I've met a lot of folks in my travels.
None quite like William Danckwart of Lake City, MN. I met William while covering the SEMA Equipment dealer auction here in Rochester, MN back late 2016. Cold day. I went into the indoor registration area. William came up and introduced himself.
"Pete, you need to come to my farm in Lake City (MN) and see my John Deere tractors, the 4440 may be the nicest you'll ever see," said Danckwart.
We had a nice long chat. Turns out Danckwart has 3 super low hour, 1 owner, John Deere tractors. We talked about keeping in touch and finding a day that would work for me to come out to his farm. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the visit happen. William passed away August 9, 2018 at the age of 93.
Turns out I will finally be able to get out to William's farm, to film his estate auction this coming Wednesday (April 10, 2019) for our Machinery Pete TV Show (http://www.MachineryPete.com/mptv). William was not joking about his beloved John Deere tractors. Check out these 3 low hour, 1 owner, beauties on the auction Wednesday:
1980 John Deere 4440 with 2,147 hours, Quad Range, 1 owner
1998 John Deere 8400 with 1,045 hours, 1 owner
1968 John Deere 4020 with 4,963 hours, synchro, 1 owner
The sale Wednesday is by our friends at Sullivan Auctioneers. Check out their web site for more pics on these 3 amazing John Deere tractors, plus lots of other interesting items on the sale. Online bidding on this sale, as is the case on all Sullivan Auctioneers' sales: http://www.sullivanauctioneers.com
Here's a look at the 10 highest ever auction sale prices on John Deere 4440's sold without loaders:
10 Highest Auction Prices on JD 4440 Tractors (No Loaders)
* Data by http://www.MachineryPete.com
Here's a look at the highest ever auction sale prices on John Deere 8400 tractors:
Highest Auction Prices on John Deere 8400 Tractors
* Data by http://www.MachineryPete.com
Should be quite a day Wednesday (April 10) in Lake City, MN. Hope to see you at the sale. I will post Machinery Pete Youtube video after the sale on Wednesday.
How high do you think the 4440 and 8400 will go?