302 Highland Avenue, Plentywood, Montana 59254.
I went to the darndest auction sale that ever was!
This old fellow ran a repair shop, was a very good mechanic, and
enjoyed a very good business. The sale was a two-day (9:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m.) affair. He never threw anything away.
The first day was the shop related ‘stuff.’ I bought
what I thought were new spark plugs-but upon examination, they were
USED plugs carefully wrapped in the wax paper and put back in the
boxes. Also, bearings were wrapped in the original wax paper, and
you felt they were never opened until you opened them and saw what
you had. Paints, condensers, brushes, etc. had a note on the boxes
declaring ‘can be used some more.’
I counted six ring compressors. There had to be several of
everything. There were many tool boxes with tools that had never
been taken out of the shipping box; half a dozen floor jacks; three
cherry pickers; three or four welders; three electric welders, a
circa 1930 light plant that had never been out of the crate; a
magnet charger never used.
Well, to keep this short, he had every machine and tool you can
get for a shop, and lots of duplicates. There was a semitrailer 40
feet long, solid with small engines. I don’t think there was a
good one in the lot!
I did get an antique electric fan that I am proud of, it turns
fast and makes a lot of noise.
There was a package of things including four broken sets of
Oliver overhaul gaskets. The bidder asked me if I wanted them for
nothing-well, at that price I could hardly turn them down.
If the old boy needed a pan or manifold gasket he bought the
whole gasket set. His reasoning was ‘I’ll need it anyway
later.’ These sets cost over a hundred dollars now. I have, for
sure, three new head gaskets; if I can sell them, it’s ice
cream or whiskey money for a while.
I made the comment that you wouldn’t believe this sale if
you didn’t see it, and the people around me said,
‘That’s right.’
The second day (he had a farm too), he had five Oliver 90 6k
99’s, an Oliver 66, nine JD G’s, two JD D’s, and much,
much more. The first Oliver 90 sold for nearly a thousand dollars.
A fellow turned it over to see if it was ‘stuck’-it started
and he was startled. The JD G brought in the $1000 range.
I wanted the rotary mower but some old boy ‘shot me out of
the saddle’ at around $600.
There was an OX Hercules of a combine, a good one. A fellow who
doesn’t know a combine engine from a poker chip was scratching
his head and got it for five dollars!
Axel kept an account of every nickel he had (and he had SEVERAL)
in these account books. He had everything recorded down to a fuse
at 5 cents.
There was an Emerson triple horse plow I wanted but people who
go to auction sales have money to burn.
