29 concrete blocks.
A twelve foot long 2x4 board.
A round tree trunk.
A crapload of rope.
All these items came together to form the coolest thing that has ever graced my "backyard" (I use the term "backyard" rather liberally, since all of the 8 acres I live on is technically my backyard). The counterweight for this thing is about 80 lb - 2 concrete blocks, and several smaller concrete bricks. The arm is 12 feet long. The ropes leading to the sling are an additional 8 to 9 feet. The rocks I used as ammo are about the size of my fist - heavy enough that I couldn't chuck them farther than 25 feet without blowing out my arm. And how far does my awesome trebuchet throw these rocks? About 150 ft! It took me a while to get the firing mechanism set up so that it releases just as the rock (still in the sling) is at the apex of its arc, but I worked it out! =D
Now, I know you don't care about that, and want to skip straight to the video and pics, so here are the links :
The Photobucket folder containing all the still pics I took
The first of several low-quality, no sound video clips I took. Just skip down to the video responses to see the rest of the video clips, in the appropriate order. Bear in mind that the video was taken on a low quality digital camera. I expect to be borrowing a high quality camcorder from a friend later this week, at which point I'll have a much better, long-term video up.
Tonight, I'm going to get the supplies for a much more *fun* type of ammunition than rocks. *Cough* dry ice bombs *cough*
I can't wait til I get the full video up. =)
"I mean, imagine someone screaming 'MAH PANTS' with no pants. Wouldn't that be a truly comical sight?" ---Quaazi
"HOLY CRAP WYO YOU'RE FAT!!!" ---Quaazi
A twelve foot long 2x4 board.
A round tree trunk.
A crapload of rope.
All these items came together to form the coolest thing that has ever graced my "backyard" (I use the term "backyard" rather liberally, since all of the 8 acres I live on is technically my backyard). The counterweight for this thing is about 80 lb - 2 concrete blocks, and several smaller concrete bricks. The arm is 12 feet long. The ropes leading to the sling are an additional 8 to 9 feet. The rocks I used as ammo are about the size of my fist - heavy enough that I couldn't chuck them farther than 25 feet without blowing out my arm. And how far does my awesome trebuchet throw these rocks? About 150 ft! It took me a while to get the firing mechanism set up so that it releases just as the rock (still in the sling) is at the apex of its arc, but I worked it out! =D
Now, I know you don't care about that, and want to skip straight to the video and pics, so here are the links :
Tonight, I'm going to get the supplies for a much more *fun* type of ammunition than rocks. *Cough* dry ice bombs *cough*
I can't wait til I get the full video up. =)
"I mean, imagine someone screaming 'MAH PANTS' with no pants. Wouldn't that be a truly comical sight?" ---Quaazi
"HOLY CRAP WYO YOU'RE FAT!!!" ---Quaazi