A trebuchet uses the force of gravity to fling projectiles. Its power comes from a counterweight—often a box that’s filled with stones or sand—connected to a lever arm.

There are no castles in Hugo, so the builders of this trebuchet are content with seeing how far they can fling a bowling ball. They’re at about 700 feet so far. They’re hoping to reach 1,000.

GeekDad reader Tom Heck sends us some cool video of the trebuchet kit he and his son assembled and tested together. I love that the counterweight is a dumbell! Check out the video in the Extended ...

On this trebuchet, as the counterweight falls and the boom swings around, the sling pulls a pumpkin through a narrow chute before sending it airborne. Witnessing the spectacle is awesome in the ...

The counterweight is now up to 2,500 pounds, capable of getting a reclining chair airborne and flinging a bowling ball about 900 feet. Not everything has gone as planned.

The counterweight is now up to 2,500 pounds, capable of getting a reclining chair airborne and flinging a bowling ball about 900 feet. Not everything has gone as planned.

Starting with the Greek gastrophetes—a tension-powered mechanical bow—artillery evolved into the torsion-powered Roman ballista, and then the massive counterweight trebuchet, which was used to ...

After some brainstorming, the association decided to build a trebuchet, a type of medieval catapult that uses a counterweight to create a greater whipping motion than other types of catapults.