mostly horse drawn items auction results

I'd like to get some neat old horse drawn hay making pieces that are in very good usable shape. Things that are made for horses to pull, but that I could also easily switch out hitches for tractor use when I want to. I inspected everything at this auction and had my heart set on an IH rake in excellent shape and a JD Big 4 sickle mower with sharp new blades. Couple of very, very nice steel wheel hay wagons, too. Well, all I could afford were these three old metal pieces, photo below, for $2. The rake went for $1,000 and the sickle went for about $700. I thought I might go up to $800 for the sickle, but then I decided if I'm going to spend that much, I'm going to get an IH one to match my tractor. Hay wagons $1,000+ each. Pretty spendy, don't you think?

huge metal wheel movable sawmill $6,500
8' tandem disc, horse drawn $1,550
painted manure spreaders $1,750 each
one horse open sleigh (which I should have bought) only $125
super cute little tilt bed wagon (I should have bought) $250
crazy little short spiked smoothing thing, two 4' sections together was (WHAAAT? WHY?) $800!!!??? I don't get it. Why? That 8' disc was crazy price, too.
Instead of getting the equipment I was so set on, I bought a homemade Amish pie on my way out.

(quoted from post at 14:23:43 06/12/19) I'd like to get some neat old horse drawn hay making pieces that are in very good usable shape. Things that are made for horses to pull, but that I could also easily switch out hitches for tractor use when I want to. I inspected everything at this auction and had my heart set on an IH rake in excellent shape and a JD Big 4 sickle mower with sharp new blades. Couple of very, very nice steel wheel hay wagons, too. Well, all I could afford were these three old metal pieces, photo below, for $2. The rake went for $1,000 and the sickle went for about $700. I thought I might go up to $800 for the sickle, but then I decided if I'm going to spend that much, I'm going to get an IH one to match my tractor. Hay wagons $1,000+ each. Pretty spendy, don't you think?

huge metal wheel movable sawmill $6,500
8' tandem disc, horse drawn $1,550
painted manure spreaders $1,750 each
one horse open sleigh (which I should have bought) only $125
super cute little tilt bed wagon (I should have bought) $250
crazy little short spiked smoothing thing, two 4' sections together was (WHAAAT? WHY?) $800!!!??? I don't get it. Why? That 8' disc was crazy price, too.
Instead of getting the equipment I was so set on, I bought a homemade Amish pie on my way out.

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Sounds high but I don't really know this equipment. Did you get a sense of who you were bidding against? Possibly collectors or antique dealers. Still seems high, though. Any Amish in your area? I recently bought a Case sickle mower in poor condition, very rusty. Doubt it will ever work again but I'm happy with the $35 final bid. Gives you an idea what kind of shape it was in.

A IH or McCormick No. 7 or No.9 mower in field ready condition with a 6' or 7' cutter bar is from a dealer in the $1,500 range. A Ih rake is not worth that if it has ever been used, $800 tops. That is if it is a 4 bar enclosed gear on full steel. Open gear 3 bar rake-tedder $500 And wagons, wonder what they were, new Pioneer units worth that, older wagons way less. This is in Amish tearitoy and I have been hunting and furnishing machinery for Amish dealers for several years now. Spike tooth harrows go for about 25-30$ if a John Deere per section at auctions. Dealers not wanting them any more. Disk I just do not understand. Very few will even buy a horse drawn disk any more, all wany wheel disks.

the spikey thing was prolly a spike tooth harrow, they sell high around here, wasn't long they were hauling them for scrap.

Where was that auction at and who were the
auctioneers? Missed seeing that.

I've never been to a farm auction and bid, only hay auctions. And so when I was there yesterday bidding, I found myself doing the same thing as I do at hay auctions. Pretty funny I suppose. I arrive early and make decisions about exactly which lots I want and how much I'll pay. I get very focused and serious, and if anyone bothers me and my thinking, especially when bidding is nearing the lots I want, I tell them to stop talking and go away. Haha! No, I don't actually say that, but people get the hint somehow. When I bid, I stare right at the guy who is acknowledging my bids and just keep my eyes on him the whole time until the bidding is over. I never look around to see who is bidding against me. No idea. None. Don't care either. But I'm sure yesterday, that I was bidding against Amish. 95% or more of people there were Amish and it was an Amish property. I got there and walked up the driveway and almost turned and went home. All I saw was a sea of dark clothing and straw hats. Men in blue all around the bidding and women in blue and purple and black bonnets, standing in rows like a choir up by the house, not moving or talking, just staring straight ahead. Here comes me, a female in jeans and a bright yellow rain jacket and farm boots up to the knee, and nothing covering my head. I felt horribly out of place.

Can hardly give them away here in western Ohio now, few years ago good prices. I just sent several to scrap that were in good condition along with most of the rest of my machinery.

Leroy, I'd rather have an IH #7 or 9, but they go for $1500??? Oh wow. I'm glad I didn't buy the sickle even though my high bid plan was 800 and I probably could've gotten it for that. Painted green and yellow and new blades and just really nice. Maybe I can somehow find a nice IH for cheap? Thing is, I don't have much more time to dilly dally, hay is growing fast.
The rake was in immaculate shape. 4 bar and every tooth was there and straight and everything just excellent. I was planning on going to $800 and actually bid $900 and someone bid $1000 and I quit. I do think now it was well worth $1000. Real nice old rake. I maybe should have went higher and gotten it.
Yes, the price of disc and harrow made my mouth drop. I don't understand.

ohiojim, really? They go for high price around you, too? I don't understand why!
Farmallplowboy, it was by Diamond, I think, and was north of Thorp in Gilman. If I can't find these neat old pieces I want before long, I'll have to break down and buy regular discbine and newer rake. Either way, I'll be getting a regular older hay baler to make squares, too. There is someone selling all three together near Stevens Point. I would need someone to transport them or to rent a huge trailer. Do you off hand know of anyone down around there for that?

Ain't heard about any one selling, haying
equipment, if I hear of anything I'll give
a shout.

On a McCormick rake what you need to watch out for is wear on the real pipe bars and the bearings they ride in.. Left hand one especially, I don't know why that one wears more. I in my rebuilding rakes for the Amish have has some that the center real bearing were wore completely thru and the real bars wore as well to point of breaking. The end bearing I have had one side of the real bars completely wore away. The procidure for the worn bars is to get a good bar from a parts rake, as long as it is straight and take that and cut piecers out of it to cut bad out of orignal bar and weld the replacement sections in. You have to be good at welding for that to get the bars straigh after they are welded and you need to keep the holes all in perfect alignment. I had a different way of repairing the bars for the Amish dealer for resale. Since I have been doing that I am sure I rebuilt way over 40 hay rakes including the McCormick, New Idea that most prefer and it is good for lifting that rained on hay to dry out (the 3 bar McCormick does that as well, just not as good a overal rake, no grease fittings, just oil can lube), John Deere, J I Case & M Moline. And I had a David Bradley I used along with the NI rake.

Leroy, thanks for the tip. If I look at others, I'll make sure to check out the reel bar.