In our years of dealing with agricultural machinery, we’ve seen it all. There’s one brand of tractor that sold brilliantly and our sales success travelled more widely than we initially realised, as Ramsey Bros Director Eddy Ward tells us.
“During the eighties, Ramsey Bros proudly stocked (and sold many) Mercedes Benz tractors. At the time, South Australia was the focal point — they had dealers in each state — a few sales in New South Wales and Victoria, but worldwide, Ramsey Bros sold a significant number of them into South Australia. They are no longer being exported, but back in the day they were ahead of their time and immensely popular,” Eddy begins.
“They were unique in that other tractors at the time had a maximum ground speed of around 20 kilometres per hour, while the Mercedes Benz models could reach speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour and could be used as a truck as well.
“A couple of years ago, I got a call from a man in Germany named Martin who was quite the tractor enthusiast and collector of Mercedes Tractors. He had spoken to Mercedes Benz in Germany, found out the numbers we had sold in Australia, and was calling to track them down and possibly buy any that may be still out there. He could tell me more about the number of tractors we’d sold than I initially remembered!” says Eddy, amazed.
“Martin had bought quite a few of them from all over and he would transport them back to Germany, refurbish them and then resell them over there. He was prepared to pay what we considered to be reasonable value for them and he asked me to put out a call to any of our clients to see if they were keen to sell.
“I let our clients know they wouldn’t be getting rich if they had one for sale, but that in reasonable condition, it could get them around $10,000. When you consider this is approximately 15 percent of original value, it’s not too bad for a depreciating asset!” says Eddy.
“We successfully put Martin in touch with some clients who sold their tractors to him and he’s got another one ready to go, it’s just been held up with COVID-19 restricting him inspecting more tractors.
“It’s certainly an out-of-the-ordinary call to have someone chasing us for vintage machinery to then transport it across the other side of the globe, but it’s not surprising that the quality of the brand we’ve sold still stands the test of time.”
If anyone still has an old Benz in the shed, by all means, let us know — the old girl stored away may be worth more than you think!
