Interesting posts about actions!!!

It is kind of funny in that it seems my posting about how I did not go to an auction today got a bunch of us talking about actions in general. The point of my original post really did not have much to do with the auction itself.

What I was really trying to talk about is how I just did not feel like going to an auction today. In my younger years I never would miss an auction so close to me. I was always looking for the "deal" to make money on. I guess it just goes to show how we all change as we age. Standing around in bad weather at an auction is just not going to happen with me much anymore.

I also rarely stop at any garage sales or flea markets anymore either. I do buy some off of Craigslist but not much of that anymore.

Truthfully I think more about selling the stuff I have then adding to the collection of STUFF I have. LOL My wife hs been telling me for years I have more stuff than I really need any way.

Sometimes I think we'd all be better off with less stuff. I like what I have and I sure want more stuff but I also don't ever want to attend to any more stuff. Strange conundrum. Perhaps one day I'll win the mega-millions and hire someone to tend to everything I collect.

I hate to say this but I cleared some of my "stuff" this past year. My IH M and Super A , bale thrower wagons and a thrashing machine. Have not used them now for a few years, and was not likely to ever use them again. Still have a few more pieces around that are just taking up space, that I will move on as the time comes right. Last month I dealt off two manure spreaders on one new larger spreader, can't get help to do things like I used to. Two of my boys are grown up and work away, and are not interested in the farm. So Just my oldest son and myself, we have to get more done, with fewer hands. Small old equipment just don't fit in this picture. So going to auctions is just not on for me, trying to get rid of "stuff" not get more. Bruce

(quoted from post at 19:42:28 03/29/15) It is kind of funny in that it seems my posting about how I did not go to an auction today got a bunch of us talking about actions in general. The point of my original post really did not have much to do with the auction itself.

What I was really trying to talk about is how I just did not feel like going to an auction today. In my younger years I never would miss an auction so close to me. I was always looking for the "deal" to make money on. I guess it just goes to show how we all change as we age. Standing around in bad weather at an auction is just not going to happen with me much anymore.

I also rarely stop at any garage sales or flea markets anymore either. I do buy some off of Craigslist but not much of that anymore.

Truthfully I think more about selling the stuff I have then adding to the collection of STUFF I have. LOL My wife hs been telling me for years I have more stuff than I really need any way.

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They have consignment auctions out here on Saturdays and the citiots come and bid things way too high. Farm auctions are rare and I will attend them if I know of them and they are on a weekday. Lately I have found much better deals on CL and occasionally on Ebay.

I don't go to near as many auctions because standing around is just too hard on my back. Plus if the weather is cold and miserable I get to the point I lose all interest in the machinery and just want to sit down in the truck and turn the heater on as I head for home empty handed. Like this one from last spring.
Touchwood auction

Eerie to log on and find you talking about this. I'm traveling out of state, was talking to a travel partner and new friend and found myself pining about getting rid of stuff, slimming down my life (& myself), and simplifying. Spring fever?

JD I think its great that you stay home. Maybe you can get some of the other old pharts to stay away also.

Seems most of these old geezers just crowd the flatbed junk wagons so nobody else can see but they never buy anything.
Or if they do buy, they tend to buy everything and want to start their own "pile" on the trailer creating confusion for everybody rather than haul the items off a ways out of sight of those who just walked up and think the stuff hasn't sold yet.

Same with the machinery, they just stand up front and center in the way and they don't even farm anymore or have any use for a 3 year old combine or a 16 row planter but there they are, sitting on the hitch while the item is being auctioned or stand in front of the auctioneers helper who's trying to find bidders in the crowd.

Another thing they like to do is when an auctioneer has a mobile lunch wagon or the church ladies provide a lunch, often they will provide a few picnic tables so people can sit to eat. The old pharts that aren't standing in front of the auctioneer usually plant their butts at the tables for hours at a time for the purpose of visiting and killing time with no regard for those standing around trying to hang onto their paper plates and coffee while they eat standing up.

