Dad Passed away and I have a garage full.

Hey everyone, not sure if this is the right place to post this. My dad passed away in March, we are now getting around to getting rid of his stuff. One of the big things we have is he was a mechanic who loved tractors. I know nothing about them, and really don t even know how to identify what they are, how old they are, or if they even run. Was hoping someone here could help point me in the right direction to find someone local who could help us out. We are in NNJ, and I have 3 tractors, a dozer, and a thing that says payloader on the front of it. Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry for your loss.

You could try posting pics here too get
identity. Then I would seriously consider
local consignment auction. You won't have
scavengers coming in and low balling or
eyeballing everything else you have. Or if
your dad was part of a club, reach out to
them and see if someone could help. Best
of luck.

I agree with Patsdeere, If you scroll down on this page, you will find a box with the word Browse. Take images of each tractor and the Hough brand Payloader, Put if you move them to your computer on the desk top, you can then select them with that browse button. Each image uses up a portion of the 9 MB allowed on each post, multiple posts are allowed on the same thread. Separate the image URL with a comma and a space. Jim

Sorry for your loss Son.

If you should decide on a consignment auction route, there is a forum member here by the name of Fred Goodrich.
He is in Newark Valley, NY he might be within 3 hours from you.
But he hauls "collections" such as your Dad's to his auction yard.

He can be reached via his website:
https://www.goodrichauctionservice.com/

Not part of a club. Dad just really liked collecting tractors. We own some property in Cooperstown NY and his dream was to turn it into a farm, sadly never got to realize that dream. So we have the city garage full of old stuff, and we have upstate a whole barn full and 2 shipping containers. No idea what runs what s wrong with them etc.

This is the only one I can get a good look at btw.

I agree with Patsdeere, watch for
lowballers but also beware that there are
many type Bs who will say they are worth
many $$$$ but have no intention of buying
them. There are as many of type B as type
A. Common tractors are much more variable
due to condition than a rare one and other
than looking at sheet metal and tires a
picture just provides the guessers and Googlers a reason
to post. An auction, either consignmnet or
otherwise is your best choice.

I agree with the poster re Mr Goodrench and an auction. If you have as much and as confusing a lot as you post then save your self a lot of time. An auction
will clean the place out, that's what we did with my Dads stuff.

Confused son I just searched for equipment auctions near
Cooperstown. I figure you may want more than one estimate.

(quoted from post at 14:53:29 09/26/23) Hey everyone, not sure if this is the right place to post this. My dad passed away in March, we are now getting around to getting rid of his stuff. One of the big things we have is he was a mechanic who loved tractors. I know nothing about them, and really don t even know how to identify what they are, how old they are, or if they even run. Was hoping someone here could help point me in the right direction to find someone local who could help us out. We are in NNJ, and I have 3 tractors, a dozer, and a thing that says payloader on the front of it. Any help would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss. I have the same problem as you, but mine are ERTL made 1/64 scale John Deere tractors. The tractors do not have a model number on them. They were made anywhere from 1980-2000. Some do have a number stamped in ink on the bottom of the tractor. I have a problem posting them on eBay with no model number. I just have to list "John Deere Tractor". If there is anyone out there that can help me determine the model numbers, I would greatly appreciate it. I apologize for piggybacking to the original posters thread, but this looked like the most applicable thread for me to ask this question. Thank you in advance for any help anyone can give me. This is my very first post on this forum.

Welcome to this forum & please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.

JD tractor in your photo appears to be an industrial model 300 or 400 originally gasoline powered converted to LPG powered.

So is the equipment in Northern New Jersey (assuming that's what "NNJ" means) or Cooperstown NY?

There is quite a bit of agriculture in Northern New Jersey, so there should be auctioneers in the area that deal with tools and equipment on a regular basis. That's where "Timmycornpicker" an occasional poster on this site, lives, so he may have some suggestions.

