Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum "Airfloats" 1918 John Deere Tractor

The largest artifact in an upcoming exhibit on agriculture was moved into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, using Airfloat technology to keep from damaging the Museum's stone floors.

The 4,250-pound 1918 John Deere tractor was “floated” on a bed of compressed air using technology developed by Airfloat LLC based in Decatur, Illinois.

The only remaining working model of a 1918 John Deere Dain all-wheel-drive tractor is the largest artifact on display in the Museum's upcoming “The Agricultural Vision of Abraham Lincoln” exhibit, set to open on June 15, 2009.

On loan from John Deere in Moline, Illinois, the tractor was the result of six years of experimental work, including some technologies that would not be seen again on John Deere tractors until the 1980s.

The historic John Deere 1918 tractor was "floated" gently into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum on air skids using air bearing technology by Airfloat.

About 100 John Deere Dain tractors were built before production ceased after John Deere acquired the less expensive Waterloo Boy line of tractors.

According to Green Collectors, a web site devoted to John Deere equipment collectors, "Creation of the John Deere All-Wheel Drive (AWD) tractor came before the better-known John Deere Model D, which was introduced in 1923 as the company's first two-cylinder tractor and became the first John Deere tractor successful enough for large-scale production."

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