Massachusetts

Vermont Surplus Property Auction Set for Saturday

Items ranging from a forklift to boats are up for bids

The state of Vermont is having a massive yard sale, of sorts, this weekend.

A heavy-duty forklift is one of a few hundred items up for bids at the state's annual surplus property auction.

The auction is Saturday morning starting at 10 a.m. at the state transportation garage on the Barre-Montpelier road in Berlin, across from the Wayside Diner.

Admission is free.

From fleet vehicles to boats and kayaks used in state parks, to plow trucks the transportation agency no longer needs, the auction aims to recoup taxpayer money.

Customers come from all over New England as well as Canada and New York looking for a bargain, organizers said.

"Nothing says love for Mother's Day better than a wing plow," joked Bill Beard of the surplus property auction. "Got a wide driveway? You park the truck right up next to garage, put the blades down, get in and start, you drive it out to the end of the road--out to the road--then you're done!"

Beard said he expects more than a million dollars in sales this weekend.

He said the event takes safety very seriously, especially after a deadly incident last week in Billerica, Massachusetts, when a Jeep went out of control at an auto auction and killed four people.

At Saturday's auction in Vermont, Beard said none of the vehicles will be moved until customers have cleared to a different section of the lot.

For more information on the auction, visit this website

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