I Built a Produce-Throwing Merlin Trebuchet | Random Video Thursday's

I built this almost entirely out of on-hand scrap materials. A few cheap, but critical components were purchased as somewhat of an insurance policy though. Total cost of those components were under $20. I could have done without any spending, but I didn't want to skimp out on a few things that matter. I have only tested throwing apples, cucumbers and golf balls with this style trebuchet. I may try other objects, but my goal was to throw over 300ft with these things and I effortlessly achieved beyond that. I found that the sweet-spot counterweight for this build is roughly 30lbs.
Before I built this one I built a traditional trebuchet. It used 80lbs of counter weight and did not throw as far as this one can. The best part is, this will throw those items further with only 1/4 of the counter weight used in the traditional style. In order to throw lighter objects further, I found that kinetic energy in the form of speed mattered more than potential energy in the form of weight. Air resistance becomes a larger variable with lightweight objects and a traditional style trebuchet is limited in throwing speed. It does not matter how much weight is used because gravity pulls at the same rate. A traditional trebuchet is good at throwing heavier objects though. The A-frame of this was actually the original base for the traditional style build. I basically just built a new throwing mechanism and added the counterweight extension.
I used kevlar line for this because it has a high working load limit for its small, less resistant size and over a 500lb breaking strength. Kevlar also has little to no stretch which otherwise would cause a loss of energy. Other cordage types would make the counterweight halt point become difficult to get right due to line stretching. I used a thin pull line because the thicker the cordage is, the more friction it has and the more resistance incurs from moving directional changes during use.
There isn't much I can share in the way of materials, but this is the kevlar line I used and recommend. - amzn.to/3doKvRF
These are also handy, inexpensive bearings - amzn.to/3AdE24X

[@ginx2666]

Truly medieval chad mindset - "my crops are fine, my forests are plenty in game, time for warfare".

[@brianbyrne7506]

Wow that thing flew!!

[@throwing_things7773]

Looks like a fun machine .

[@OPIXdotWORLD]

Trebuchet

[@brucemcclary3260]

I built this Merlin about 5 years ago,I think you’re losing energy when your weight bottoms out,had a lot of fun,sent golf ball 250 yards

[@GrowingAnswers]

once the swing arm and pouch are fully vertical, the weight does nothing after that. This was tuned to have the weight hit the ground at that moment. any more pull after than just throws the arm forward. Ideally you want the rotation to stop on it's own right after it releases. if it stops rotating before that, then it would lose power potential. If it still rotates after it releases then it's wasted power. Meaning the weight rope would be too long or too heavy.