Columbus in Platte County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Frank Zybach
Inventor of the Center Pivot Irrigation Machine
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2021
1. Frank Zybach Marker
Born in 1894, Frank Zybach grew up in Loup Township, Platte County, Nebraska. He began inventing at age 13. In 1948, he developed a prototype of a self-propelled sprinkler irrigation machine. In 1952, the “Zybach Self-Propelled Sprinkling Apparatus” was granted a patent. After receiving the patent, Zybach went into business with A. E. Trowbridge of Columbus. They improved the design and produced 19 center pivots.
Robert Daugherty, head of Valley Manufacturing, purchased the licensing rights to manufacture the Zybach patent center pivot in 1953. In 1954, Daugherty founded Valmont Irrigation, manufacturer of the Valley brand of irrigation equipment. Zybach and Daugherty designed and manufactured center pivots based on the strong belief in conserving water and increasing crop quality yields. After 1969, other Nebraska manufacturers followed in Valmont’s footsteps.
It has been said the center pivot irrigation machine is “perhaps the most significant mechanical innovation in agriculture since the replacement of draft animals by the tractor.” Frank Zybach’s center pivot irrigation machine invention has revolutionized irrigated agriculture around the world. Zybach, who died in 1980, lived his final years in this quiet Columbus neighborhood.
Erected 2016 by Platte County Historical
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Agriculture. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1952.
Location. 41° 26.612′ N, 97° 21.313′ W. Marker is in Columbus, Nebraska, in Platte County. Marker is on 28th Street just east of Linden Drive, on the right when traveling east. Marker is located beside the sidewalk, on the north side of the Columbus Middle School grounds. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Columbus NE 68601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Discovering the Colorful History of Columbus (approx. one mile away); Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame (approx. one mile away); a different marker also named Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame (approx. one mile away); a different marker also named Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame (approx. one mile away); a different marker also named Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame (approx. one mile away); a different marker also named Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame (approx. one mile away); a different marker
via Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement, unknown
2. Frank Zybach
Regarding Frank Zybach. In 1947, a farmer who grew up in Columbus, Nebraska, was watching an irrigation demonstration on a neighbor's farm in Strasburg, Colorado. Frank Zybach watched as workers moved pipes that had been fitted with sprinkler heads on posts from one section of the field to another. Within a year of seeing the demonstration,
Zybach had built the first "center pivot irrigation system." The system pivoted around the wellhead that supplied the water. Evenly spaced towers rode (in that first system) on skids, and guy wires extended down from the towers to support two sections of pipe that had sprinklers attached. Very soon, Zybach replaced the skids with wheels. The whole system was powered by the water pressure running through it.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . .
1. Frank Zybach - 1982 honoree. Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement website
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2021
3. Frank Zybach Marker
2. Frank Zybach. National Inventors Hall of Fame website entry:
Using Zybach’s machine, farmers in the semi-arid regions of the Great Plains could efficiently irrigate acres at a time and thereby increase yields on previously marginal land. By 2013, center pivots irrigated nearly 28 million acres on 57,000 U.S. farms, making it the most widely used irrigation technology in the country. (Submitted on September 13, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
3. How Center Pivot Irrigation Brought the Dust Bowl Back to Life. Smithsonian magazine website entry:
Crop circles saved the Great Plains when farmer Frank Zybach invented a new sprinkler system in the 1940s. Placing the pump at the center of the field next to a well, irrigation pipes supported by trusses were mounted on wheeled towers that could make a circuit of the field under their own power, leaving that distinctive circle pattern. The system could cover 133 acres of a 160-acre field, and didn’t have to be disassembled by workers when it was time to plant, till, or harvest. (Submitted on September 13, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 11, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 12, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 458 times since then and 67 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on September 13, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2. submitted on January 5, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 3. submitted on September 13, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