Another annoyance is the old phart who can't walk so he thinks its acceptable to use his 3/4 ton pickup as a rascal scooter so he can follow the auction in his pickup and watch from the comfort of his cab while 100s of people including little kids have to negotiate around his vehicle while the half blind phart moves his pickup in the crowd every few minutes. This guy usually drives a Dodge with a Cummins diesel so hes real stealthy about it. Not!

Next is the old phart who is retired and has nothing to do, no place to go and all day to get there but has to drive his pickup onto the yard right behind the auctioneer because hes in a hurry and just HAS to load his prize he just bought RIGHT NOW! Which is usually just an excuse to get other able bodied men to load his cr-p for him before the sale is over and everyone leaves. The men will do this, not so much out of kindness but to get him off the yard while the sale is going on, mostly because nobody can hear the auctioneer because this old phart is usually driving an old piece of ---- with no muffler.

Now if the old coot actually does park his pickup on the township road and walks into the yard like everyone else, then hes usually the one guy who parks "close" by parking right on the corner so nobody can make the driveway with a gooseneck trailer. Everybody else knows better than to park there but the old phart thinks everybody just happened to reserve that spot just for him.

I can't wait until I'm old enough to loose all sensibilities and develop a selfishness that ranks right up there with the no good "younger" generation everyone complains about who have no respect for their elders. This started out as tongue-in-cheek kind of thing but turned into a rant. Nothing personal JD. Unless your one of those old pharts! LOL

Well Strawboss I may resemble your rant in some ways. LOL I am not quite like you describe but I am working on it.

My trouble is buying stuff just because it is deal. In the last year that includes a 16 row corn planter and several larger tractors. I have sold most of the stuff I have bought but I still find some stuff just too good to sell. That is the issue. The sheds are full now. LOL

By the way I do drive Dodge with a Cummins in it.

hahahahaha LOL Love it!

I have taken notes from Straw Boss.As I get older, I am 68 years old, I can start to use some of his ideas! I already have a Land Rover with a noisy diesel engine, and bad knees that make me want to sit down often, I am losing my hearing which means I need to be near the auctioneer at all times, I need to develope the bad back to help with lifting. I had not given any thought to the parking issues, I will have to give this some consideration. LOL, thanks, Phil

I decided I have too much stuff, I can't keep up on maintenance much less restore more so I'm selling some, one tractor left Saturday and another two weeks ago. We also are thinking like most others here that its time to leave NY, we looked there is over 2000 homes for sale in our county.

LOL, Not only that, but I'm finding posts( and replys) such as yours are more interesting than problems with gears grinding, no spark to plugs, injector pump needs to ne replaced, (I do still read them)etc. I guess it's a getting "older thing". If I down size much more, I'm going to have LOTS of room.

What, there was a thread where the discussion strayed from the original subject or the intent of the original poster??? Perish the thought!

At least you didn't throw a hissy fit about it like some people have in the past.

sms,I also live in Ny state and would consider leaving. Any thoughts on where you would move to? Bill

I have been avoiding auctions. The last auction I went to was back in February. A friend asked me to go with him because he was wanting a truck they had and he needed a second driver. The bidding started out higher than he wanted to go so he went home empty handed. I, however, needed him to help load the things I was not looking for but bought. At least the things I bought were bargains by looking at what others have been asking for the same items. Maybe I could sell them and make a little money. I doubt it.

In the past 3 years, I tried getting rid of some "stuff." I posted on a few forums and even on CL. I sold 3 things I did not care if they sold or not. The rest is still here taking up room. I did sell a 766 diesel and a good limb chipper that would be nice to still have to clean up around the fields this spring. Even the scrap yard does not want to pay much for anything now. Guess I will just have to keep my "treasures."

Maybe some of us old Geezers aren't going to as many auctions but the ones I've been to
this year the number of people there is way up over the last few years.I went to an auction last week that 5 years ago maybe would have 75 people this year it had over 400
bidder numbers handed out according to the women in the office.

