Ritchie Bros. recently sold more than $99 million of pipeline construction equipment in its largest-ever single-owner auction for Barrilleaux. In fewer than two days, Ritchie Bros. sold more than 3,100 items from three Barrilleaux locations in New Mexico and Texas to thousands of online bidders from around the world.

“It was a great couple of days with excellent results that went way beyond our target,” Glen Barrilleaux, owner of Barrilleaux, said. “I’ve built a great relationship with Ritchie Bros. over the past 15-plus years I’ve been working with them. This whole process went so smoothly because of their professionalism and hard work. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Ritchie Bros. to anyone looking to conduct their retirement sale.”

More than 6,900 people from 56 countries registered to bid in the unreserved auction, which was held Aug. 10 and Aug. 11. Approximately 95% of the equipment was purchased by U.S. buyers, including 41% sold to Texas buyers. The remaining 5% was sold to international buyers from countries such as Belize, Morocco and Australia.

“This was the nicest fleet of equipment I’ve seen in my [40-plus] years in the auction business,” Alan McVicker, regional sales manager for Ritchie Bros., said. “Combine that with our ability to drive unprecedented demand and you get amazing results, with several items from this auction achieving higher prices than retail. We’d like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Barrilleaux for putting their trust in Ritchie Bros. and we wish them all the best in their retirement.

“We now turn our attention here in Houston to next week’s live auction on Aug. 24 – 26, when we once again will be open on auction day to our valued customers. We also have close to 1,000 Texas-based items available right now on Marketplace-E, plus another [1,000-plus] available in IronPlanet’s upcoming weekly featured auction.”

The Barrilleaux auction was simulcasted live from Ritchie Bros.’ site in Houston, where customers were welcomed back for the first time in 18 months. Still, most of the action was online, with customers completing more than 450,000 equipment views and making close to 13,000 PriorityBids.

Five Big Sellers

• 2015 Vermeer T1155III crawler trencher – $800,000
• 2019 Caterpillar D8T crawler tractor – $620,000
• Unused 2020 Caterpillar 14M3 motor grader – $520,000
• Unused 2020 Caterpillar 926M wheel loader – $225,000
• 2021 Peterbilt 389 sleeper truck tractor – $265,000

Auction Quick Facts

• Gross Transaction Value (GTV): More than $99 million
• Total Registered Bidders: More than 6,900
• Total Number of Lots: More than 3,100
• Total Number of Consignors: One

Ritchie Bros. will sell more than 35,000 equipment items and trucks in its upcoming events, including a Houston auction that will be held from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26, an Orlando, FL, auction that will be held from Sept. 2 to Sept. 3 and a Southeast Regional auction that will be held from Sept. 9 to Sept. 10.