METAMORA, Mich. – Generally, when one thinks of big construction or farming equipment auctions, the image that comes to mind is of a group of men watching a male auctioneer sell from a podium. What does not come to mind is an 18-year-old woman selling a tractor and other equipment via an online auction.
But, that’s exactly what Rachel Gingell was doing recently. Gingell is the founder and owner of She Sold It Benefit Auction. She grew up around auctions since her father, Dan Gingell, is also an auctioneer. In fact, when Rachel was just eight years old, Dan allowed Rachel to auction an old, ugly orange sofa. After she successfully sold the sofa, her dad announced to the crowd, “She sold it!” Ten years later, the younger Gingell owns her own auction company and she named it She Sold It after her dad’s prophetic announcement.
She may be young, but she was First-Runner Up in the 2010 International Junior Auctioneer Championship and is a graduate of Missouri Auction School. And if she didn’t have enough to do, she also opened a flower shop and is a business major at Cedarville University in Ohio.
Gingell credits God with most of her success, saying, “My business exploded. God can do exceedingly more abundant things beyond what we ask or think.”
Recently, Gingell sold what was thought to be a one of a kind tractor. The 1972 Ford High Crop 4000 tractor was manufactured by Ford in its Troy, Mich., plant.
According to bidder Don Brotherton of Valdosta, Ga., the tractor was a prototype or special order tractor. It was designed by Ford’s engineers to meet the needs and specifications of the original owner (a corn farmer), which meant that standard items and specifications had to be changed.
One of the more innovative changes made was to increase the transmission gears from 10 to 12 and include a “creeper” gear that allows the tractor to move forward so slowly that a turtle might outrun it. Also, the rear tires and wheels are oversized, allowing the tractor to be higher off the ground than a standard Ford 4000. This extra height adds to the tractor being called a “high crop.” High crop tractors are designed to ride above whatever crop is being grown so that the crop is not beaten down when the tractor body hits it. Since this tractor was built for a corn farmer, the height was extended with the larger tires, allowing the tractor to roll over the top of growing corn instead of smashing it down.
The information Gingell posted online said, “Whatever the tractor’s intended purpose, it wasn’t used very much. With just 1300 original hours, the tractor is still as parade-ready as the day it arrived from the factory.
“We contacted five different engineers who worked with Ford during the time the tractor was manufactured. None of the men recalled working on a project like this one. They suggested the tractor could have been designed as a prototype, sent out to neighboring farms for testing. When the tractor’s design received negative reviews, perhaps the testing farmer was allowed to keep the tractor. One of the engineers had a different suggestion as to the tractor’s intended purpose. He speculated that this tractor might have been a special order, designed for use in a vineyard or with raspberry plants.”
This Ford 4000 was one of 14 tractors sold in this auction. After a heated bidding war with a Florida collector, Brotherton purchased this new addition to his collection for $10,500 and a 10 percent buyer’s premium.
Another tractor sold at this auction was a Friday Wiggle Hoe, a light duty weeder consisting of two rotary disks with hayrake teeth used for in-row weeding. Built by the Friday Company of Hartford, Mich., this tractor is also considered rare. It sold for $2,100 plus the buyer’s premium.
One advantage of online auctions is the possibility of a large number of bidders. And this antique tractor auction was no exception. She Sold It announced that more than 5,300 people viewed the online catalog, helping make this auction quite successful.
The Auction Exchange and Collectors News
By Larry LeMasters
Contact:
(810) 358-8018,
www.she-sold-it.com