Of course since I quit farming and am no longer an equipment dealer I don't attend 1/10 as many auctions and am in the process of cleaning up and selling off what little equipment I have left. However if I do happen to go to one the old twitch comes back lol Im always looking for a bargain and reading the crowd and auctioneer like I did when I made a living buying and selling at auctions and attending literally hundreds of them buying and selling using my hard earned education and experience which gave me a one up on the general crowd. DONT GET ME WRONG IT WAS A FUN AND REWARDING VENTURE BACK IN THE DAY........


I will never forget back in the seventies (early days of jockey) jumping in a 1948 Ford F 5 Cabover snub nose at 4 AM in the cold dead of winter (poor heater plus lots of leaks with blankets over me and the wifes knees) driving miles to Sikeston, Missouri or Archbold, Ohio or Stilesville, Indiana or consignment sales all over Illinois and spending 12 hours in the cold buying what the truck would hold then loading in the ice and snow then drive home unload and clean and repair the equipment and advertise it for sale WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW you wanna know about auctions and auctioneers and what goes on I can tell ya lol There were days at some auctions that started at 10 AM and didn't finish until 2 AM the next morning glad I was younger then lol

But in later years we flew to Dallas Texas to attend a Taylor and Martin Semi Truck Auction and bought a couple trucks (KW or Pete or Freightliner) and drove them home, now that was high dollar and higher class work which only came after years of hard work paying my dues, hey I earned it lol


John T

Watched that exact situation a week ago. Big auction, huge crowd, but could hardly see or hear the auctioneer for the crowd, mostly old retirees(like me) ,but unlike me... not going to buy anything, just gawking...and making it hard for the real business to operate. Totally inconsiderate.

It's pretty hard to go to an auction with the intent of buying things for resale. Everybody bids things to the retail price anymore. I've suspected a couple of bargains on late model JD planters but since I did not go with the intent (or cash) of buying two minutes is not a lot of time to research the apparent low bid in terms of equipment with similar features. I saw a 1770 planter sell a year ago and thought the price was low until I did some checking then realized there was little room for a markup if resold. In any event one local jockey told me he has given up on auctions as he can not buy at a price where he can mark the item up. He is up there in years and his health is poor so I am sure that has an effect on his drive.

You pretty much nailed it.

I never could figure out why several dozen people will be crowded around an item when only three or four are bidding, or have reason to bid. Too many look at an auction as a reason to come out of the hills and socialize.

That being said, there don't seem to be near as many auctions now as in years past. 30 years ago, you could go to a meaningful farm auction every Saturday and sometimes during the week all winter. Since farms have gotten bigger and fewer, there are also fewer auctions, and the ones that there are, are mostly high dollar equipment from a farmer who is retiring or who died. And consignment auctions are mostly everyone's junk they're trying to get rid of.

Like they say, "It ain't like it used to be".

I think it is sad how many people cannot see the problem with a shill or an owner secretly bidding to drive up prices. I am not going to rehash it now. Someone with that little depth of thought is not going to be convinced by any argument I can put out there. I just wish come fall I could get into the bidding on corn prices. Just keep bidding it up until I get a price I want to sell at. If not, just come back the next day and do it again. Why worry about wasting peoples time and other resources when I could just post it on CL. Oh wait! That's right! It SAT on CL forever and no one met my price there so now I do it this way...I'm rambling, forgive me. Need a day off work soon, I think.

You can bid on corn all you want at the CBT

Very interesting opinions on dishonest auctioners. I just recieved information that I bought a tractor last Saturday. I left a bid and had to wait until today to find out if it was mine. By the way was $ 1000 less than my high bid. Now to hook up trailor and go get my prize. Chalk up one for an honest auctioneer Gary Olson.

joe

That was an amazing description of what goes on at an auction

Now that I'm retired I'm going to more auctions than ever as I have the time....I especially like auctions with 1980 and older model tractors and machinery on them..

