AgriLand paid a visit to Co. Roscommon on February 2 to attend a well-flagged machinery auction.
John W Anderson spoke to the auctioneer – Micheal Doyle from Co. Carlow – to find out more about the sale and the equipment that was going ‘under the hammer’.
Micheal explained: “There’s huge interest in the auction here…and in the machinery. As you can see, the crowd is starting to come in here this morning.
“We’re looking forward to what could be one of the big [single-fleet] machinery auctions of the year.
“We have a big selection of tractors; they’re all in very good condition. The big thing about these clearance auctions is that the machinery is genuine. It’s all owned by David [Connolly] from his own contracting business.
“One of the big-ticket items is the [Valtra] Valmet 8950; that seems to have created huge interest around Ireland and [even] the UK.
“The experts and the gods of the Valtra world tell me that they were one of the best tractors made by Valtra. There doesn’t seem to be many of them on the market. A couple of hours’ time will tell what they’re prepared to pay for one.
Also Read: Auction report: €55,000 (all in) for a 2002 Valtra Valmet 8950 in Co. Roscommon“After that, there’s some nice John Deeres; there’s a 6910 and a 7700. As you can see, they’re all mint tractors. They’re creating a lot of interest.
“All the machines here are well minded – housed over the winter.”
Talk of specific machines aside, Micheal went on to chat briefly about David’s decision to withdraw from silage contracting work.
While you’re here, don’t forget to check out our reports detailing what bids the various lots actually attracted – on the day.