It might be an exaggeration to say this conventional tractor, outfitted with a new flotation rig, will "walk on water," but not by much. With big floats replacing the front tires, a large, flat float extended in front of the tractor, and super-wide, light-weight tracks in back, deep water is about the only thing that could stop it.

The unique flotation device was developed by Cantone Industria, Vercelli, Italy, a company which specializes in tracks for tractors and combines. The first customers for the tracks a couple years ago were whiskey makers in Scotland who needed something to pull ditchers through extremely wet peat bogs. The peat is harvested, dried and then burned in the distilling and curing process.

Since then, the rig has also caught on in other areas of the world, including California where it's being used to drain land inundated with water this winter. Cantone representative Giorgio Enriquez says there is also a lot of interest from the delta areas of the U.S.

"A large conventional farm tractor equipped with this system exerts less than 1 lb. per sq. in. of pressure," he says, noting that the rig will fit any tractor from 65 to 120 hp, and can be mounted in about 2 hrs. without alteration to the tractor itself.