auctions

roy prins · Apr 8, 2012

took one of my tractors to an auction this past week- paid to have a reserve on it -- good thing--i couldnt be there myself-it did not sell ,so i went to get it and it would not start-- no spark-i found one of the voltage reducers wires off-and one spark plug wire off- no wonder it didnt sell - now who is responsible once the tractor is on the lot? i feel a bit jipped- was someone trying to get a bargan by such an act? well it didnt work! if i had to make a living by doing such things i would be living under a bridge somewhere- liked to have had 110 volts about that time to see who was laying on the ground -- a little vent maybe but needed to tell you!

Zachary Hoyt · Apr 8, 2012

I have heard of that happening, or sometimes people switch the wires around on the cap, etc. I guess the only way to guard against it would be to be there with the tractor during the preview period and the earlier parts of the auction so you could see if anyone tried to do that.
Zach

Sidekick · Apr 8, 2012

I went to an a farm auction once where someone or some people did that to every piece of equipment. Every safety interlock that they could screw with they did. After the first few tractors the auctioneer got wise and had some people that knew about the equipment get them straightened out a few pieces ahead of him. People who do that are worthless in my opinion. Probably didn't want to bid on it anyway just cause trouble for someone else.

David G · Apr 8, 2012

Some people never cease to amaze me.

paul · Apr 8, 2012

I've heard of that sort of stuff happening.

Just don't understand people sometimes.

--->Paul

Ralph Bauer · Apr 8, 2012

Hmmmm, makes me wonder, too: Been to an auction yesterday, and very early in the morning I started a Chevy 6400 grain truck no problem. Saw another man operate the lift and raise and lower the bed, no problem. But when the auctioneers came around and wanted to demonstrate that it starts right before bidding started, nothing, absolutely nothing. They ensured everyone it runs, that it was driven to the auction site, but when it was all said and done, the truck went for $625, no reserve.
Sheer bad luck or else?? I never even dreamt about doing such a thing, but I guess there are folks out there that do it, for a bargain or to financially damage someone.
The only bright side to that deal yesterday for me is that I was the winning bidder. I guess it did help me indirectly...!? Who knows....

casecollectorsc · Apr 8, 2012

Neighbor had passed on and family had an auction. Had alot of nice older MM equipment. Iwas there day before and everything was running, including very nice shedded MM combine with cab. Day of sale it would'nt run, $450 is all. Local big shot MM collector bought it. Next day I went back to get trailer I bought and saw big shot collector climb up on combine, replace rotor,fire up and leave. Lost all my respect for him that day!

MSD · Apr 8, 2012

My son has had it happen to him at a couple of tractor pulls he goes to. He finally figured out who was doing it and told him he had a game camera set up and would give the picture of who was doing it to every puller so they could see who it was. Didn't have any trouble after that. A neighbor's sale last fall had a Spoker D on it that would always start with one turn. Day of sale I helped pull it around and around trying to get it to start. Carb. was all out of adjustment somehow.

JDseller · Apr 8, 2012

I see it done all of the time. I have had some auctioneers pay me to be there sale day just to keep everything running.

List of common things done:
1)Guys will steal rotor buttons.
2)Screw the carb adjusting screws in or out all the way to make the motor not run.
3)Pull the wires off the back of the key switch so it will not start.
4)Unplug the safety switch wires so it will not crank.
5)Change the plug wires around on the distributer cap.

I could go on all day. The amount of crooked things done is amazing.

Was at a sale once that the auctioneer stopped the sale while two deputy sheriffs arrested a guy that had sabotaged some of the equipment. The auctioneer had been having that trouble at some recent sales he paid the sheriff to have some guys there under cover. The guy was charged with property destruction. He got six months in jail.

I told the kids if they have a sale then hire someone to watch the equipment day and night until it sells. Even have video cameras would be good too.

Sammy in Kansas · Apr 8, 2012

Yea my dad passed away at age 42 with cancer and my mom had three little mouths to feed and so leased the farm and had a sale. A great little 9n that ran fine until time to sell it sold for 800.00 and it was sure funny it started right up for the new owner later in the day. I took my old Case D to a tractor show a few years ago and when I wen to get it later in the day it would not run, ha one heck of a time getting ever thing adjusted again and I decieded then that unless I could be there with it all day that I would not go back.

Goose · Apr 8, 2012

I see it all the time, not necessarily on farm machinery auctions.

