Trebuchet designs

benyflyguy

benyflyguy

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benyflyguy
So the wife comes home today after a meeting at our sons school-Pta type thing. she “oh by the ways” ina conversation about the meeting (that I’m not really listening to)
“So I thought it would it would be neat for the fall festival for the school if we had a catapult to do some pumpkin chunking.” She volunteered me to build a trebuchet.
now I do like cool projects and tackling all kinds of stuff- but I haven’t done this-yet.

Plan would be to chunk some small pumpkins. Like the mini ones maybe 50-100 feet. so not a big competition style one- and I have a month. Lol.
Anybody have any clue where to start?? I did some Google fu and thought it would be easier to find some good plans. But like most Google fu you end up thinking abo it blending all the ideas.
My kids will have fun and learn something along the way.
I figured an aviation forum would be my first place to really get started. You guys know everything!
 
Try to substitute a giant potato gun made from schedule 80 PVC pipe.
 
Building even a small trebuchet that doesn’t break every time you test it is going to be a challenge in a month. But fun! Good luck, I bet someone here will have some good ideas.
 
Let me know if you think it can also throw a... 130 lb or so person.

We need a way of getting my mom into my truck when she comes to visit.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Let me know if you think it can also throw a... 130 lb or so person.

We need a way of getting my mom into my truck when she comes to visit.
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Have you considered a lift gate? (Or do you want her chunked into the cab?)
 
MauleSkinner said:
Have you considered a lift gate? (Or do you want her chunked into the cab?)
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For some reason she doesn't want to sit in the bed of the truck. I actually have had to lift her up into the truck before.

The last time my grandmother went for a ride in car/truck (other than for her funeral in the back of a Cadillac) was my 2004 Ram. At 90 or so and not in the best of shape she seemed to be able to get in with less help than my mom can get into my 2017 Ram at 76.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
For some reason she doesn't want to sit in the bed of the truck. I actually have had to lift her up into the truck before.

The last time my grandmother went for a ride in car/truck (other than for her funeral in the back of a Cadillac) was my 2004 Ram. At 90 or so and not in the best of shape she seemed to be able to get in with less help than my mom can get into my 2017 Ram at 76.
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Yeah, I think both of my grandmas were in better shape than my mom is in her late 70s.
 
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MauleSkinner said:
Yeah, I think both of my grandmas were in better shape than my mom is in her late 70s.
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Just got word that my uncle is apparently going to be taken off life support today (got put on yesterday). He's in his early/mid 80s. Compared to their parents, my mom and uncle overall seem to be doing worse. My grandfather died at 76 from cancer, but that was in the 80s and if he'd been diagnosed 20 years later, or even 10, he probably would have survived. My uncle's been in pretty bad shape since the 2nd half of his 70s, so the news was no surprise. My grandmother lived independently until her late 80s when she decided to move to a retirement home. Granted she should have done that sooner, but if my mom makes it to 80, I'll be a bit surprised.
 
Word challenge for the day. Correctly pronounce:

1. Trebuchet.
2. Ted's last name.
 
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Sac Arrow said:
Word challenge for the day. Correctly pronounce:

1. Trebuchet.
2. Ted's last name.
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I'll play...what the heck...

1. Tray-boo-SHAY
2. Doo-PWEE .... or is it MEM-ber?
 
For #2 it's
414WJgBKDUL._AC_.jpg

But with a D instead of L.

:p
 
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1) Treb-u-chay
2) DuPuis
 
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Gotta agree. Want eye ah.

J is silent in bohunk, I think. Prolly also in whatever want eye ah is...

Good friends are bohunks and have told me it's okay to call Czechs and Slovakians that...
But Cheech told Chong it was okay to call those of Latin descent the P word too...

So I'm taking a chance on losing POA Privileges...
 
Gonna go it alone and guess "won-TAH-hah"...at least, that's how it sounds in my head when I read it.

My wife and I enjoy trying to read aloud as many East Indian names as we can that frequently show up in the special effects compositing credits in movies. To those of us from other than those cultures, THOSE are some seriously challenging names.
 
MuseChaser said:
Gonna go it alone and guess "won-TAH-hah"...at least, that's how it sounds in my head when I read it.

