Medina High School Trebuchet Launch-Record

2006 Medina High School, Medina, OH. Mr. Smith's AP Physics Class. Students built their own trebuchet. 1000 lb. limit on counter weight. Carter East, Chris LaBonty, Phil McCoy, Brett Bingham, Lee Johnson, Kate Panchak. School Record 214 yard toss, 5 lb. pumpkin.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Medina
• High
• School
• Trebuchet
• Pumpkin
• Launch

[paaiyan]

About how far is the weight drop, and what did you use for the axle? I'm building one and can't figure out what to use for it.

[benchmaster430]

Solid bar of 2" steel was the axle. I'm guessing the weight drop was about 8 or 9 ft., but that is just a guess- as you can see, they also strapped a line across the bucket and pulled it down to add some force

[benchmaster430]

There is another video of the same trebuchet. Check it out. You can get a better view of how far the bucket drop is. It may be closer to 6ft. I'll try and find out for you! Check back later.

[TwiztidLife]

lol thats just dangerous, i thought you were going to hit a car too, lol...If i had a chance to build a catapult, i would of did it like the Romans did. More Effective.

[benchmaster430]

You have to understand that the old school record was 156 yards, no one expected any team to be able to launch a pumpkin that far (214 yards) therefore, no one thought about any danger to cars!

[brettohio]

the weight drop, as previously discussed appears to be about 7-9 ft, however you will notice that it doesn't reach the ground, there was 12 in. clearance from the ground, therefore, just barely over 6 ft weight drop. I remember the beam being 17 ft long. Interior width of structure: 5 ft. oh, and btw, the axle did bend some, so it was pain dismantling it. Major props involved to all involved, special credit to Carter East and Cris LaBonty.

The Professor in charge did take great safety measure.

[brettohio]

the key to the success was the angle of the pin. if the sling isn't released at the right time, the pumpkin will go into the ground, or the opposite just straight up. The pin was adjustable so that different weights could be used for the counter weight and items launched. At one point in time we put a ton of bricks in the counter weight and launched an old school 21 in tube computer monitor. In this video, it is just 1/2 ton counter weight.

[brettohio]

So ya, I'm Brett, one of the designers/builders. Major props to Carter East for the model, he did the vast majority of the calculations. Yes, everything was designed and reviewed in great detail before building commenced. I had a chance to check out Idaho State University's pumpkin launching challenge (they have actual business and such enter), and this trebuchet even beat their records.

Anyways, here's some specs: the axle was a special heat treated steel i remember it being about 3 in diameter

[thestampede80]

I'm seeing that tomorrow!!!!!!!

[PivotChipmunk]

Nice! :D I saw a real Trebuchet in action in England :D

[marktimmer2212]

CAR!!!!!!!

[omgflyingbanana]

coooool

[gmsherry1953]

@benchmaster430 Strapping a line across the bucket and pulling down was not cheating?

[quadbravo]

they should have charged admission. I live in cleveland, I would have gone. i bet hundreds would have if they knew it was going to happen.

[77theflame77]

wow, i live like 10 mins south of Medina. how did i not hear of this?