How cool is this! Yes this is the massive
trebuchet we've made! So, myself, Rick and Tom, we've been constructing this in the barn
over the last few weeks. It is as big as we can possibly make it. We have left nothing
on the table it only just fits out the door. So you get it out of the door, you put it
all together and it is massive! Look at it, compared to a house, it is huge! Well how
did you get it up here Colin? We just towed it up the road! I mean yeah, it's as wide
as the road, but that's what roads are for, to be taken up!
We're going to give it a test fire obviously, we've not fired it yet, there's probably going
to be a little bit of fettling, because how these things work. There's a pin, there's
a release mechanism. Might want a little bit of fine tuning but we'll get on with that.
Now we've made this because Xbox Game Pass for pc have sponsored me to build a huge trebuchet,
like the one in Age of Empire's definitive collection. This is available on Xbox Game
Pass for pc, which you can have for a dollar a month, and if you want more EA play is also
going to be chucked on it for nothing. It's beautiful there's classics like Halo, Wasteland
free, all sorts more, click the link in the description. Right let's fire some stuff!
Now to fine-tune the beast, we're going to be chucking a standard projectile. Which is
the steel box section, filled full of sand, and then once we're happy that it's working
how we want it to, then we can start firing all sorts of other weird stuff. So as a sling we have a tonne bag which we've
cut two sides off. Now for a counterweight we've got this beautiful steel box. On its own the steel box weighs half a ton
but we filled it with gravel and ballast so it's probably about three tonne now, maybe
a little bit more. If we're happy we can always fill it up or we can take some out. It's a
beautiful system, so to load it, we have to lift it up with the JCB. To lock it in place, it goes on there, slide
the pin through. We have to tie the JCB to it, Straight out of the it she worked yeah! Right
that went about 100 meters, let's fire it again and see if it does the same thing or
better! It's ripped the tonne bag, 2 problems: its ripped and it's come dislodged from that
I think, I've not checked the footage back, but i'm pretty sure that's what happened.
Right we do have a second option though, there we are, chain sling! I've taped it shut! We're
just going to try smacking the pin down, so we can get the sling to release a little
bit earlier. Some of the nuts have been coming loose! Okay so the problem we've got with the chain
is it's wrapping around the block, it's hugging it,
it's getting trapped in the gaps, and it's not releasing it very well and because it's
so inconsistent, we think the pen is releasing the strap at the right point but we don't
really know. There are some instances where it hasn't released it at all and it stayed
hugged into it and then come back and actually smack the machine. So with that in mind we
kind of think let's put something bigger in it like a washing machine and then it can't
wrap around it. No idea if this sling system's gonna work
with this, but we can only give it a go can't we! Look it's unfolded it's like a flat pack.
Drums over here! It's a new day, now i've been thinking I'm
putting the chain to one side, because I think the tonne bags are better. Now we tried lining
two, inside each other for extra strength but the blooming thing got tangled up in it
again. so got back down to one and then this happened! That worked! Oh look at it! it's proper beached
itself in! That, that worked that did. I mean look we set this wall up, this is about 200,
250 meters away from it and we're just trying to get it like like perfected before we start
shooting at this, but it's reached it from there! Need to go back and have a look at
the footage see what happened see why that one worked so well and then hopefully do it
again. It is it has got potential, this thing has got power. Right what am i doing i got
my wheelbarrow because i gotta i gotta walk all the way back with that now You think in
medieval times they had to uh, walk off with a wheelbarrow and get their ammunition back ?
Right so we checked the footage. Basically the projectile pops through the tonne bag,
out that hole again where the sand comes out of. Now we haven't got another one, we can't
fix it, but whatever it did it did it perfectly right because it went hookin miles! So the
Stamford theory is, we'll try throwing something that won't fit through the hole Colin! and
that's what we're gonna do, so we're gonna do another washing machine! Yes! Got a bit of cleaning up to do. Ah, how am I gonna dry my clothes now? Well
the consistency of the Colin Furze trebuchet, is, uh up to its usual standards! We've actually
tore the sling this time. So we actually fired half of our sling as well. So i think we need to go back to the workshop
and actually work on our sling design, because clearly that's that's where our problems
lie. But we're just kind of thinking before we go should we just try chucking some stuff where the sling does
go with it that can only be fun i think so too! E.T eat your heart out! We have a bicycle! Now the straps gonna go with it, because we've
not got the one on the yellow bit look. It's just pinned over the bit at the end. So see
what happens. Oh my bicycle! Oh no it bend the wheel! We
enjoyed that. What about a patio heater patio heater. loaded All up right look, ready to
keep you warm on a lovely summer's evening! But Oh no the trebuchet! Ah do you know what? They just don't make
things properly these days do they?! They really don't, oh all hail the swing of
chucky! All right and then people! Clearly I've got some sling issues, but as we can
see the potential is in this thing. That mega shot it must have gone like two
or three hundred meters into the sky. It was so much better and different to anything else we've been
firing, so if we can just get this sling sorted, we're on to a winner. Now I'm thinking I had this massive strap
which we didn't use because I thought it was a bit too heavy, and obviously you know strap weight is going
to affect things too, but if I can cut bits of that, bolt it together
and sort of make like a little bit of a sock or a cup, we can throw that block right into our wall.
Cuz we've made a wall, because you know Age of Empires attack castles and walls. We want to mimic that!
So our wall is ready to be attacked and then once we've done that, we can get it sorted and then we're going to try and find some
bigger stuff. We've got like a car shell. Can we fire a car shell, if we put more gravel
in it, is it gonna chuck that thing? \ SUBSCRIBE, you're not gonna want to miss that!
we're gonna attempt it even if it doesn't work even if it smashes the whole thing to
pieces! We're gonna have a go, do not forget the
sponsor Xbox Game Pass for pc they're making all this possible, Age of Empires the definitive collection all
the old games have all been remastered, 4k graphics and of course you've got EA play which is
coming this December for no extra charge and all the classic games which come with it. It's brilliant,
it's just a dollar, click the link in description, support them support the Channel, it's all
good, Yes! SUBSCRIBE! See you next video. Will it smash it up, or will it just thunder everything into the
sky?!
Trebuchets are so hard to build. I can only fathom that being a skilled trebuchet-builder in the medieval age would be the same as being an engineer for NASA today.
Any good plans out there for a garage build?
I'm in tears of joy. How exactly do they arm it with the dozer?
But how far will it throw a pumpkin?
Colin here has way more knowledge of such things, so I'm hesitating to say the problem of the ripped sling looks fairly obvious: the corners of the block are ripping the the sling. Wouldn't a ball be a better projectile for this sling?
Is it bigger than the one in Northern Exposure?
https://www.reddit.com/r/trebuchetmemes/comments/72efha/burial_by_trebuchet_the_only_way_to_go/
Looks like sending the sling with it got the best results since there isn't any resistance with it getting tangled up. If they bend the sling pin back a bit each time, they could probably find that delicious 45° parabola.
I mean, I built a trebuchet out of pencils, tape, a straw and some popsicle sticks in five minuets... sooo...
This left me disappointed...
I'm sure any middle age defender under siege could find a way to take out this trebuchet, if it needed to be this close to hit them.
It's 2020... We need our greatest minds working on these, not the next generation of space travel...
Priorities people!!! Priorities!!!