THE York Machinery Sales achieved a record turnover in April with sales confirming the strong demand for quality second-hand machinery.

The unprecedented demand has been fuelled by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused delays and extended waiting lists for new agricultural equipment to between six and 12 months.

As a result of the pandemic, the York Machinery Sales, which have been operating for 30 years at York Auction Centre, moved to timed online sales in April 2020. One year on, the April 2021 sale attracted the largest entry of lots with almost 3,400 lots compared to 300 for the April sale last year.

The lots for this April sale came from East Anglia, Midlands, Wales, Ireland and as far north as Aberdeen with 88 per cent sold.

Richard Tasker, Partner, York Auction Centre, said: “This was a record-breaking online auction and indicates that with delivery delays on new machinery due to the pandemic, the high price of new machinery and a slowdown in trade-ins, the second-hand market is short of supplies.

“The online sales have been incredibly successful and have attracted a lot of attention. There were 94,000 online views of the April machinery sale catalogue alongside record levels of enquiries. The York Auction Centre Online sales platform, launched in December 2020, already has more than 6,000 registered customers added to the 60,000 existing customers on our database.”

Amongst the strong sales prices achieved were: NH 8340 tractor £17,000; Bailey TB11 trailer £11,500; Horsch Express 3TD drill £13,000; Claas Liner 2900 rake £9,500; and John Deere 960 baler £10,500.

The next York Machinery online sale will open on for bids on May 7.