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Cockshutt Mike

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I always find this strange or should I say funny. You find an old tractor sitting in a fence row, in woods, behind old barn etc. that has been there for years as much as twenty years. Now you know nobody has or is going to do anything with it so you stop and in a nice way ask the question that sends dollar signs into there eyes. Hi, I was wondering if you would like to get rid of that ? Then the replies, well one like that sold at auction and it brought $$$------well you can't buy one like that anymore you know------well I'm going to restore it someday but I would sell it------I have been keeping that in case I ever need it but for the right price------well that's a good tractor, it ran when grandpa parked it and he used it for thirty years without any problems. I try to be nice and do the right thing by walking away with just a thank you but sometimes it is just way way to hard not to say something or just laugh. I have heard some way out there high prices and reasons it has such a high value. Anybody else find this strange or funny or heard any off the wall replies like this.
 
Let's see. It's their tractor. Behind the shed, out in a fence row, in the woods, etc. No "For Sale" sign on it. And you stop in to ask about buying it. And now you're criticizing them? For what???
 
Bill,
There is exceptions to all rules.
Several years ago a old truck was sitting in plain view, no for sale sign, and sold. For several years it had sit there and I had thought about asking about it but thought with it there right next to road I'm sure lots of folks had ask. Well I could kick my self for not checking and since then I always ask if I think I want it. You never know.
 
years ago in colorado I bought couple of old unstyled jd tractors. Field beside those tractors had probably 100 to 150 old things crawlers trucks tractors what have you. Grand son asked if I wanted to check his out. Sure, he had same complex It was fun just to look so I tolorated him. A certain model dozer with steering wheel of no interest to me ,however a fellow collector wanted one really bad if price was reasonable or high if not unreasonable. I asked about the dozer, little smart axx said same story grandads yada yada . I tripled the price friend would pay max, told kid that figure, Then said oh well like you been saying all day JUST LET THEM ALL SET AND RUST DOWN!! Kid practilly begged , well now wait you friend where is he. As I got in pickup I repated Hey Just let it rust like you said. and drove off. I knew he would never get reasnable. I did tell friend and give him kids number . He never called as he knew it was never going to work
 
What I find 'strange or funny' is how one manages to ***find*** an old tractor sitting in a fence row or behind an old barn. How can something be ***found*** if it wasn't lost? In many/most cases, I'd suspect someone of trespasssing. Fellow..........who I'd never seen before........rang my front doorbell yesterday, even though the garage door was up and 999 out of 1000 people come to the garage door. He wanted to know if I owned that property up the road and if I was interested in selling some of the 'scrap iron'. There are seveal dozen old implemnts parked around the edge of a field, but they're not visible from the road. I asked him how he knew there was 'scrap iron' up there; he mumbled something about seeing an old cotton trailer from the road. Well, you can see a trailer from the road, but I just declined his offer. I may be old and partially senile, but if I wanted to sell something, I still have enough sense to either load it up or do some advertising.
 
I carry field glasses so I never step on others property with out asking first Amazing detail you can notice that way Just don't look in house with glasses!!!!
 
Yes. I would stop and ask if I was that interested, too. But, if the guy didn't want to sell, or if the price he asked was out my range, I would just thank him and drive on. It is his truck or tractor or whatever and he ca do whatever he wants with it. If he turns down my $20,000 offer for it and then turns around and gives it to someone else, that's his choice.
 
i never go on somebodys land without a invite, around here that will get you shot at, everybody i know, if they want to get rid of tractors, machinery ect, they hook a chain to it and drag it up to the road and hang a sign on it
 
I pulled one of my old Chevy 4X4s out of the barn to make room for and tractor a couple years ago. It was setting behind the bard pretty much out of sight. A guy stopped and wanted to buy it. He wasn't a perticularly plesent fellow and pi$$ed me off so I told him to leave. Low and behold code enforcement came banging on my door the next morning, "had a complaint". The truck had to be gone in 24 hours. Made the call and had a scrap dumpster here that afternoon. I salvaged the engine, trans and transfer out of it and made the rest into un-salvageable pieces. The code officer came down the next morning and I pointed at the dumpster, all was cool. Then a little later that guy shows up, again I pointed at the dumpster. He went and looked and told me off. Again I asked him to leave.
 
