More than 2000 people flocked to Pilons Drive on Wednesday as Pickles Auctions hosted the largest single vendor civil and earth-moving auction the state has ever seen.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than $15 million worth of specialised mining and quarrying equipment went under the hammer, with buyers coming from as far afield as Japan and Western Australia to bid.
Pickles senior manager Peter Ryan said the sale, which was conducted on behalf of MAAS Plant Hire and attracted more than 1000 registered on-site bidders, was terrific for the local economy.
If just half of attendees were from out of town, stayed one night and spent the average for a domestic visitor ($133), the result would be more than $130,000 for the Dubbo economy.
“If there’s 1000 registered, there’s at least 2000 people here throughout the day so the coffee people were busy, the cabs were busy, there were still plenty of buyers around [on Wednesday] night having drinks and dinner, so obviously it would be a big boost for the economy I would imagine,” Mr Ryan said.
“The result for the vendor was very, very good and overall it was a very good day, a great crowd.”
A further 1400 people bid online, Mr Ryan said, adding that the sheer size of the sale meant more buyers had made the effort to travel to Dubbo.
“Because it was so big, they made the effort to come, where normally they would have bid online,” he said.
“We had a buyer’s agent from Japan here … I’ve only seen him at one other auction in 20 years.”
“I know Queensland buyers were very strong, the West Australian buyers were definitely there … and we’ve actually sold a bit to councils – Brewarrina Shire bought some assets, some trucks and trailers. The buyers have come from everywhere.”
Farmers, mining contractors and large and small civil earth-moving companies had all registered interested in the auction, due to the sheer volume, and variety, of equipment on offer.
Up for grabs were working, high-quality, late model fleet, including 10 40 tonne dump trucks, 21 excavators, water carts, dozers, graders, loaders, scrapers, backhoes, skid steers, boom lifts/scissor lifts, trucks, and trailers.
The morning after the sale, equipment was already moving out the gate, with two-thirds of the trucks gone by lunchtime on Thursday.
But the bigger gear would take longer to be removed, Mr Ryan said, and there was still a lot to do.
“The team is still entering buyer registrations now,” he said.
“There’s nothing new in the wind at the moment … but in this industry that can change pretty quickly.
“I think everyone’s look forward to the weekend!”
