Forestry Auctions - A Must Watch

[rumplecat]

If you are not using your local forestry equipment auctions as a source for your green addiction you are missing out! I won a really nice M448 van trailer today for less than the cost of a replacement set of tires for it! I have been watching this trailer for a year or so and last week it showed up for auction! This will be my second one but can you have too many van trailers? Especially ones who's sides fold down to make work tables!!!

PS: Another benefit is no middle man fee, no taxes and you get the free title in the mail in a week or so.

 

[tommys2patrick]

Now that is a cool trailer. Looks very useful --tools-welder-camper---sweet! our local forestry stuff goes thru an annual auction at the state forestry department. a number of large out of state supply houses with deep pockets attend. Its amazing how much late forties/early fifties stuff is still in use by various state agencies.

 

[AMGeneral]

Nice,an M448,I have been looking for one of those for years,nice score!

 

[Flyingvan911]

Nice trailer!

 

[fuzzytoaster]

What a weird little trailer...NEAT! More pics please!

 

[rumplecat]

The forestry photos are screwed up making it seem much smaller than it is! It fills up a 1.5 ton trailer frame! I hope the boarding ladder it still there, I noticed someone added a fold up leg to the rear of the trailer, a mod. i am going to do to the one I already have. I drive five hours to OKC in the morning to pick it up, hopefully without incident!

 

[rumplecat]

Made it to OKC in record time with the car hauler, left at 5:30 and arrived at 9. I stopped off at the GL store, prices seem a lot higher than last year on the same items? Anyway I made it to the forestry lot around 10:30 or so and chewed the fat for a while with the guys there, a good lot to work with, loaded the trailer on the car hauler, I am glade they had a tall forklift since the 448 had a flat tire, no fun to load. Stopped off for some spare parts, replacement landing wheel assembly, and a add on rear leg for my current M448 and headed home. This is an old trailer 9/1959 issue date, but in really good shape! Made it home without incident, I am glade fuel is reasonably cheap, pulled behind the truck it is great but up on the car hauler it is a huge drag! I got 7.35 MPG instead of my usual 12-13 pulling the loaded trailer. Of course traveling 70-75MPH didn't help!

 

[86m1028]

Nice recovery

That place just isn't the same without the gamma goat walls !

 

[Dwnorton1]

Don't feel bad about pictures. I was talking to the great guys at the forestry service and they were telling of a guy that bought a MEP-006a that weighed 7500lbs that had called them wanting to load in back of his 1/2T truck. Guess he didn't do research. Lol. He was convinced by pics it would fit and continued on up there to see for himself. Needless to say he left with empty truck. Just be very careful of stuff that comes back to them as it is stuff that was sent out that the FD's don't use anymore. I bought couple of gen sets. Realizing after I bought them that I will have to buy multiple units so I can try and patch one together. As they were scavenged pretty hard before they were returned. They are going to be rough rough. Just words of experience from a newbie to this that learned a lesson the hard way.

 

[rumplecat]

The Goat herd is gone, I always thought it was such a waste, even though I hated them in the service, but most were in good shape! You are right about the state of the equipment they auction. The good thing is they sale so cheap you can afford to buy two or three at a time and still get some good serviceable equipment in the end! Like the van trailer, I paid $400 plus for my first one i have(private purchase, paint shop unit), this one was less than half that and set up initially as a battery shop unit. I have all the parts to put it back to original condition and still only have have $300 in it!

 

[Dwnorton1]

I looked at it but decided to waste I mean invest my money in two broken generators,but on bright side I have two 90's model 3/4 ton m101 trailers.

 

[Tinstar]

It would be nice if they took better pictures.
Need more pictures also.

 

[rumplecat]

If I had more space on the car hauler I would have given you a run for one of those water tank trailer, they went so cheap and stainless steel tanks!

 

[Dwnorton1]

Actually talked to the forest service guys about the pictures. He said they send GSA multiple pics of each item. They understand that sometimes a lot of these items are bough sight unseen. So it aggravates them as well.

 

[combat32]

I was bidding on that one but popped smoke, you got a good deal in my opinion. I won an old style 3/4 ton generator trailer in the same auction.

 

[rumplecat]

Once I get some repairs done and a new tire on it the trailer will pay for itself in six months, I am renting a storage locker for $50 a month. With this new little trailer that is going away and I will have 24 hour access!

 

[combat32]

Here is the m116a1 i got in the same auction.
My good friend warthog picked it up for me yesterday, pretty happy with it considering what i paid for it.

 

[rumplecat]

Nice, they are useful little trailers and it still has the landing foot, I wasn't so lucky! Still happy with my win though!

 

[combat32]

You got a good one!