Fixed Medium Trebuchet
This is the trebuchet that we entered into the October 25, 2008 Lake Orion, MI Pumpkin Launch competition. We converted our previous hinged trebuchet into a fixed counterweight trebuchet. After some trial and error experiments, we discovered that we could throw about 50% further with this design, compared to the hinged. Not all sizes/designs of trebuchets end up throwing further using a fixed counterweight, but this certainly one did. As you can see, we added two "arm-savers" to help raise the counterweight box. It required a bit of complicated engineering, but it ended up working quite well. We got about 325 ft. out of this design, launching an 8 lb. pumpkin, with up to 350 lbs. of counterweight.