The older Massey Fergusons were clearly flavour of the day for the second month in a row at Cheffins’ monthly machinery sale held on Monday 3rd August. Echoing buyer sentiment seen at the previous sale in July, competitive bidding was in force for the sturdy older Massey Ferguson models as well as the more modern Masseys and John Deere tractors.

A record price at Cheffins’ for an older Massey Ferguson was achieved when a 290 sold at £8,800 after being hotly contested by a number of overseas bidders. Other models were equally sought after with a Massey Ferguson 188 making £5,800 and the 590 selling for a similar price while the 185 made £5,000. Trade for these much-loved older tractors was dominated by Sudanese buyers and the stock is destined for a second lease of life overseas.

With over 1,300 lots on offer and 300 tractors for sale, the market for more modern tractors was also solid with robust prices being achieved for well-presented stock. A John Deere 6215R made a cracking £54,000 while a Massey Ferguson 7718 was not far behind after being knocked down for a very healthy £53,000.  A John Deere 6150R fetched a respectable £35,000 while a Massey Ferguson 5470 sold for £32,000. A Massey Ferguson 5608 made £27,000 while a John Deere 6430 sold at a decent price of £24,500.

Trade from Sudan and Southern Ireland was strong once again with significant appetite from Spanish buyers for the John Deere models and the prices achieved reflect the demand for good quality kit both at home and abroad. There was also activity from former Eastern Bloc countries including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Director of Machinery Bill Pepper comments: “August is traditionally a quieter sale compared with the rest of the year and we are delighted that we have cleared over 50% of the stock with this figure set to rise with a number of enquiries already received for unsold items. Once again overseas buyers were in out in force particularly our Sudanese clients and there was also significant trade from Southern Ireland and plenty of active bidding from Spain.

“This was our fourth monthly sale to be held entirely online with viewing taking place at the sale ground for clients on the Sunday preceding our sale. Our robust and established bidding platforms once again proved effective with a significant number of buyers registered to bid online and competitive bidding taking place on the platform throughout the sale.

“It’s our intention to hold a live drive-through auction for tractors and plant at the sale in September with clients able to attend and bid at the sale in person, however, this is entirely dependant on the government’s advice regarding COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines at the time. We have been delighted with appetite for our online sales for the last four months but we’re really looking forward to being able to invite clients back to the sale ground on sale day. We will be keeping a watching brief on the government guidelines in the weeks running up to September’s sale.”

Cheffins next monthly Machinery Sale will be held on Monday 7th September.