Cheshire auction well-timed to miss the rain

Local farmers and trade buyers braved damp weather and soft, muddy ground conditions at the Mollards Farm dispersal sale arranged by auctioneers and chartered surveyors, Whittaker & Biggs.

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Cheshire auction well-timed to miss the rain

A farm machinery dispersal sale arranged by Cheshire-based Whittaker & Biggs in late November attracted a good attendance of local farmers and trade buyers despite inclement weather before and immediately after the event. David Williams reports.

The sale was on behalf of the executors of A & E Mitchell – deceased, and was at Mollards Farm, Gawsworth, near Maccles eld. Historically a dairy farm, in later years the enterprise had featured sheep and arable crops including root vegetables.

“Whittaker & Biggs had acted for the Mitchell family for quite a few years,” explained sale organiser and auctioneer George Pullin. “We had an interesting mix of lots to o er and a good number of people attended the sale day – most of whom were farmers, but there were also dealers from the area purchasing machinery for resale, and some of the lots sold to equine establishments. Most buyers were local, but the slurry tanker went to a buyer from Wales and some of the lots went to Shropshire.”

Larger lots sold well

The auctioneers included George, as well as Whittaker & Biggs partners, John Wilson and John Robinson. “A few of the grassland machinery lots could have achieved higher prices in the spring due to seasonal demand,” continued George. “However, some of the bigger lots sold very well, and we were pleased with the overall result and so were the vendors. There was no shortage of bids, re ecting demand for competitively priced, sound machinery and we look forward to similar dispersal sales in the spring.”

Di culties loading

Torrential rain showers blighted the lotting up day, but the sale day was dry while the bidding continued, then turned wet while the sold lots were being loaded. “Conditions were incredibly di cult, and we had to hire in a 360-degree tracked excavator for loading as anything else would have caused far too much damage to the sodden ground,” explained George. FG

This elderly three-point linkage mounted Howard Rotavator made £110 and was bought by a local contractor. This set of Massey Ferguson three-point linkage mounted discs in tidy condition sold for £400 to a trade buyer.

This Rational Karup trailed beet harvester with a loading elevator was elderly but tidy and was bought by a farmer for £500.

A Ransomes 4f FR conventional plough made £305 and was bought by a farmer.

This Malgar 1100, PTO-driven slurry tanker with a splash-plate distributor was an ‘included’ lot from a local farm. It appeared sound and sold for £580 to a farmer from Wales.

This Lamborghini R854 2wd tractor carried a B-pre x registration, and appeared in good, original condition with only 2,362 hours recorded. The cab had a broken lower side window, but the tyres had plenty of tread and it achieved an excellent result at £6,000.

A cattle crush with no oor sold for £65 to a local farmer. This Vicon RP900 round baler was bought by a dealer for £400.

One of the sale highlights was this very original Ransomes 801 combine with an 8ft cutting width. Dating from the mid 1960s, it had the series number 031473. It appeared in good order for its age and had been kept under cover. The winning bid was from a farmer who paid £1,200. Auctioneer, John Wilson is surrounded by sale day visitors as he takes bids for the combine. combine.

With a C-pre x registration from 1985, this Land Rover 90 hard-top had recorded 52,535 miles and was described as a "perfect restoration project". Including two spare wheels, it sold for £11,600.

Trailers on o er included this timber sided and oored Marshall. It made £750.  In good condition, having been kept sheeted and under cover, this Massey Ferguson conventional baler attracted competitive bidding, and eventually sold for £650 to a farmer.

John Wilson takes bids for the baler and Peter Kirton-Darling clerks.

Skid-steer loaders are relatively rare at farm auctions, but this sale contained three – two of them were ‘included’ lots from local farms. The host farm’s Clark Bobcat 310 model, powered by a petrol engine, on good tyres and sold with a front bucket achieved a winning bid of £1,100 from a dealer.

A Case Uni-loader which hadn’t been used for a while made £1,025 and was also bought by a dealer, and a Bobcat 443 with a bucket made £2,500.

The farm’s Zetor 6711, 2wd tractor with a Duncan cab carried a K-su x registration, and it sold for £2,200 to a local buyer. Auctioneer, John Robinson takes bids for lots sold in the yard.