New toys

We've been heading to auctions looking for equipment lately.  Unfortunately, though our area has a long history of dairies and orchards, there hasn't been a lot of vegetable operations.  This means local auctions don't usually have what we're looking for, and we have to drive 4+ hours to southern New Jersey or Pennsylvania.  This is an expensive way to look for equipment, and it's a bummer when you spend all that time and fuel and there's nothing there you want.

This weekend, Luke drove Chucho down to Vineland, NJ to a big auction. 

Schaper Bros auction near Vineland, NJ.

Our main reason to go was a particular chisel plow that turned out to be a piece of junk.  There was also a really nice disk that slipped through our fingers after I didn't bid on a different, less-nice-but-still-alright model.  On the plus side, we scored a very rough looking flail mower for about 10% what we have in the budget!  While it looked rough, it seemed well-maintained, so we took a gamble...  and it came with a partial box of new flails, which is worth what we paid alone.

It looks rough, but the bearings are tight, the gearbox is full of oil, and the grease fittings look like they've seen regular action. We hooked up when we got home and she purrs like a (very ugly) kitten. Just needs a little paint is all.

We also got a bunch of little stuff--an old drill press, an air compresor, a garden cart, some jackstands, and a 5hp honda pressure washer.  Bit by bit we're chipping away at the list.  If we can keep scoring things under budget we might actually make it!