FARM HISTORY FOR SALE LONGTIME COLLECTOR TO AUCTION OFF ANTIQUE AGRARIAN TOOLS.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Mule enthusiast Freddie Valentino, a familiar sight at the Antelope Valley Fair for years with his bib overalls and mule-powered trash wagon, is moving out of his east Lancaster ranch.

Valentino, 64, is selling his 35-year accumulation of antique farm machinery, agricultural supplies, Western memorabilia and other items at auction this weekend, in preparation for selling his property to Los Angeles County's sewage treatment district.

``I'm just lightening my load. I'm just going to slow down a little,'' said Valentino, a former Antelope Valley Rubbish general manager who now is a consultant to Waste Management.

But Valentino said he's keeping six of his 10 mules - enough to form a team - and some of his wagons. He says he will continue his appearances at next August's fair as well as in Antelope Valley parades and Santa Clarita's Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival.

Valentino expects to sell his 15 acres at the edge of Edwards Air Force Base to the county, which has proposed a controversial plan to buy up more than 5,200 acres for use in disposing of Lancaster sewage - to the dismay of area residents who say it will spread germs and pollution.

``It's a voluntary thing right now,'' Valentino said of selling his land and moving. ``I can pretty much see the writing on the wall.''

But he also said he saw no way or reason to fight the proposal - as others in the area are doing - and that disposing of sewage is something that must be done.

``What are they going to do with it?'' Valentino said. ``They're not going to say no more flushing toilets.''

Valentino said he has sales paperwork from the county to sign, but doesn't know when he'll have to be off his property.

Former Antelope Valley Rubbish owner Phil Arklin has offered to let him keep his mules at Arklin's Valyermo ranch, where the livestock already includes a herd of buffalo, Valentino said.

Raised on a farm in upstate New York, Valentino compiled his collection of machinery to re-create the farm life of his boyhood at the tail end of the Great Depression, when much of the pulling and plowing work was still done by horses and mules.

He started off in the Antelope Valley on 2 1/2 acres in Littlerock, but outgrew that land and moved almost 18 years ago to the east Lancaster property. He raised and trained mules and grew feed for them.

The sparsely populated area was great for mule-driven wagons, he said, and also has been the setting for commercials because of its desert views without unsightly power lines.

Much of his antique machinery he found in auctions he visited over the years. Some he fabricated from parts found here and there.

The best of his machinery, such as a John Deere walking plow, his chuck wagon and a mule-powered device for compacting hay into bales, has gone on display at the fair, where Valentino will explain to visitors how a farmer guided a walking plow as it was pulled by a mule or horse, or rode atop a spike-tooth harrow.

On Friday, Valentino drove an electric cart around his property as a crowd of visitors examined the gear up for auction. The auction continues at noon today at his property, which is on 60th Street East north of Avenue E.

``I finally get my own sale. I've been to a lot of them,'' Valentino said.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A crowd inspects some equipment Valentino is auctioning. He is selling the land to the county sewage treatment district.

(2 -- color) The mule Big Luke stands by Valentino on his property in Lancaster. Valentino, a mule-driven wagon fan.

(3 -- color) Valentino, former general manager at Antelope Valley Rubbish, stands next to a hog scalding pot to be auctioned.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer