Fall Harvest Auction Brings
Auctions offer an opportunity to obtain items you are looking for, they are a social experience a chance to see old friends and they offer an opportunity to see rare and different old iron.
This was true at the recent Fall Harvest Auction held October 21 and 22, 2016 at Aumann Auctions in Nokomis, Illinois. This two-day event kicked off with Friday mostly literature, memorabilia and parts. The second day served up a variety of toys and tractors with a few unique memorabilia items like two Case Eagles on the World statues. One of the eagles was repainted, but otherwise original and the second eagle was concrete.
We saw an array of tractors that are not often spied. I saw my personal favorite, a Minneapolis Moline R Mail Carrier built like the originals from archive photos by Rex Mercer. 
Two very rare Norseman Canadian tractors sold at auction. One, a Model O wide front one of the very few produced as well as a Norseman Model N of which there were fewer than 50 built sold as well. Kurt Aumann said about the wide front, “They know of only three wide front Norsemans. This is the first time I have ever sold one, and I have sold lots of tractors.”
The Model O sold for $20,000 and the Model N sold for $16,000.
There was a 1966 Oliver hicrop diesel that was restored and had fender extensions. This beauty like the Norseman Model N also sold for $16,000. There were other hi-crops as well like a Farmall 706 Hi-clearance tractor that brought $11,000.
Our friends Kent and Jane Elliott spied a tractor that they had to have, a John Deere 330 Serial number 1. This tractor was a 1958, but was not sold until September of 1960. “We think this was shown in Dallas at the opening,” Kurt Aumann said.
Jane who hails from Godfrey got the tractor that came with the original owner’s manual. The tractor came from a family in Ohio. The tractor sold for $47,000. “This is my 8th tractor that I bought,” Elliott said.
While Jane Elliott has only bought a handful, between she Kent the couple owns over 100 tractors.
The auction wasn’t all tractors, a 1925 John Deere Handy Farm Mixer with a 1.5 horsepower E Engine. “When they found this mixer, is still had cement in it,” Kurt Aumann shared.
The mixer sold for $3,500. Another unusual engine that sold was a Waterloo Boy 4 horse power engine that set on a wooden cart. The engine had a Lunkenheimer oiler and brought $5,000.
These are just a few of the highlights of an auction that brings collectors together to celebrate the wrap up of fall harvest and enjoy a little tractor dreaming before the snow flies. Check out Aumann Auctions at www.aumanauctions.com to see the price listing of those items that sold.
