The evolving equipment market

By Matt Reese

The equipment market continues to evolve through unprecedented prices and demand.

“Evolving is exactly the right word — I think we’re still continuing to see strong prices for agricultural and construction equipment. We are seeing a little bit of softening in some of the compact construction equipment, but the demand still is there. I think the big issue that many folks are looking at now is with the interest rates creeping up. As they go higher, how is that going to continue to affect the price and the availability of new equipment? Used equipment continues to be a great option for many folks too,” said Peter Gehres, chief operating officers for Jeff Martin Auctioneers, Inc. “The one area where we are seeing a lot of volatility is semi-trucks, your truck tractors or trailers, over the road kind of equipment. There has been a lot of volatility up and down over the last year and we’re continuing to see that as the overall economy begins to change. Maybe manufacturers are catching up and replacing some inventory. Some of those truck prices that were so very high at the beginning of this year and last year, those have come down a lot. We’re also seeing a lot more availability of used equipment as the new equipment starts to catch up.”

The limited/slow production of new equipment has been one major factor in the prices of both new and used farm and construction equipment in recent years.

“Equipment manufacturers are getting back to what their new normal is going to be. I would say that many of them began to really like having equipment sold before it left the factory and so I don’t know that they are back to full production, as much as they could be,” Gehres said “We obviously have some labor issues with UAW strikes ongoing in Detroit. That is affecting the trucking production just a little bit. We don’t see that labor issue as much in the agricultural and construction equipment, though it might be an issue there as well. Production is catching up, but I think maybe not as much as the manufacturers could, and I think some of that is intentional. Either way, the high price of new equipment and the higher interest rates than we’ve experienced in the past continue to make used equipment a great opportunity and keep demand high for good, late model equipment.”

With used equipment, though, Gehres encourages buyers to be careful.

“Take advantage of the inspection times. Take advantage of the opportunity to go look at things. I think it’s really easy to look at a good-looking picture online and just take it at face value,” he said. “We encourage everyone to go look at the equipment. Whether it’s a preview time or the day of the auction, really look things over to understand what you’re bidding on, because we want happy customers and you’re going to be happier if you have a chance to look it over. It’s used equipment. There are there are dings, there are knicks and there are issues we want to disclose, but nothing beats you laying your own two eyes on it, looking it over and being happy with the condition of that equipment you’re bidding on.”

This is part of the advantage of attending a live auction.

“If you need equipment, a used equipment auction is a great place to get it because you can look things over and obviously you can buy at your price,” Gehres said. “We’ve got three auctions coming up that are of interest in Ohio. One is on Nov. 16 in Ashland there south of Cleveland by Wooster. We’ve got a great auction of construction equipment, trucks and trailers and a little bit of ag in there as well. On Nov. 30, we have our auction in Clayton, Ind., which is just by Indianapolis. And then on Dec. 7 we have our auction in Lima. We’ve got auctions all around the country but those three auctions I think would be the most interest to the folks in Ohio. We are taking consignments. Our yards are open both in Ashland and Lima. We’ll be bidding live but, of course, we have online as well.”

For more, visit jeffmartinauctioneers.com.