BEST YEAR-END BUYS IN HP

Late-model, large-horsepower tractor inventories have increased significantly

- Dave Mowitz

In all my years of covering the used equipment market, I have never seen the like: Sullivan Auctioneers (sullivanauctioneers.com) held four online auctions for Hutson Inc. (a Deere dealership network in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Michigan) in the middle of harvest!

Traditionally, harvest and spring planting are dead zones for auctions. During these times, farmers stayed home and focused on field chores while auctioneers began to prepare for the huge summer and end-ofthe-year auction periods.

But starting Oct. 10 and repeating the following three Tuesdays that month, Sullivan sold a long line of iron for Hutson. The high final bids registered during those sales testify to the trend that farmers are now buying equipment online any time of the year, whether they are in their offices or in the cab of a combine, tractor, or pickup.

Karen Jones in “Steel Deals” (page 28, November issue of Successful Farming) looked at this online phenomenon and the fact that farmers are also buying used iron farther from home.

Luke Sullivan of Sullivan Auctioneers also points out that breaking the Hutson line of equipment into four separate online auctions kept the length of each auction shorter. As for holding the auctions in October, he adds, “Well, there are fewer auctions that month so that presented our client with a larger audience.”