The Trebuchet was a middle-age weapon used for the siege of castles. Before the advent of gunpowder and the cannon, the trebuchet was the biggest and best weapon an army had for attacking a manned castle.
My 1st Trebuchet was built during Christmas break of 2001. I had read some articles on the web and a Trebuchet sounded like a cool idea but more importantly was a device I might have a chance of building. For my first attempt, I didn't want a weenie little golf ball tosser. I wanted something that would demand a little bit of respect. I wanted a trebuchet that would be able to easily throw a one to three pound object a respectable distance, say 150 feet. I didn't think it was too much to ask for my first attempt so did a little figuring and started construction.
I went for an A-frame design standing about 5-1/2 feet tall with an 12 foot long throwing arm constructed out of 2x4's. For the counter weight (CW), I used a big, fat rock my brother and I pulled up from the river bank. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but I approximated it at 300 pounds. At first it was attached to the throwing arm with a strong rope (not a good idea). Later, it was fastened to a chain with anchor bolts and attached to the throwing arm (good idea).
The sling and trigger systems were kind of just thrown together and I am not very proud of them. I'll talk more detail when I get some close-up pictures.
The first test run was late in the evening so it was pretty dark. The trebuchet was loaded with a one pound rock and fired. The rope didn't not securely attach the CW to the throwing arm. It came loose and smashed into the Trebuchet. The rock went sailing away never to be found, but the runway of the Trebuchet was now mostly splinters. It was a first firing of mixed emotions. Rock gone; happy. Damaged trebuchet; sad.
More to come...
Check out pictures of trebuchet setup and action in the Photo gallery.