Big auction today

[Welder Dave]

I was off today and drove through the Nisku Industrial park in Alberta. I didn't realize it was the same day as the auction for GLM Industries so had to stop in and check it out. They were a big oilfield tank manufacturer and did some vessels as well. The auction ticket said 240 welding machines. I don't know if I saw that many but there 7 Lincoln sub arc tractors and 48 XMT 350's to list a couple items. Over 1500 lots in total with a lot of it in bundles on pallets. One of the shops had steel plates for the entire floor. It seemed a little sad they were forced into receivership. I was offered an apprenticeship there right out of high school but had already accepted a job at their competition. Unfortunately that shop was forced to close in 82 in the big recession. At the time I think I took the better job after hearing from people who had worked at GLM however several people from where I worked went over to GLM including the manager who started my apprenticeship and gave me job. I knew he had gone to GLM because a few years ago I saw an apprentices book and it had the guys name but said GLM. Oddly enough at the auction there was a company curling trophy on a shelf and the guys name was on it from winning it in 93. The shop had that old musty smell to it but still makes you wonder about all the people out of work. It was pretty slow in Nisku and several shops have closed down due to the low price of oil. It sucks right now trying to get or even keep a welding job in Alberta. Hopefully the price of oil comes up soon and the oilfield gets busier or there's going to be more closures of big companies and loss of jobs. Nisku/Leduc Industrial park had over 30,000 people a day working there when it was booming a few years ago.

[snoeproe]

Did you spent any money at the auction Dave? Sometimes a guy can score big at those auctions. I have flown into and out of Nisku for a few years but never had the chance to work there. I could go to one of the mod yards there but don't have a place to stay in the area. I always shuttled over to one of the charter terminals to fly northward to ft Mac.

[BrianC]

Oil prices so low right now is creating a lot of problems for our economy, but it shouldn't come as a surprise for a shop to close it's doors when you all your work is tied to one industry.

[12345678910]

Before I know much about welding I was at an auction that had Brand new Lincoln 3 phase MIG power supplies and wire feeders - 5 sets all lined up in a row went for $500 each.

I should have bought and resold, but hindsight is everything.

[soutthpaw]

Before I know much about welding I was at an auction that had Brand new Lincoln 3 phase MIG power supplies and wire feeders - 5 sets all lined up in a row went for $500 each.

I should have bought and resold, but hindsight is everything.

3 phase stuff is really hard to resell.

[Gmmandan]

3 phase goes for dirt cheap around here I have bought many powcon and millers for $300 to $500 . you can't hardly give old production machines away.

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[12345678910]

3 phase stuff is really hard to resell.

The dealers who bought them probably had no trouble.

When I say new, it's no exaggeration.
The paint was all still shiny new.

AT $10,000 ish retail and $500 cost, I'm sure they had no trouble.

True, you can't sell 3 phase to everyone on Craig's list, but some stuff is combo 1 and 3 phase - I didn't know enough to check.

[Gmmandan]

Yeah if it was newer 3 phase machines they should have no problem turning a very nice profit on eBay with those machines.

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[7A749]

Just depends on what it is. Lincoln seems to be a hard sell either way, unless to specific customers. Three phase Miller stuff like Deltawelds and Invision inverters move pretty well, but again you gotta have commercial customers to sell them to.

Deltaweld 451s, Dimension 450/650s and SRH 444-666 machines all are desirable in the heavy machinery rental business.

Being up in Canada, my only concern would have been to have inspected the units for multiple voltage input. A lot of commercial stuff in Canada runs 575 VAC, and it is common to see many 460/575 volt ONLY machines come from there. It's not always the case, but any time I'm dealing with anything that comes from Canada, it's one of the first things I address.

High voltage only machines are very hard to move. Buyers are limited, and such machines often use different components than their low voltage counterparts. This can make inhouse repair and warranty work on used machinery very difficult and expensive unless you deal specifically in that machine and have a lot of parts units on hand to address service related issues.

I can bet there were some deals today. I miss the days of good, reasonably bid auctions. A lot of auction outfits are gouging the buyers for upwards of 13-17% + buyer premiums for webcast sales. Add sales tax to that and things can get expensive real fast.

IMHO of course

[snoeproe]

575v 3 phase is common industrial power for welders in Canada. 208v 3 phase is getting more common on new construction sites.

[Welder Dave]

I just looked around but I would guess stuff went cheap. A lot of the newer style inverters automatically link to the input power and will run on single or 3 phase power. For shops optimistic the price of oil will go back up, it was like a smorgasbord of equipment. XMT 350, SRH's, Goldstar SS's, Delta welds, a couple Dimension 452's, MM252's, 350 Multi-weld Lincolns, an STT or 2, DC600's, DC 1000's, dual wire feeders, 2 sub arc manipulators, about 9 track cutters, rod ovens, rod, wire, 3 brand new Bernard MIG guns, new gouging torches, dozens of plate clamps and lifting apparatus, a 12' x 40' Koike Aronson Millennium series plasma table, paint equipment, test equipment, several Genie lifts and lift platforms. What I didn't see much of were torch sets. There was a sea-can converted to a training/testing booth. Not sure what buyers premiums were. My computer is all hokey and I can't post a link to the auction flyer. There were even a few big tanks but I heard a couple guys talking that no one was interested in buying them. I think the treasury branch(bank) might have just pulled the plug and said you're done. There was steel that was partially rolled and bottoms cut for tanks. They also had an auction at their North Battleford shop. I did see on the internet though that the employee's at the Nisku shop were suing because they didn't receive proper notice of their lay offs where as the North Battleford location gave 8 weeks notice. I have a friend that worked at this shop for about 7 years back in the late 80's/early 90's and said it wasn't the greatest place to work and they'd try to screw him over and not pay when he was injured on the job. Just seemed surreal that they went under after being there since 1977. There is a 50 ton Heede portal crane on rails in the yard that is kind of a landmark in Nisku as it's about the tallest structure short of an upright drilling rig. My friend was telling one time something happened to the travel and it was kind of a runaway so they were throwing railroad ties in front of it to try to stop it but it chopped them like tooth picks. It's huge. I was looking at it and it had a digital display that showed the wind and temperature but had stop blocks bolted to the track so it couldn't move. I think it stayed with the property as it would cost a fortune to move it.

[whtbaron]

Wasn't ringing any bells until you mentioned the crane... I think I remember driving by that when travelling from Edmonton to Calgary.

[Welder Dave]

If you're looking towards Nisku I think you can see it.