With the Quad Cities’ corn and soybean crop nearly out of the field, farmers and other tractor enthusiasts can turn their attention to harvesting vintage deals at Mecum’s 2022 Fall Premiere Auction at the Bend XPO Center. The event, which will be Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 17-19, is the second fall tractor and road art auction for […]
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With the Quad Cities’ corn and soybean crop nearly out of the field, farmers and other tractor enthusiasts can turn their attention to harvesting vintage deals at Mecum’s 2022 Fall Premiere Auction at the Bend XPO Center.
The event, which will be Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 17-19, is the second fall tractor and road art auction for Mecum Auctions to be held at the East Moline events center at 922 Mississippi Parkway since the Walworth, Wisconsin-based company took up permanent residency last year at the then-brand-new XPO.
The Mecum Auction Co., which had previously held auctions at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, planted its roots deeper in the Quad Cities when it opted to take over a large section of the Bend XPO center and make it the permanent home of its Gone Farmin’ spring and fall auctions.
That move continues to pay off for the world leader in live auctions of collector and classic cars, antique motorcycles, vintage tractors and memorabilia. For example, the 2021 fall auction’s premiere at the Bend XPO achieved more than $8.3 million in overall sales for the world’s largest vintage tractor auction house. It also featured more than 1,000 tractors, vintage trucks, signs and farm relics on offer. And 95% of all lots were hammer sold.
Among the top sellers were an Aultman & Taylor 30-60 at $189,000 and 1956 Peterbilt 350 COE which brought $126,500. And from the John and Brenda Hoffman Collection, a 1922 Waterloo Boy N and a 1937 John Deere 62 also were among the top sellers, grabbing $101,850 and $84,000, respectively, Mecum reported. There was big money in Road Art as well. For example, a small John Deere single-sided sign fetched $94,400.
At next week’s 2022 Fall Premier auction, more than 600 Road Art items including pedal tractors, signs and relics will be on the block in the 2020 Fall Premiere auction for which pre-bidding begins Tuesday, Nov. 15. And, of course, hundreds of tractors will be up for bid.
“Sporting the red of International, the orange of Allis Chalmers, the green-and-yellow livery of John Deere, and even the bright blue-and-orange of Lamborghini, each tractor auction offers a virtual rainbow of color and feast for the eyes with the massive assortment of makes and models available,” Mecum’s website promises. Vintage trucks and farm relics also will be featured.
The event, however, is not just about auctions, Mecum said. It’s a fun, family-friendly event it says “draws enthusiasts of all kinds, many of whom attend just to browse the impressive displays and take in the auction excitement.”
Since the first Mecum Gone Farmin’ Vintage Tractor auction was held in 2010 in the auction house’s Wisconsin hometown, it has “seen enormous growth, multiplying in size and successes and now with national television broadcasts of auction action on the RFD Network to help promote the brand and hobby.”
Mecum’s Gone Farmin’ auctions got their start, the company said, in 2010 when Dan Mecum, son of Mecum Auctions’ President and Founder Dana Mecum, launched a stand-alone tractor division to stand all on its own.
“As a true-blue enthusiast himself, Dan recognized that the hobby would benefit with a louder voice and some legs, so he dedicated himself to the promoting and auctioning of antique tractors and machinery,” Mecum said. “Operating under the ‘Gone Farmin’ moniker, Dan has turned the division into an undeniable success, holding several auctions each year in various different states and helping countless thousands of tractors change hands by bringing the buyers and sellers together.”
If you go:
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- Tickets are $15 per person, per day. (Advance tickets sales will be offered through 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 16).
- Children 12 years and younger get in free.
- Gates open for the 2022 Fall Premiere Auction at Bend XPO at 7 a.m. and close one hour after the final vehicle crosses the block.
- Thursday, Nov. 17: Road Art auction begins at 10 a..m., tractors at 2 p.m., vintage trucks begin at 4 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 18: Tractor auction begins at 9 a.m., with Road Art auctions following.
- Saturday, Nov. 19: Tractor auctions begin at 9 a.m.
- Also available this year is the 2022 Gone Farmin’ Fall Premier Commemorative Tractor. The model 1:16 scale die-cast metal replica is the ninth in a series created by Gone Farmin' and Le Mars Toy. Quantities are limited. To order one, call LeMars Toy Store at (712) 546-4305.
