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The trebuchet standing erect in the uncocked position..
Side view of the trebuchet.
Re-erected lakeside ready to fling the coffins.
My mini treb built from parts of an old Erector Set.
In the uncocked position.
Artists drawing of the operation of the trebuchet, from an old reference.
This link belongs to a class of 10 year oldkids from Atlanta, Ga.. They are building small trebs and catapults andwill be updating this link with pics and stories.
A treb page and pics of their treb from the
Here is Ron Toms' page with his stories and pics of his successful peopleflinging trebuchet.
This web site belongs to my friend from down under (Austrailia)that is a member of "the Gray Company", a group that studies and practicesthe art of the medieval days. They have built an operational treb and youmay see their efforts here at the following web site. This site has thebest collection of links dealing with the art of the "catapulteer"
Here is (page under construction) an OregonBoy Scout Troops' efforts on constructing apumpkin flinging treb from available onsite materials.
The city of Corvallis Or. and sponsors of the "da Vinci Days"5th annual celebration have purchased this trebuchet to be re- erectedand made operational. The Flinger Thinger shall Fling again. This year thefair will be held 18 July thru 20 July, 1997.
Here is the link totheir Treb builder and fellow catapulteer John Wayne Cyra's homepage.Click here Built for the TV show "Northern Exposure" and seen worldwide in twodifferent episodes. In one episode we flung a 450 pound upright piano 100yards. In the other episode we flung coffins into the middle of a lake. To get all the camera anglesand shots for the piano episode, we flung 9 full size upright pianos. All nine pianos consistently landed in the same spot. We put a crash camera in the impact crater of one piano to get a shot of the piano coming straight down from about 250 feet in the air. I have video tape of every phase of construction , from cuttin down the dozen trees it took to make the base, to the actual filming of the piano episode. Portions of the video seen on "Bill Nye The Science Guy". After filming, the trebuchet was disassembled and put in storage in a barn, until about a year later when we re-erected it on the side of Rattlesnalke Lake, outside North Bend, Washington. For the coffin episode we flung 4 wood coffins and 4 steel coffins into the middle of the lake. The coffins were filled with sand, and banded to keep them from blowing apart during lift off. The trebuchet worked perfectly every time we fired it. The power of this device is awesome and comes from the ten thousand pounds of lead weight in a steel box on one end of the arm. It takes a bulldozer to cock the arm, and a bulldozer to trip the hook that releases the arm to launch. In the uncocked position the arm points straight up and stands about 50 feet tall. Concrete could be used in the weight box to hold the arm upright. The arm is an 8 inch by 32 inch gluelam beam, encased and reinforced with steel. It pivots on a 4 inch by 10 foot chromium steel shaft. I envision the trebuchet as a great business sign, or flagpole, or just an awesome conversation piece. It could be made operational again, but it is not a carnival ride, and there's more to firing this thing than meets the eye. The base is made from 1 foot diameter fir logs, that are bolted and steel strapped together. The trebuchet is now disassembled and in storage on my property outside Monroe, Washington. I am the owner/builder and can deliver and set it up anywhere. The original cost to build was $50,000. If you are interested in owning a most unique piece of of history and a little bit of Northern Exposure, please give me your Contact John Wayne (Cyra) at: 800.576.3958 (my pager) or Verne at425.788.2505 Email to verne@eskimo.com. Last revision 12/09/2007Send mail to: verne@eskimo.com
" Best Offer."
© Verne DeWitt 1996.
