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todd · 07-23-2004, 03:21 PM

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead. I was going to start my own trebuchet thread when I found this one.

NOVA did a special on trebuchets, where about 100 people built two original size trebuchets from scratch. They used no modern technology. Each were about 3 or 4 stories tall, and they launched huge boulders at a castle wall they built. I have it on VHS.

I've built about 6 trebuchets, ranging in size, and 2 mangonels.
My biggest trebuchet was 6 feet to the axle, and 14 to the tip of the arm. A few friends and I built it about a year ago. We were disappointed on launch day, though. It didn't work as well as we had hoped for. About 150 feet. Not much for a catapult that size, but not bad I guess. We were going to tweak it and improve it, but we lost interest after a while and eventually it got dismantled. I think our problem was that we only had 150 lbs of counterweight, and our arm alone was about 50 pounds. We probably needed about 300 lbs or so.

I also had one about 6 feet to the tip of the arm, which launched soda cans pretty far. That was actually the first one I built, and I don't have any pictures of it. It was dismantled long ago.

My third biggest one is about 3 feet to the tip of the arm, and launches rocks and large marbles. It's been a while, so I forgot the distance it launches. I still have it and it's in perfect condition. Actually these pics are of it right now. I hauled it out to take these. I think I could get about 50 feet out of this if I added more counter weight. I just never got around to finding something heavy tnough.

I also built 2 popsicle stick trebuchets, and one "floating arm" trebuchet. I can't find them though. They both worked pretty well.
My smallest one was this one made out of toothpicks. I don't know where the arm for it is. It's about 2 inches to the axle, so it'd probably be about 4 inches to tip of arm. It launches fishing weights and small nuts about 10 feet or so. I think I used some heavy duty bolts and nuts for the counterweight.

I also built this Mangonel a while back. It doesn't work too well though, it's only been launched a few times. This was the last thing I built right before I lost interest in siege weapons. It's torsion powered, but it's loosened in this picture. You wind it up by spinning the handles on either side in opposite directions. I'm not strong enough to tighten it to what it needs to be to get maximum performance, so it was probably a bad idea to make it torsion powered. It launches about 15 feet

I'll try to find my popsicle models, especially the floating arm version. It works better than the normal trebuchet, actually.
Heres a picture of what a floating arm trebuchet (FAT) looks like, for those unfamiliar:
(not mine)

07-23-2004, 03:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
todd Addict Location: Chicago	Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead. I was going to start my own trebuchet thread when I found this one. NOVA did a special on trebuchets, where about 100 people built two original size trebuchets from scratch. They used no modern technology. Each were about 3 or 4 stories tall, and they launched huge boulders at a castle wall they built. I have it on VHS. I've built about 6 trebuchets, ranging in size, and 2 mangonels. My biggest trebuchet was 6 feet to the axle, and 14 to the tip of the arm. A few friends and I built it about a year ago. We were disappointed on launch day, though. It didn't work as well as we had hoped for. About 150 feet. Not much for a catapult that size, but not bad I guess. We were going to tweak it and improve it, but we lost interest after a while and eventually it got dismantled. I think our problem was that we only had 150 lbs of counterweight, and our arm alone was about 50 pounds. We probably needed about 300 lbs or so. I also had one about 6 feet to the tip of the arm, which launched soda cans pretty far. That was actually the first one I built, and I don't have any pictures of it. It was dismantled long ago. My third biggest one is about 3 feet to the tip of the arm, and launches rocks and large marbles. It's been a while, so I forgot the distance it launches. I still have it and it's in perfect condition. Actually these pics are of it right now. I hauled it out to take these. I think I could get about 50 feet out of this if I added more counter weight. I just never got around to finding something heavy tnough. I also built 2 popsicle stick trebuchets, and one "floating arm" trebuchet. I can't find them though. They both worked pretty well. My smallest one was this one made out of toothpicks. I don't know where the arm for it is. It's about 2 inches to the axle, so it'd probably be about 4 inches to tip of arm. It launches fishing weights and small nuts about 10 feet or so. I think I used some heavy duty bolts and nuts for the counterweight. I also built this Mangonel a while back. It doesn't work too well though, it's only been launched a few times. This was the last thing I built right before I lost interest in siege weapons. It's torsion powered, but it's loosened in this picture. You wind it up by spinning the handles on either side in opposite directions. I'm not strong enough to tighten it to what it needs to be to get maximum performance, so it was probably a bad idea to make it torsion powered. It launches about 15 feet I'll try to find my popsicle models, especially the floating arm version. It works better than the normal trebuchet, actually. Heres a picture of what a floating arm trebuchet (FAT) looks like, for those unfamiliar: (not mine) Last edited by todd; 07-24-2004 at 12:47 PM..