Plenty of horsepower at onsite farm auction

Plenty of horsepower was on offer when more than 450 lots went under the hammer at an onsite farm auction in East Anglia.

The sale included a fine selection of tractors, grassland machinery, livestock equipment and tools.

The sale took place last month at Montpelier Farm Ltd in Writtle, near Chelmsford, and was run by East Anglian-based agricultural auctioneers Cheffins.

Stars of the show included a 2013 Massey Ferguson 7616 that sold for £48,000, a 2002 Case IH Magnum 270 that took £26,200 and a 2007 Claas Ares 697 ATZ that hit £16,600. Meanwhile, a 2010 Merlo MultiFarmer 30.6 materials handler with rear linkage made an impressive £32,200.

Other machinery to attract interest included a 2013 Krone Big Pack 1290 baler that sold for £56,500, a 2013 New Holland 890 CropCutter baler that made £41,250, a Kubota KX161-2 midi-digger that hit £9,500 and a 2012 Krone rotary tedder that fetched £11,200.

Trailers were also in high demand, with a 2007 Hook Loada 16 ton trailer making £10,300, a 2006 AS Marston CD10 dump trailer £5,000 and a Bateson tandem axle plant trailer £1,550.

Sheep handling and feeding equipment was also popular, with top honours going to a c2013 Plowman Rudland 35 tri-axle livestock trailer that fetched £9,400. A Graham Edwards livestock trailer went for £1,450, a Ritchie Trombone sheep handling system took £1,500 and a Ritchie Combi Clamp inspection platform sold at £1,950.

Auctioneer Oliver Godfrey said the bidding had a similar trend to that seen in 2014 with ‘farmer’ buyers looking to bolster their operations with quality, straight to work machinery.

“With the exchange rate not helping export matters, UK farmer buyers are leading the way again and helping to maintain the continued high demand for quality second hand agricultural machinery,” he said.