Just to sit the record straight. I don't go on property without permission and I don't go snooping around. I hauled crude oil from farm lease locations and if I see something sitting out in the open and someone is around I will ask. I don't go around tresspassing or just bothering people. The guys I'm friends with and myself do respect others and there property. My point was this, if I have something and someone asks if I want to sell it or get rid of it I say yes, no, or I might be, I don't start with laim reasons and start seeing dollar signs and thinking how I can sock it to someone. I haven't met anyone who hasn't at some time seen something and ask the property owner if they would like to get rid of or sell it. Many dells have been made that way. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I guess I should'nt have posted. I guess it's not alright for a hunter to ask if you own the property and is it ok to hunt. If I don't want somebody to ask about something I have sitting out in the open I place a sign on it that says not for sale. Sorry for my post, don't get your nnalert twisted up, I wasn't talking about a crook or someone who tresspasses. Maybe I should have posted, where were you when someone got shot.
 
Here in OK. the state build a new highway through the trees and ditches and after they completed it, and you drove by you would see a old sport car, sitting there rusting or appeared to be rusting away. After about a month the old boy had enough and took a spray can and wrote NOT FOR SALE on the side of the car in BIG RED LETTERS Now that may be what we need to do.
 
Don't let em bug you, Mike.
I agree that a fella shouldn't just go nosing around on someone's private property, but if you see something from the highway, or from the land next door(which you have right to) then what is the harm in knocking on the door and asking. Yea, don't do it after dark, or at supper time, but if ya don't ask, that treasure may end up goin to the crusher.

Ben
 
One of the first laws of Economics is, nothing has value until somebody wants it.
 
Doubt that the remarks were directed at you personally, just that many on this board have had issues with people who have no regard for others" property.

Have a good Thanksgiving!
 
If it's a piece of junk sitting in a hedge row for many years, and he asks a high price, tell him you'll take if he will just drive it out to the road.
If you don't ask, the junk man will be there tommorow and get it for a song.
 
i seen that too a few times on farms i visited.
see a old piece sitting half sunk in the ground and grown in with trees,asking what he wants for it and they think its a picasso or something.

Ok,let it rot then for all i care.
 
You can't blame the seller, you need to blame the auctions with all of the run up prices, and the greedy folks that got in to this once they saw an eager audience of buyers. Many of the ones that got in it could not even say "tractor" when they first started, they just saw $$$ and people willing to pay.
Even one of the manufacturers ignored it for years, then decided they would buy in to a company that was producing and selling parts. The day that happened, the prices went out of the roof. The small company was making a very good profit before the prices were forced sky high.
Greed ruins everything eventually.
 
I agree with you , but sometimes on here you run into those peoples relatives,which think you shouldnt even bring this up.
 
Maybe we need to go back to old fashioned bartering. If you have to ask someone or look it up, you would not get it because you have always known $$$$ as the only way to get what you want.
There is deep dichotomy (Division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions) in the use of money in most cases. The seller wants to buy stuff for as cheap as possible, but turn around and sell basically the SAME stuff at a much higher price. The seller attempts to justify this action by stating that they "need to make a profit". Well, it is not our fault if they cannot make a profit.
And never do they really need to make 1000%+. If so, they are not managing the $$$ or the company very well. But the greed in some allows them to look a widow woman in the eyes and lie to her in order to get that rare High Crop for $500. There are even some that are so crooked, they try to make her feel like they are "paying too much" but are doing so out of the "kindness of their hearts".
And then some wonder how they end up in such a messed up life.
 
If I see something from the road and want it bad enough to ask, the way I see it is the worst they can say is no. I met a good friend because he has the "Worst they can say is no" mentality.
 
Why would anyone stop at a private home to discuss a private possesion with a private citizen and then complain in a public forum about the price????
 
I tried to buy one some time ago stopped seceral times he finally sent a letter saying dont stop anymore. Shed fell down on top of it and he died and it went for scrap.
 
I think some of ya'll are mistaken about Mike's story, he never said he was trespassing or snooping around someone's property just to ask about an old tractor. I can relate to everything Mike said about asking of old tractors and implements that are parked in old fence rows, in the edge of the woods, behind the old barn, etc. I've worked with a utility company for over 31 years now and have seen most everything you can imagine sitting in the weeds and anytime I'm interested in something I've seen then I get up with the property owner and ask about it, and no I am not trespassing or snooping when I inquire about antique iron as my job puts me in the position to be own private property during work hours and even after normal hours when emergencys occur. There is nothing wrong about asking someone about an old tractor or anything else that you can see from the road if you go about it the right way. I hate trespassers and theives as much as anyone else but I think ya'll interpreted Mike's story wrong.
 
I see nothing wrong with asking about trucks or tractors, in a polite way. A lot of my buys are from asking and a lot of folks had no idea the rusted pieces had any value at all and it never occured to put a For Sale sign on them because the thought they had no value. And when they gladly sold them, we often discover other equipment or parts or vehicles nearby but hidden by brush. Paul
 
Most guys that stop and ask to buy something are just looking for a bargain or someone to take advantage of.That's why they get chased off or
get a sky high price.They have been down that road before and usually know what to say to get rid of you.
 
