{"id":464915,"date":"2026-02-07T18:56:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T18:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/464915\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T18:56:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T18:56:32","slug":"meringandan-collector-sells-vintage-tractors-trucks-machines-on-queensland-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/464915\/","title":{"rendered":"Meringandan collector sells vintage tractors, trucks, machines on Queensland farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lifelong grazier Mervyn Polzin knows he is at the “end of the line”, but he isn’t sad about it.<\/p>\n

On a quiet rise at Meringandan, just outside Toowoomba in southern Queensland, the 78-year-old is letting go of his life’s passion. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just weeks ago, hundreds of pieces of machinery were scattered across the paddocks of his family property, Greenview, their steel skins dulled by decades of work and weather.<\/p>\n

Mervyn would rap his knuckles on the bonnets of old American pick-up trucks, pleased with the solid thud.<\/p>\n

\"Mervyn<\/p>\n

Mervyn Polzin’s family has run cattle at Greenview north of Toowoomba since 1953. (ABC Southern Queensland: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n

But now, almost all his tractors, trucks, pick-ups and machines are in new hands.<\/p>\n

“There comes a time in life when you have to make a hard decision,” he said.\"Mervyn<\/p>\n

Mervyn Polzin says he caught the “machinery bug” more than 40 years ago. (ABC Southern Queensland: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n

Passion for decades<\/p>\n

Mervyn jokes he was “born under a cow” and cattle were his first love, but it did not take long for the “machinery bug” to take hold.<\/p>\n

His fascination started with just one small steel-wheeled machine bought more than 40 years ago.<\/p>\n

“We thought it would be just good to have one little tractor,” Mervyn said.<\/p>\n

“But then the bug gets you. It’s a bad bug when you get it.<\/p>\n

“Like a little schoolboy \u2014 when you see something good, you want a good lolly or something \u2014 we bought it.”<\/p>\n

Mervyn collected more than 250 tractors, trucks, utes and farm machines with quiet devotion over four decades.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, that turned into a spectacle as engines rattled to life and more than 800 people arrived at Greenview, filling Mervyn’s property with noise and movement.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

More than 800 people attended Mervyn Polzin’s clearance sale outside Toowoomba. (ABC Southern Queensalnd: Dan McCray)<\/p>\n

New homes for old machines<\/p>\n

Some came from as far as central New South Wales and some arrived with trailers, telegraphing their intentions to take home a piece of Mervyn’s collection.<\/p>\n

One of Mervyn’s mates, Peter Cameron, said he was no stranger to clearing sales around Toowoomba, but this one was “exceptional”.<\/p>\n

“It’s a hell of a lot and you’d have to have some sort of sadness in your face seeing it all go,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Cameron says the crowd that came to the clearance sale was “exceptional”. (ABC Southern Queensland: Dan McCray)<\/p>\n

Stoic and determined, Mervyn followed the auctioneers to as many of the 252 listed lots as he could, at times chiming in with a comment as to why a particular piece warranted special attention.<\/p>\n

Every single piece sold on auction day.<\/p>\n

However, not everyone came to the sale to buy; some just wanted to bathe in the nostalgia.<\/p>\n

“It’s an era that will be gone soon,” Theresa Erbacher said.<\/p>\n

“I’m just really happy that people are keeping this stuff to go on for the next generation,” her cousin Mary Byrne said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Mary Byrne (left) and Theresa Erbacher say they went to the clearing sale to soak up the nostalgia of old machinery. (ABC Southern Queensland: Dan McCray)<\/p>\n

The sale was not just about machines but the quiet arithmetic of aging; what to keep and what to let go.<\/p>\n

Mervyn had to ask himself that question last year, after his brother and companion on the land for decades died.<\/p>\n

A separate quad bike accident left Mervyn unconscious with nine broken ribs.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s time to face life and just take it easy,” he said.<\/p>\n

Last man standing<\/p>\n

The Polzin family story at Greenview stretches back to 1953.<\/p>\n

On a windy day, Mervyn wanders through an old dairy that speaks of early mornings and milk cans.<\/p>\n

\"Mervyn<\/p>\n

Mervyn Polzin has a special connection with his animals, including his dog Brutus. (ABC Southern Queensland: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n

While Mervyn is downsizing his beef herd, he is keeping his bull, Heinrich, along with a dozen other cattle.<\/p>\n

“The young calves \u2026 they’re my family,” he said.<\/p>\n

Some have even shared his love of country music.<\/p>\n

“I’d sit on the trough and the one steer would come up,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’d blow in his nostrils, push his eyelids shut with my nose and I’d sing in his ear.<\/p>\n

“He liked Wings of a Dove and Royal Telephone, and he would just go to sleep on my knee.”<\/p>\n

But Mervyn is a bachelor and with no heirs waiting in the wings, one day the rest of his property will be sold.<\/p>\n

“I’m the last man here now,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mervyn has already decided half the proceeds of a future sale will go to St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital and half to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, having personal experience of the value of their care.<\/p>\n

“The greatest thing you can do in life is help somebody else,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Mervyn Polzin\u00a0made the “hard decision” to sell his vast collection of tractors, trucks, pick-ups and machines. (ABC Southern Queensland: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n

As he watched others claim the machines that once defined his days, there were no regrets.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had my time with them,” Mervyn said. “It’s been a good life.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lifelong grazier Mervyn Polzin knows he is at the “end of the line”, but he isn’t sad about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,2728,63,10881,238075,82508,15788,1300,2582,15868,49260,85,37420],"class_list":["post-464915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-auction","tag-australia","tag-charity","tag-clearing-sale","tag-collecting","tag-collections","tag-death","tag-family","tag-inheritance","tag-machinery","tag-sports","tag-succession-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}