Robert Anderson, 70, wandered the huge auction yard in Perris, inspecting his fleet of excavators, backhoes and other heavy construction machines, including the first crane he ever owned.

For four decades, he ran Desert Pipeline Inc. out of Thermal, near Palm Springs, building sewers and storm drains for new housing projects. But when the housing bubble burst, Anderson went from a backlog of contracts to no job orders at all.

Anderson was among the hundreds of heavy equipment owners selling off their rigs to the highest bidders at the two-day auction, which ended Wednesday. The auctioneer, Ritchie Bros., said the more than 2,000 pieces being sold would probably fetch a combined $20 million or more.

Sellers said they were purging their inventories to pull in operating capital. Buyers said they were lured by cheap prices, although several expressed reluctance to spend money on equipment that could remain idle for months.

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