DAVID Boyle has been offered big cash for his collection of model farm machinery.
But no amount of money will convince him to part with his prized rakes, ploughs and drills.
A few years back, one particularly cashed-up collector offered David $9000 for one of his ploughs. The retired farmer remained unmoved: none of his 58 handmade models were for sale.
"I have a list as long as my arm of people who have offered some big money to buy my models," he said.
"I don't build them for the money, I make them for my own pleasure.
"What would I do with the money anyway?
"Luckily, most of the people I am in contact with through machinery shows have now worked out that I am not interested in selling, and have stopped asking."
David, who recently turned 90, spends months constructing his quarter-scale models of ploughs, drills, rakes and mowers.
As a child, David spent a lot of spare time teaching himself how to build models of the machines he found fascinating.
As an adult, he struggled to find time to fit them in between cropping and running sheep on his property at Lake Goldsmith, near Ballarat.
When he and his wife, Shirley, retired from the farm in 1975, David was able to devote himself more fully to his craft.
He can now lose himself in his shed for days on end.
"I can lose track of time in there and end up working all day and into the night," he said.
While he had no further need for his cumbersome farm equipment, David aims to preserve some of the items' history and character in his creations.
"I threw out the old machinery, but based all my models on my old equipment," he said.
He will toil away for months on a model to make sure it is perfect.
"I have no problem with how long they take me," he said.
"Sometimes people say to me, 'why are you taking so long'? They can't understand why I would devote so many hours to it.
"But sometimes I hit a problem and I need to go away and think about it."
David and Shirley regularly travel across Australia to attend historical machinery events. Shirley has even made sturdy carry bags to transport the precious cargo.
In September, David won first place in the National Historical Machinery Association National Rally in Pinjarra, Western Australia.
He is only the second individual entrant to do so in the event's 13-year history. More than 700 exhibitors entered the competition, many with multiple exhibitions. But David's swag impressed the most.
While David refuses to sell his work, he does not shy away from trading it.
"I met a chap in Forbes who wanted to buy one of the models and I said 'no'," he said.
"But then I noticed he had a very rare seat that I was coveting - an old cast-iron seat called Rising Sun.
"I did a swap with him, which suited the both of us. I got the seat I always wanted and he went home with one of my models."
He has also given countless models away to museums and enthusiasts, and once made one for a fan based on his grandfather's old cultivator.
Shirley and David have filled their calendar for the next few months, with trips planned for Geelong in January and Colac in February.
"I will just keep making the models," he said. "There's nothing left between my ears so I may as well just keep going."