People asking to buy your stuff gets old in a hurry.I have one crawler loader that i can't take outside the barn without someone asking to buy it.You can't see my house or barns from the road.One time i had to load some logs by the road and drove the truck back first.By the time i walked back and drove the loader back i had 3 trucks in here wanting to buy it.If it sets outside the barn i get one person a week wanting to buy it.
 
Just what the heck is wrong with some of you guys? A person coming down your driveway and knocking on your door does not fit either the legal or moral definition of tresspassing. If you ask the person to leave and he doesn't THEN he is trespassing.
If you don't want folks asking keep every thing out of sight, you no damn well you are never going to do anything with it. Not going to bring to much at your auction anyway.
What is wrong with a conversation like this, "Hi, sorry to bother you, I been noticing that old B you got parked back along the hedgerow, any interest in selling it?" "Nope not for sale was my granpappies, been thinking of fixin it some day." " Well ok, just figured I would stop and ask. Can I leave you my number if you should change your mind?" " Well would'nt do no harm I guess, just don't stay up nights waiting for a call!" "OK thanks for your time"
So I ask you, what is wrong with that? If your so miserable or paranoid you can't spend five minutes talking to another human being maybe you should take a good look at yourself.
 
Every time I take my pickup out someone wants to buy it. If it sets in the drive someone stops. I had it out in the pasture for a few days and 20 people wanted to buy it. It isn't pretty, all original but it is mine. I meet a lot of people that way, nosey or not. When I drive it down the road everyone waves. It is a 1952 Chevy, it seems to take everyone back to those better days. I have sold parts to people if I liked them and said no to trespassers. It is mine and I have that right. I don't like people who complain about me saying no if I own it. If I ask someone if it is for sale and they say no, I respect that, they own it and if they want it to rot right there I go on and find it somewhere else. I don't judge them....James
 
There is a website "Cars in Barns " all great collector cars , chargers camaros superbirds etc ,,sitting in barns or rusting away ,,none for sale. Almost makes ya cry .
 
Most of my stuff was purchased after inquiring after seeing it while driving down the road..

Whether it's something they want to sell or not, usually if you are friendly with the owner, they're friendly back.. Sometimes you get a story out of the deal and make a friend, and sometimes, if you're a guy like me that makes a few extra bucks spinning wrenches, you can even make a dollar or 2 by helping someone get their treasure running again..

If they give me a price, if I think it's too much, I simply state that it's more than my budget will allow, and thank them for their time.

The best thing I bought this way was my 930.. I stopped in, as a high school kid, I had next to no money, but I made a offer of what I could afford, explained to the gentleman that my offer was probably low, but I offered what I could afford, and what I planned to do with the tractor.. He took my name and address and number, and told me the tractor's story.. I never figured I'd ever hear a word, but always hoped.. A few years later, the guy called and said they'd decided that someone who would appreciate and use it should have it, and that they'd likely never get around to doing anything with it.

I think the most honest story I ever heard was about a old Allis.. It sat in the bushes for a few years, one day I saw a guy outside, so I pulled in and asked, he said "Well, yea, I'd sell, but it's not going anywhere".. Puzzled, I asked what he meant.. he went on: "Well, I had it in and had a bunch of money put into it to get it fixed, I used it a time or 2, and then something else broke.. I decided I'm not putting any more money in it, and I'm not gonna take any less than I have in it, and I know I got way more than it's worth in it." I understood where he was coming from.. didn't ask any more questions, and left it at that.

I used to get people stopping in about my stuff, but anymore, there's not much left to ask about.. I got rid of everything I don't have intentions to do stuff with.. I was usually willing to entertain any offers on anything I had though.. I have my price on most everything (except for a handful of sentimental stuff, which I still have).. and I'm not running a museum, so my junk is for sale.

Brad
 
I have a two acre area inside of a four sided wind break. This is behind my house and buildings. I put my outside "stuff" there. You would be supprised at the times people stop and asked to buy something that can"t be seen from any angle. So I usually act a little dumb(Don"t say It I Know it LOL) and then ask them how they know I have that item for sale. I get some real funny answers.
It has slowed down lately. The wife loves German police dogs. We have a pair now that are four years old. They weight 150 lbs each. I have not had anything grow legs since we got them.
 
wilson,you are the worst kind because of the fact of seeing things that are not visible to the public.(inside buildings and yes houses too)Not nice to say,but there are too many people running the roads doing exactly that.
 
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