The auction was held to sell the collection of Taieri farmer Ian Blair, who died last year, and his brother Alan.
Ian Blair rose to the position of chairman of the World Ploughing Organisation after a lifetime of involvement in the sport, and his service to ploughing was recognised in the 2006 New Year honours with the awarding of an MNZM.
There was a wide variety of antique ploughing machines at the auction, which auctioneer Kevin Hayward said sold for between $200 and $300 each.
He was unsure whether museums or other institutions were among the bidders, but he thought "a number of collectors and restorers" were in the crowd.
As well, there were curiosities from old tins and bottles to petrol pumps and prams, and many wooden boxes full of implements that could probably only be identified by farmers from the 1920s or 1930s.
The auction lasted most of the day, and made "tens of thousands" of dollars, Mr Hayward said.
