Cheffins on site sale for Whittinghams Farm Supplies in Preston, Lancashire saw over £1.6m-worth of agricultural machinery sold and is the largest single vendor auction of modern equipment in recent years. The sale saw over 30 mainly Massey Ferguson tractors, 18 Manitou telescopic handlers, a Claas forage harvester, JCB shovel and over 400 lots of implements, trailers and spares go under the hammer following the farm’s decision to cease trading.
Chairman Bill King at Cheffins said over £1.6m of machinery found new homes with dealers and farmers attending from throughout the UK, Ireland and complimented by buyers from Poland, Spain, Belgium and a host of others taking advantage of on-line bidding. “This proves how on site sales can be one of the most profitable ways to disperse of agricultural machinery,” said Mr King. Mr King said late registered Massey Ferguson tractors were much in demand with four number 7618 tractors making between £48,500 and £49,500 for 2015 models and £36,500 and £41,000 for 2013 models. “MF 6490’s were keenly bid for making prices from £19,000 to £20,000 for ’09 and ’07 models, a ‘09 6495 fetched £28,800 and a ’13 plate 5480 made £30,500. These prices were outshone by a very low-houred 1997 MF 362 making a spectacular £19,400 which was eventually knocked down to a collector from Yorkshire.” Manitou’s were also in demand, led by a ’15 plate MLT 634 at £37,000 and a 2013 MLT 739-120 at £31,000. Other big ticket items saw a 2013 Claas 870 forage harvester make just shy of six figures at £99,000 and a 2014 JCB 418 loading shovel make £75,500.
“With the grass cutting season imminent, grassland machinery and silage trailers were targeted by farmers and contractors. A Kuhn front and rear mower outfit raised £20,000 and a 2011 3500 Claas Liner rake made £16,000, whilst a McHale 998 bale wrapper was sold at £18,000. Three 16t Broughan silage trailers fetched between £11,000 and £11,800 and Hi-Spec tankers made up to £11,900. With muck to be spread, a 2014 Bunning spreader made £14,900 with a smaller ’09 Lowlander at £10,900.
“Numerous spares, attachments and UTV’s were also sold to a keen audience and saw prices to match. Clearly the timing of the sale encouraged farmer buyers on the lookout for seasonal equipment and we also saw a number of dealers looking to restock their yards and satisfy farmers seeking a cheaper alternative to buying new. These levels of demand, coupled with a weak pound and good export trading conditions has led to price rises and we are now facing the prospect of a shortage of some of the more popular models of tractors, combines and machinery.”
The next on site Cheffins sale is on the May 11, in Skipton, Yorkshire.
