This Saturday (March 10) sees the first ‘sale’ to be held by Irish Machinery Auctions – a new business based in Naas, Co. Kildare.
It aims to specialise in the sale of machinery of all sorts – from a wide variety of trades.
Dean Reid, the managing director, is keen to point out that farm equipment is an important part of the plan; there’s a “firm commitment” to hold sales devoted to agricultural items in the future.
His team of auctioneers and staff is well versed in the sector and the company has appointed Stephen McKeon as its ‘agri sales’ specialist. Stephen (pictured below) hails from a dairy farm, where he still helps out at busy times and is something of a tractor enthusiast himself.
The auction scheduled for tomorrow has already attracted around 600 lots.
“It’s a fantastic start for the company,” Dean pointed out enthusiastically. He also notes that many of the customers are government bodies, with items being placed by county councils, the RSA and Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Such confidence in a new venture is not to be underestimated; he feels that this is a reflection of the hard work that the team has put in.
“All the loaders were still out on hire clearing snow,” Dean told us during our visit. “The whole farm machinery trade has been pushed back several days by the weather.”
He is not too dismayed though, pointing out that it should all come to next month’s event on April 14.
Under the hammer
Despite the difficulties in getting agricultural equipment to the auction, there are still some items going under the hammer that may be of interest to farmers. These include a range of flat-bed and stock trailers; front-end weights; a front loader and brackets; seed drills; and irrigation equipment.
Some of the bigger highlights are detailed below.
Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture. Refer to each caption to see details of each lot.
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- This so-called ‘Big Track Swamp Tractor’ is a ‘curious’ lot. Showing just 699 hours on the clock, it’s equipped with a front blade
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- Inside the cab of the so-called ‘Big Track Swamp Tractor’
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- This 1998 Case IH MX135 is showing just 6,034 hours on the clock
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- Included in tomorrow’s auction are these items; more farm machinery is expected next month
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- Inside the cab of a JCB 3CX; it was placed in the auction by Kilkenny County Council
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- Showing 1,500 hours on the clock, this 2014 JCB 3CX comes from Kilkenny County Council
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- JCB Workmax 800 D: Although fitted with grass tyres, could this diesel-powered utility vehicle be a useful run-about?
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- Fancy a seed drill? Is there a potential bargain here?
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- This beautifully restored Ford 2000 came from Co. Galway. It was originally owned by a county council
The auction is due to kick off at 10:00am. Bids can be placed online (via the website), where a catalogue (detailing the available lots) is available.
Each transaction will attract auctioneer’s commission; the rate will depend on the value of the item being sold. VAT may be applicable, depending on the individual lot.