though the owner is deceased, and no one lives there now, horses are pastured in an upper field. Therefore those gates weren't for sale. Darn.
I bid on three other lots (30 posts, barb wire stays, and barb wire staples) but was outbid. A few other items I didn't even bid on as the auctioneer threw several buckets of stuff together and the bidding started high as the other items were in demand.
The weather was very nice, which cuts both ways. With only a few nice days left in the weather forecast, I could have used this day to work on and finish projects around the ranch.
So yet another frustrating time at an auction. At least the auction moved quick and I only spent a half day there and not most of the day.
This is the owner's 'barn'. He had two John Deere tractors (models 2720 and 2020) which sold for $18,000 and $5500, along with a round baler and swather which sold for $5000 and $5700. With such nice and expensive equipment, you'd think he'd have a good place to store his machinery. His old - and very rusty - stock trailer only sold for $1100.
Bale feeders, water troughs, and squeeze chute up for auction with the Swan Mountain Range in the background.
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