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Orlando 2016 Iron Planet Auction

StumpyWally

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2011
Messages
516
Location
Liv'in the Dream ---------------> in Ballston, NY
Occupation
PE Civil Eng'r, Computer Sys. Mgr., Retired
I, my wife, & another couple were in Orlando last week for a short vacation. One of those days I had them drop me off at the Iron Planet auction just south of Orlando in Kissimmee. I have never been to an auction on this big of scale before, & I had a ball...what a hoot!!

The auction was actually run by Cat Auction Services, & sponsored by the local Cat dealer, Ring Power, so not surprisingly, almost all the equipment was Cat, except for some Genie boom lifts & a sprinkle of Volvo & Komatsu. The auction went on continuously Monday thru Friday (I was there on Tuesday), & there were 1,000's of pieces of equipment. There were about 6 food trucks, each selling a different food, as well as free water & coffee in the auction bldg. I had a Cuban sandwich for $8 while I watched Cat D-6's being auctioned. They were going for 100 to 200 grand, depending on year, condition, etc., & people were dropping their $$ on a successful bid about every minute or so. Some were being bought just pre-bid, & others were being bought in multiples based on the successful bid just placed. No fee to register & bid, payment in 7 days by cash, money order or charge card, equipment removed from lot within 30 days.

I think the biggest category of equipment was Cat excavators, ranging from REALLY tiny (301) to big (384 I think), with 320's & 330's up the wazoo!! Almost all looked in decent shape.

For me, the really fun part was being able to just wander the equipment inventory (each piece parked side-by-side, about 5' apart), & getting in any one of the units & starting it up & trying it. Unfortunately, not every unit had a key in it, as some were just stolen, I think, or were removed & used to start some other unit. But I got a chance to "operate", at least a little, some equipment that I would never otherwise had the opportunity to do. Like an extended-stick excavator (like digging in the next county!!), a couple of wheel loaders, a really small excavator (Cat 301), & a Cat D-6 (very smooth & easy with left hand in the multi-directional control & the other in the 6-way blade control). I regret not trying one of the 100's of ADT's.

This week the other big FL auction is being held, the Ritchie Brothers auction in Davenport, FL, a little further south of Orlando. I had occasion to drive past that site, & it was even bigger than the Iron Planet one I went to, reportedly over 10,000 pieces of equipment.

Thinking about these auctions, the thought occurred to me that dealers/contractors/equipment buyers located near Orlando, or even in the SE of the US, are lucky to have easy access to SOOO much used equipment so close, with most of the long-distance trucking already done.

Some other random observations I would make about the Orlando area are:
  • I would NOT want to live there...too crowded, too much traffic, too hot most of the year.
  • Construction going on every where.
  • Lots of road construction.
  • Most excavators I saw working were Volvo, with a sprinkling of Komatsu & Deere. Hardly a Cat to be seen.
  • Virtually ALL wheel loaders I saw working were Cat.
  • Way more cranes working on jobs than I have ever seen, & most of them were large crawler cranes, Liebherrs or Mantiwocs.
  • Virtually ALL hydraulic cranes i saw working were Groves.
 

movindirt

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
672
Location
under a shady tree
I think most of the equipment sold at the Orlando Ritchie Brothers site is shipped over seas. I would imagine it wouldn't be too far to a port being in Florida. I have personally never been to that sale, I would love to go down there some time, be cool to see 10k pieces of equipment!! :D
 
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