Brilliant, insightful comment on human foibles! I've met those guys! I've never been to an auction, but reading this I could almost see the entire panorama of one; I felt I was there. Being an old phart myself, I now feel compelled to go to one and get in the way.

I don't know about auctions but yard sales and garage sales I would need some kind of Rehab to overcome the urge to shop. It is a sickness.

(quoted from post at 06:35:30 03/30/15) I think it is sad how many people cannot see the problem with a shill or an owner secretly bidding to drive up prices. I am not going to rehash it now. Someone with that little depth of thought is not going to be convinced by any argument I can put out there. I just wish come fall I could get into the bidding on corn prices. Just keep bidding it up until I get a price I want to sell at. If not, just come back the next day and do it again. Why worry about wasting peoples time and other resources when I could just post it on CL. Oh wait! That's right! It SAT on CL forever and no one met my price there so now I do it this way...I'm rambling, forgive me. Need a day off work soon, I think.

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While I have suspected people of bidding on their own stuff I've never had proof. So unless I can prove it I don't accuse them of it. I'm sure it happens. Doesn't bother me. If I get something at a price I'm willing to pay fine. If not I just move on.

Rick

Hi
I'm 41 and pretty well stopped going to auctions at 30. now i go to the odd one if I know the guy or he's been a shop customer, There is one coming up in the next 2 weeks i might go to 600 km round trip and see another tractor guy with parts i need on the way home. those guys bought a farm from us 15 years ago so kinda feel I should go see them.
There is another with a couple Fordson p6 tractors in 200 kms round trip. I got enough so won't be buying there. It's another area I know a lot of guys from working round there years ago, and might catch up with a few of them there.
I decided with the price of fuel, never getting what I went for. My shop not earning $45 an hour on most sale days. I'd stay home and earn instead of loosing money, and wearing my truck out driving hundreds of miles doing it. these 2 sales would be the first ones i went to in at least 3 years.
Regards Robert

The young ones are even worse they'll crowd up around a $20,000 tractor when they hardly have enough $$ in their pocket to buy lunch.

(quoted from post at 11:44:41 03/30/15) The young ones are even worse they'll crowd up around a $20,000 tractor when they hardly have enough $$ in their pocket to buy lunch.

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LOL ain't that the truth! And here it doesn't have to be a 20K tractor. It might me a 500 dollar riding mower. When you over bid them at 125 they get mad and glare! I was bidding on a pump/tank system. The only other bidder gave a tell at 350 that he was about done. I figured 800 as my max. Little round guy. When I outbid him he turned around about 2 feet in front of me and was looking mad! Kinda funny when he sees a 6'5 250 pound man was the winning bidder!

Rick

Your supposed to bid on you own stuff,that's how an auction works.All auctions are reserve auctions unless listed as absolute.Auctioneers tell you to protect your stuff.How many of you would just take what you get on a certain day?

(quoted from post at 14:04:43 03/30/15) Your supposed to bid on you own stuff,that's how an auction works.All auctions are reserve auctions unless listed as absolute.Auctioneers tell you to protect your stuff.How many of you would just take what you get on a certain day?

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arm Auctions up here are all unreserved auctions.
If a certain item has a reserve bid on it it gets announced before the sale starts.
Owners bidding on their own stuff is not allowed..period.

Our three boys are in Colorado and our daughter is in SC. I'm all for Colorado (I don't like the heat) but wife says different so undecided.

And where or what part of the country is this? Very rare for an auction to be absolute in these parts. You are bidding against the owner in all consignment auctions and most estate sell outs.

John T My e-mail is open send me a last name , I just might remember you. Spent a lot of days a Sikeston, And Stilesville back in the same time period you are talking about.

(quoted from post at 15:56:59 03/30/15) And where or what part of the country is this? Very rare for an auction to be absolute in these parts. You are bidding against the owner in all consignment auctions and most estate sell outs.

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