LATE model John Deere tracked tractors sold for over quarter of a million dollars and headers made over $300,000 at Ritchie Bros auction of agricultural machinery at Moree in north west NSW on Friday.

The Ritchie Bros auction on Sundown Pastoral’s Keytah at Moree sold 250 items of farm machinery.

The sale raised more than $9 million and set a new record for an unreserved public agricultural auction in Australia.

The auction was held on Sundown Pastoral’s Keytah property where feature lots included Keytah’s entire inventory of John Deere tractors, headers and planting equipment that were put on the market as part of a machinery renewal program.

Ritchie Bros agricultural specialist, Brandon Murray, said it was a massive auction that saw the unreserved clearance of 250 items.

“I haven’t seen an auction like it. It was unbelievable,” he said.

“Seven hundred people registered. The spread was huge with the northern states of America and a lot of people from New Zealand paying attention because of the lack of equipment over there.

“Given it is a dry year in northern NSW and southern Queensland, a lot of the buyers came up from the south.

“There was a massive online attendance. It was about 50:50 bidders on line to buyers on site.”

Mr Murray said among the sought-after items were John Deere 8R series tractors that were in particularly high demand – “we could have sold them all day”.

John Deere 8R series tractors were in hot demand at the Moree auction.

Indicative of the market, three, 2015, John Deere 8370RT tracked machines sold for $252,500 each (plus GST) to three different buyers.

Two John Deere S680 headers from Keytah made $315,000 plus GST each, while two John Deere, 2014, Maxemerge planters made $95,000 each.

“The showpiece for the day was a 1987 Steiger Tiger which travelled down from Townsville to be sold at the auction. It was bought by a Victorian bidder online for $140,000. You wouldn’t dream of a 30-year-old tractor making that money,” he said.

Friday’s auction was the company’s second auction at Moree this year, after more than 190 lots went under the hammer in March for a total of $4.67 million.

Key auction highlights:

• 3 x 2015 JOHN DEERE 8370RT Track Tractor sold $252,500 + GST each
• 2016 JOHN DEERE 8320R MFWD Tractor sold $247,500 + GST
• 2007 CATERPILLAR 143H VHP Plus Motor Grader sold $200,000 + GST
• 2013 JOHN DEERE 8310R MFWD Tractor sold $172,500 + GST
• 1988 STEIGER TIGER KP525 Series IV 4WD Tractor sold $140,000 + GST
• 2011 CASE IH 340 MAGNUM MFWD Tractor sold $100,000 + GST
• 2014 JOHN DEERE 1720 MAXEMERGER 16 Row 12 m Planter sold $95,000 + GST
• 2012 JOHN DEERE 640D 40ft Draper Header sold $65,000 + GST
• 2008 JOHN DEERE 6130 MFWD Tractor sold $54,000 + GST
• 2010 MACDON (NH) 45 Ft Draper Header sold $50,000 + GST