My wife and I enjoy trying to read aloud as many East Indian names as we can that frequently show up in the special effects compositing credits in movies. To those of us from other than those cultures, THOSE are some seriously challenging names.
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tumblr_mfwcwqPRSC1s1kqrno1_400.gifv
 
EdFred said:
Much rather have that name than share one with that no talent ass clown Michael Bolton.
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Hey now... Bolton is awesome. I also love Kenny G. Here's a WONDERFUL live performance of them together.....

 
EdFred said:
I guess you never saw Office Space.

...
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Watch the video I posted, Ed....there MAY have been a smidge of sarcasm in my post. Hint...I'm an actual professional jazz musician and the post contained praise of Kenny G. ....... check the sniff factor ....;)
 
XYZZY. Oh, wait, wrong thread.

How about this?
ecclefechan.jpg
 
MuseChaser said:
Watch the video I posted, Ed....there MAY have been a smidge of sarcasm in my post. Hint...I'm an actual professional jazz musician and the post contained praise of Kenny G. ....... check the sniff factor ....;)
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If I click on that video then the youtube algorithm will start suggesting ****ty music to me. no thanks!
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Just got word that my uncle is apparently going to be taken off life support today (got put on yesterday). He's in his early/mid 80s. Compared to their parents, my mom and uncle overall seem to be doing worse. My grandfather died at 76 from cancer, but that was in the 80s and if he'd been diagnosed 20 years later, or even 10, he probably would have survived. My uncle's been in pretty bad shape since the 2nd half of his 70s, so the news was no surprise. My grandmother lived independently until her late 80s when she decided to move to a retirement home. Granted she should have done that sooner, but if my mom makes it to 80, I'll be a bit surprised.
Click to expand...

sorry to hear about your uncle.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Just got word that my uncle is apparently going to be taken off life support today (got put on yesterday). He's in his early/mid 80s. Compared to their parents, my mom and uncle overall seem to be doing worse. My grandfather died at 76 from cancer, but that was in the 80s and if he'd been diagnosed 20 years later, or even 10, he probably would have survived. My uncle's been in pretty bad shape since the 2nd half of his 70s, so the news was no surprise. My grandmother lived independently until her late 80s when she decided to move to a retirement home. Granted she should have done that sooner, but if my mom makes it to 80, I'll be a bit surprised.
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Sorry to hear that Ted. Hoping for the best for you and the family. My condolences.
 
wsuffa said:
Sorry to hear that Ted. Hoping for the best for you and the family. My condolences.
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Thanks Bill. It is what it is. More than anything it's interesting to me that with theoretically better medicine and care, my mom's and uncle's generation is doing worse than the previous generation that were small children during WW1 and then lived through/fought in WW2. That could just be appearances though.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Thanks Bill. It is what it is. More than anything it's interesting to me that with theoretically better medicine and care, my mom's and uncle's generation is doing worse than the previous generation that were small children during WW1 and then lived through/fought in WW2. That could just be appearances though.
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Unfortunately, at least in my family, there are “lifestyle” (for lack of a better term) issues that modern medicine masks, but can’t cure.

Sorry to hear about your uncle. I’ll send up a prayer for your family.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Unfortunately, at least in my family, there are “lifestyle” (for lack of a better term) issues that modern medicine masks, but can’t cure.
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There's something to that. My grandparent's generation were hard working folk, kept their minds active. My grandparents smoked for many years (my grandfather was head of R&D at Phillip Morris for some time) but they had quit for a couple decades before my grandfather died, and my grandmother outlived him another 22 years.

My uncle worked hard in his career, but his ultimate goal in life was to not have to do much. My mom is the same. My mom retired around 40 and, other than raising me, has done very little. My uncle did even less. Physically, neither are/were active at all and never were that I saw. No swimming, no going for walks, no activity around the property. Probably worse than that was the lack of mental stimulation. My grandmother made efforts in her old age to stay mentally active and succeeded until she got put into nursing (the mental decline was staggering and practically observable by the minute). My uncle certainly not. My mom, well, if I talk about her version of staying mentally active I think it would result in a RoC violation. :)

It does seem that my cousin's and my generation(s) (they are 10-22 years my senior, so to call us the same generation is a bit disingenuous in some respects) have seen those lifestyle choices with their repercussions and make efforts to be more active. They do a better job of doing real/gym workouts than I do, but I do more physical labor around the house with heavy equipment, wrenching, etc. No matter how you look at it we're more physically and mentally active than our parents were (well, my dad may be more active than me but he's got other issues) and hopefully it will work in our favor.
 
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