My wife is into collecting antique dishes, etc. You can stand at an auction and watch people sneak a valuable piece of cut glass or something similar into a box of odds and ends, hoping to buy the box for a few dollars with a $300 piece in it.

When we sold some stuff, a guy bought a cut glass vase for $385, then told the auctioneer he wanted the price reduced 'cause he claimed he could see a crack in it. The auctioneer told my wife and I that the SOB tries that all the time, and advised us to take the vase home as a "no sale", which we did.

When I had my auto dealer's license, I bought an S-10 Blazer at the Omaha Auto Auction. Upon checking it out, I found the 4wd didn't work. Someone had pulled a hose off the vacuum actuator and hid it behind a wiring harness. Plugged the hose back in, and the 4wd worked fine. That was no accident.

It behooves auctioneers to keep on top of that stuff, 'cause if an item sells for less than it should, it's money out of the auctioneer's pocket, too. Unless the auctioneer has a shill buying it for his own use. That can happen, too.

Ralph Bauer · Apr 8, 2012

Now that I got that 6400, I am worried that I might not get her started somehow!! She cranked, but did not fire up when the auctioneer tried (see post below). That means that at least the key switch works, right???!!! ...I'd laugh if it would be funny!!
Taking off tomorrow and see if I can get her going.
Ralph.

2x4 · Apr 9, 2012

Had that tried on me at a Florida auction once. I'd tried out the truck the day before & knew it was good but it wouldn't run at auction time. I bid it up past what the saboteur hoped he'd get it at, found what he'd done & drove it home. I love it when a bad plan backfires.

Bruce from Can. · Apr 9, 2012

I have been to sales where the tractors were kept running at idle til sold, cuts down on that sort of thing.

oldironman · Apr 9, 2012

I had a guy do that to one of my tractors years ago that I sold at an auction. He is now in jail somewhere down south. I wonder how he likes his cell mate. They never get ahead in life.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 9, 2012

Someone did that to me, once, on a D-12 Allis, swapped out # 2 for # 3, Made it miss, I drove it on the trailer, that way, found it later. I was at another auction, figured I'd bid on a gray market Kubota, The auctioneer, couldn't get it started, even with ether, I got my jump battery, after I bought it, and started playing with the knobs and switches, figured out the rubber button, on top of the dash, was where they wired the preheater. I waited till the auctioneer got right next to me, in the next row, and fired her up, right into his microphone! It was satisfying!

Ultradog MN · Apr 9, 2012

I was having a conversation about auction schemes with a buddy of mine a few days ago.
Here is our scheme for getting the price down the next time we go:
We're going to hire some pretty, curvy girl and give her a cue just at the time the piece of equipment we want starts to get bid on. She'll start writhing and shaking around up near the auctioneer and get the other bidders distracted.
Then we'll get the item for a song.

kyplowboy · Apr 9, 2012

There is a pair of brothers around here that jockey alot of iron that love to do that kind of stuff. The only thing as bad as what they will do to buy stuff cheap at a sale is look'n at the stuff when they take it to the next one. Bondo is too hard to work with, silicone is much better. They love to mold it and paint it to hide rotten wheels and cracked rear end housings.

Their favorite trick is to pull one or two plug wires off just enough to make an old tractor hard to start or have a real bad miss but still leave the rubber boot on the plug.

Dave

dhermesc · Apr 9, 2012

If he could see a crack in it maybe he shouldn't have paid $385 for it.

Cas · Apr 9, 2012

Nothing is new. I went to an auction 50 years ago and saw a neighbor switch the ighnition wires on a Farmall H.

ihredo4 · Apr 9, 2012

I went to an auction to look at a piece of Northwood carnival glass. It was a high dollar piece so I inspected it real close and it was perfect. Put it back and looked at the rest of the sale and came back when the Northwood came up for bid. I bought it and they handed it to me and sliced my hand open right there. Showed them it was now broke and that I was not paying the money I did for a broken item. They resold it and I was fortunate to get it again but at a price reflecting the damage. Somebody damaged it at some point and I sure would like to find them and beat them with the glass.

Keith Molden · Apr 9, 2012

In the state of Ohio, the tractor still belongs to you until the fall of the gavel. You can bet, the auctioneer didn't do it. He's working on commission so if it sells low or doesn't sell, then there might be a small fee for running it thru the sale, otherwise he's out his time trying to sell it for you. I know that's not what youu want to hear, but he can't be all over the place and selling too. It's just fact that there are crooks lurking whereever we look, even at farm auctions. Just my thoughts, Keith

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