SANDWICH, Ill. — Prolonged rainy spells, high real estate taxes and $3 corn might have deterred some buyers from digging deeply into their wallets at the June 27 vintage farm equipment consignment auction on the De Kalb County Fairgrounds in Illinois.
For example, the first item to cross the auction block was a pair of pitchforks that brought $1. Two more pitchforks followed at $5 and a third set, at $12. A vintage hay knife also settled at $1, and four 5-gallon plastic buckets at $2.
A hand cultivator stopped at $13, a hanging scale at $3 and a post hole digger at $1. Another pitchfork and two grain scoops sold at $10, a leather horse harness collar at $4, a barn hay fork without track at $5 and a couple of seed corn advertising banners at $1.
The outlook brightened a bit as auctioneer Chris Wegener of Somonauk, Ill., sold a large roll of gasket paper for $65, a heavy iron bench vise for $50 and a new bearing in original box for $60.
"Atta boy," he said to the winning bidder. Next, he sold an air compressor at $55. "It’s nice to blow balloons up with," he joked. "Put some laughing gas in it."
The auction was a highlight of the 44th annual vintage stationary gasoline engine and tractor show sponsored by the Sandwich Early Day Engine Club and organized in 1970 for those interested in antique gas engines. The club has grown from an initial 15 members to about 135 in five states.
Altogether, 210 bidders registered for the auction, a yearly event of the nonprofit club’s two-day show the last weekend of each June. Bidders at this year’s sale paid $60 for a Milwaukee drill and accessories set, $25 for a military ammunition box, $65 for a Craftsman socket set, $85 for a Reelcraft air hose, $17 for a floor model five-drawer metal toolbox and $210 for a miniature steam engine.
More interest was shown by bidders in field equipment items like a Moline mower that opened at $25 and sold for $85. A horse-drawn cultivator went for $45. A Toro Workman golf vehicle with a sign on the radiator which read "Needs New Engene" brought $150.
A commercial wheeled meat cutting stand went at $125. A hand-operated corn sheller assembled in a one-time Sandwich ag equipment factory started at $15 and sold for $100, while a 10-foot wheel disc began at $25 and stopped at $200.
A small Wheel Horse electric start tractor and mower attracted comment, but didn’t sell. "It’s going to run like your watch," Wegener said in calling for bids. The crowd smiled, but stopped bidding at $300. The consigner then announced he would take $600 for the tractor.
No one stepped forward, and Wegener moved on to a box lot consisting of a small spreader, metal rail and two trucks at $50. A De Laval Model T rear end truck frame was next. "Fresh from the barn," Wegener noted as he sold it for a $10 bill. Next was an Allis one-bottom plow that went for $275.
Bidders were amazed at the number of small engines consigners had laid out for their inspection. "There must have been a hundred of them, and boy, they sold good," Wegener said after the auction. "They were selling hot. Some were older Maytags and they were bringing $200 and $300. I started the bidding on one engine at $1,000 and it brought $1,100."
Vintage tractor aficionado Roger Tuttle of Somonauk stopped by the auction after planning the route for the club’s vintage tractor ride, which was in its third year at the 2015 show. "We wanted to have something different to go along with the other activities and because I live just five miles away, they asked me to set up a route for the ride," he said.
"The first year we rode to the area where I live and stopped for a break and light lunch at the township building. Last year we rode southeast toward Millbrook and Sheridan, stopped at the township building there and then back to the fairgrounds.
"This year we’re riding southwest to the campground in that area," he noted. "The campground owner said it would be great for the campers to be able to see the tractors. So, we’re having our break there with coffee and doughnuts, then we’ll skirt the edge of Leland and return to the fairgrounds, about a 26-mile trip."
Thirty tractors participated the first year of the ride, and 31 the second year. Tuttle, a Ford and John Deere tractor collector, had planned on about the same number this year. He also said the sheriff’s departments in both Kendall and De Kalb counties assist with traffic control at the major intersections.
"They’ve just been fantastic," he added.
Other activities on the two-day agenda included a vintage tractor parade, stationary gasoline engine displays, dealers offering just about every farm toy ever invented, a small flea and crafts market, a nondenominational church service and food vendors to feed the hungry.
You can reach the Sandwich Early Day Engine Club at 105 E. North St., P.O. Box 43, Somonauk, IL 60552, by calling 815-498-2013 or by emailing sandwichengineclub@yahoo.com