Dragged out of the weeds, non-running, you need to be realistic on value here. If you can get the equipment running, up on inflated tires, and somewhat cleaned up, you will get maximum value. You have to figure in the time and money spent to do that; you may get more for the equipment but if you spend more getting it running than you get from selling it, what was the point? Further do you have the time and knowledge to do the work yourself? Hiring someone to get everything running is not worth it. It's often better to just let the equipment go as-is and take what you get.

I would talk to at least one, if not two or three, auctioneers. Have them come and do an appraisal and see if they're interested in either doing an auction for you or taking the equipment on consignment for their next big sale. Many auctioneers do online consignment auctions every month and will list your items. Even for non-running stuff, online sales get the best money because they reach a wider audience.

Another alternative is to find someone to buy the entire thing in one lot. These are often "scrap men" and some of them will cut it all up and send it to China, but others are more selective and will part out or sell off the useful, saleable pieces. The advantage here is you're rid of it all in one fell swoop.

I imagine you can't be there to sell things off piecemeal yourself. You live a distance away, have a job and a family... and you can't waste entire days dealing with tire kickers and no-shows... and it take months or years to get rid of everything... and having to send half of it for scrap anyway. Some of these guys will try to condemn you for calling the scrapper but there is no shame in it.

What you need to do first is take a good weed wacker and small chain saw and clear up
so you can see things and then call in help, without being able to see what you have
nobody will be interested in helping.

I don't have any suggestions for anything located in Cooperstown, since I'm not really familiar with any auctioneers up that way except for Goodrich. If
there is stuff in Northern New Jersey, you can contact Stasak Auctions in Phillipsburg, NJ, or Zettlemoyer Auctions in Fogelsville, PA for on-site auctions.
Zettlemoyer conducts a consignment sale in Glen Gardner every spring if you can't do an on-site. Another option is Wolgemuth Auctions out in Lancaster
County. Farther away, but they have dealt with a lot of estate 'clean-out' situations over the years.

(quoted from post at 06:03:51 09/27/23)

(quoted from post at 14:53:29 09/26/23) Hey everyone, not sure if this is the right place to post this. My dad passed away in March, we are now getting around to getting rid of his stuff. One of the big things we have is he was a mechanic who loved tractors. I know nothing about them, and really don t even know how to identify what they are, how old they are, or if they even run. Was hoping someone here could help point me in the right direction to find someone local who could help us out. We are in NNJ, and I have 3 tractors, a dozer, and a thing that says payloader on the front of it. Any help would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss. I have the same problem as you, but mine are ERTL made 1/64 scale John Deere tractors. The tractors do not have a model number on them. They were made anywhere from 1980-2000. Some do have a number stamped in ink on the bottom of the tractor. I have a problem posting them on eBay with no model number. I just have to list "John Deere Tractor". If there is anyone out there that can help me determine the model numbers, I would greatly appreciate it. I apologize for piggybacking to the original posters thread, but this looked like the most applicable thread for me to ask this question. Thank you in advance for any help anyone can give me. This is my very first post on this forum.

Click to expand...

I have a bunch of Ertl, the bulk of the 1980s and 1990s 1/64 that do not have model numbers and rubber exhausts are 4x50 series. The later ones had black painted fender wells for the cabs. 2wd singles, 2wd duals, fwa singles and 2wd loader were the variants. The older metal exhaust one was 4x40 series. Once the got into the 6000 7000 8000 series those had model numbers. Once you get into newer cheap collect and play and some repop stuff they didn't model number them.

Thank you very much for the replay on the John Deere 1/64 toy tractors. You are the first to give me any clue as to what these tractors are. I have contacted many, but you answered the call. I appreciate it very much.

Sorry for your lose on your Dad's passing.
I would add a couple of comments. First of all, are there other heirs? If there are, have a meeting to decide what their feelings are. If they just want to dispose of the collection, and if you do as well, contact a local, reputable auctioneer to appraise the value. If you are going dispose of the collection, I suggest you do it as soon as possible before vandals/thieves start visiting your collection in the middle of the night and removing parts.