See the Model Trebuchet in Action

Build Your Own Cheap M&M Firing Trebuchet  

Each year, in the early spring, Troop 51 has what we call a Field Day.  For the new scouts this consists of taking a three mile hike, learning how to use a knife, saw and hatchet safely, and learning how to light a fire. The older scouts spend the day doing a pioneering project. In past years they have built a catapult, a tower and a monkey bridge.

The field day this year is to be on April 8th, and I have been trying for some time to come up with something grand and new that the old hands could build. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a NOVA segment on building a medieval siege machine called a trebuchet (treb-OO-shay). This wondrous device was used to hurl pianos and stones vast distances, and slowly it dawned on me that here was just the thing to build on our field day. 

I had a browse on the internet and found lots of great information on people who have built nice trebuchets, but none of these were pioneered. That is to say, the trebs I found were all too elaborate to be built from scratch by a bunch of Boy Scouts in a single day. What I needed was a trebuchet made from spars and rope. So, using the grand plans on the net as a starting point, I made my own model trebuchet with hedge clipping, rubber bands, string and a few other bits and pieces. That’s the finished model in the picture above. It shoots M&M’s (with Peanuts) about 30 feet on average.

Hank Hufnagel – March 2000