Hundreds converge on Ceres for vintage sale

machinery: Bids taken online as well as on site

Hundreds of vintage enthusiasts descended on Ceres in Fife for the sale of tractors, spares and machinery that topped at £14,000 for a 1930 Model GP John Deere.

Pre-sale interest had come from all over the country with bids taken from on site and online.

Successful bidders came from Orkney in the north and Devon in the south and all points in between with auctioneer Graham Burke wielding the gavel for a marathon seven hours.

Prizewinning restorations, lovely originals and several highly rare tractors were among more than 40 lots on offer.

Many tractors dated from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s and most were petrol paraffin machines with starting handles.

This, however, did not stop a number of younger tractor enthusiasts from emptying their pockets and, despite much interest from further afield, many sold locally.

Minneapolis Moline was a particular favourite of Murray’s from his time working for James H Steele as a young man.

Best-seller was a 1942 ZTU bid to £3,600.

Allis Chalmers tractors included a highly rare Model A for £11,000.

Top International Harvester was a rare in the UK 400 Diesel for £8,000.

Among the Massey and Ferguson lots was a Massey Harris 203 at £4,000, an MF 35 making £3,200 and a Ferguson TEF sold for £1,600.

In the Fordson camp £3,200 was paid for a water washer N. A solitary David Brown a VAK reached £5,200 and a Case C also broke the five grand barrier.

Among the crawlers the top price of £1,000 was paid for an Allis Chalmers M which had been supplied to a local farm by former dealer Alex Strang.

Several ploughs were sold with a twofurrow MM trailing example making £650 and a John Deere trailing plough fitted with Ransomes Epic bodies reached £850.

The firm’s former lorry, a 1980 Volvo F717 tractor unit with low miles, sold for a cracking £10,200.

Good prices were forthcoming among the spares, with a pallet of Allis Chalmers tractor parts making £340 while a set of new but period pattern Indian 9.00-36 tractor tyres topped out at £800.

A quantity of hard-to-come-by tractor vaporising oil made around £20 a gallon.

Some of the machinery on offer at the sale.