THE TREBUCHET

As built for the television series

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Websters Dictionary: Trebuchet, a medieval catapultlike device for throwing heavy missiles.

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The trebuchet standing erect in the uncocked position..

Side view of the trebuchet.

Re-erected lakeside ready to fling the coffins.

My mini treb built from parts of an old Erector Set.

In the uncocked position.

Artists drawing of the operation of the trebuchet, from an old reference.

This link belongs to a class of 10 year old kids from Atlanta, Ga.. They are building small trebs and catapults and will be updating this link with pics and stories.

A treb page and pics of their treb from the Western U of New Mexico.

Here is Ron Toms' page with his stories and pics of his successful people flinging trebuchet.

This web site belongs to my friend from down under (Austrailia) that is a member of "the Gray Company", a group that studies and practices the art of the medieval days. They have built an operational treb and you may see their efforts here at the following web site. This site has the best collection of links dealing with the art of the "catapulteer"

Here is (page under construction) an Oregon Boy Scout Troops' efforts on constructing a pumpkin flinging treb from available onsite materials.

This trebuchet has been sold.

The city of Corvallis Or. and sponsors of the "da Vinci Days" 5th annual celebration have purchased this trebuchet to be re- erected and made operational. The Flinger Thinger shall Fling again. This year the fair will be held 18 July thru 20 July, 1997.

Here is the link to their web site.

Treb builder and fellow catapulteer John Wayne Cyra's homepage .Click here

Send mail to: verne@eskimo.com

Built for the TV show "Northern Exposure" and seen worldwide in two different episodes. In one episode we flung a 450 pound upright piano 100 yards. In the other episode we flung coffins into the middle of a lake. To get all the camera angles and shots for the piano episode, we flung 9 full size upright pianos. All nine pianos consistently landed in the same spot. We put a crash camera in the impact crater of one piano to get a shot of the piano coming straight down from about 250 feet in th e air.

I have video tape of every phase of construction , from cuttin down the dozen trees it took to make the base, to the actual filming of the piano episode. Portions of the video seen on "Bill Nye The Science Guy".

After filming, the trebuchet was disassembled and put in storage in a barn, until about a year later when we re-erected it on the side of Rattlesnalke Lake, outside North Bend, Washington. For the coffin episode we flung 4 wood coffins and 4 steel coffins into the middle of the lake. The coffins were filled with sand, and banded to keep them from blowing apart during lift off. The trebuchet worked perfectly every time we fired it. The power of this device is awesome and comes from the ten thou sand pounds of lead weight in a steel box on one end of the arm. It takes a bulldozer to cock the arm, and a bulldozer to trip the hook that releases the arm to launch. In the uncocked position the arm points straight up and stands about 50 feet tall. Concrete could be used in the weight box to hold the arm upright. The arm is an 8 inch by 32 inch gluelam beam, encased and reinforced with steel. It pivots on a 4 inch by 10 foot chromium steel shaft.

I envision the trebuchet as a great business sign, or flagpole, or just an awesome conversation piece. It could be made operational again, but it is not a carnival ride, and there's more to firing this thing than meets the eye. The base is made f rom 1 foot diameter fir logs, that are bolted and steel strapped together. The trebuchet is now disassembled and in storage on my property outside Monroe, Washington.

I am the owner/builder and can deliver and set it up anywhere. The original cost to build was $50,000. If you are interested in owning a most unique piece of of history and a little bit of Northern Exposure, please give me your

" Best Offer."

Contact John Wayne (Cyra) at: 800.576.3958 (my pager) or Verne at 206.788.2505 Email to verne@eskimo.com.

Verne's homepage link

Last revision 10/08/97