Buying farm and ranch equipment at auction works best when you treat the bidding as the last step, not the first. Read the full description, zoom in on every photo, ask questions before the auction closes, and decide your top number ahead of time so you are not doing math while the clock runs. Our online auctions out of Hermosa, SD run on HiBid, and everything sells as-is, where-is, so the work you do before you bid is the work that matters.
How do I know what I'm actually bidding on?
Every lot we list gets a written description and photos, and with equipment we try to show the things you would walk around and look at yourself: hour meters, tires, hydraulics, leaks, rust, the serial plate when it's readable. If something runs, we say so. If we don't know, we say that too, because guessing helps nobody.
Read the lot description all the way down. A line like "runs, does not move under its own power" is easy to skim past when you're excited about a price. If a photo doesn't show what you need to see, send a message and ask. We're a small auction company 16 miles south of Rapid City, South Dakota, and questions come straight to Matt or Dawn, not a call center.
What should I check on a tractor or piece of equipment before I bid?
Most of our auctions have a preview window, and for tractors, skid steers, generators, and trailers, showing up in person is worth the drive. Bring a flashlight and look at:
– Fluids and the ground under the machine
– Tire and track wear, and whether the rims are straight
– Play in pins, bushings, and loader arms
– Battery, wiring, and anything that looks recently patched
– Whether the paperwork for a titled item is in hand
Generators and gas-powered gear have their own short list, and we walked through it in more detail in our post on buying equipment and generators at auction. Shop and tool auction lots in South Dakota often come out of a working shop, which usually means the gear was used hard and maintained, but you still want eyes on it.
Set your walk-away number while you're standing there, before the bidding heats up. Comparable sales, dealer listings, and what it would cost you to fix the thing are all fair inputs. When the timer runs out and a lot is marked Sold, that's a binding purchase, so the number you set is the number you live with.
What happens after I win, and how do I get it home?
Plan the haul before you bid. A 40 hp tractor and a hay rake are two different trailer problems, and a generator on a skid needs a way to get lifted. We help load where we can, and we give a reasonable pickup window rather than a two-hour scramble, but the details vary by auction, so read the terms on the listing you're bidding in. There's more on this in our rundown of what pickup and shipping really look like, and the FAQ page covers buyer's premium, payment, and sales tax.
What if I'm the one with equipment to sell?
Plenty of our buyers end up on the other side of it eventually, after a retirement, a move, or an estate auction in southwest