How I built a Trebuchet - Back to the beginning!

I was commissioned to make and operate a trebuchet to celebrate the launch of the game Age of Empires IV. I built it, they paid me, and then needed to dispose of it after the film; I simply helped with all stages of the problem............ You've already seen it in action. Now see how it was constructed. And the first terrifying tests!
It goes without saying I have always wanted to build one and discover all about them and this is where it started.
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The original launch event film is here • Age of Empires IV - Tr...

[@burrowowl]

Tod is the happiest person on KZbin when playing with that trebuchet. Happy for you, man.

[@DaDudeb]

Who wouldn't be happy to have a medieval artillery to his disposal?

[@ArniesTech]

Happiest man child on the entire internet 🤣

[@ajhxz3446]

Man, that's so nice of you to say, man, man oh man you must be a nice, man

[@David-fj5lz]

These were hand-built no screws then were they built at the actual battle sight or carried there

[@David-fj5lz]

Would they use rivets

[@euansmith3699]

Woodwork is magical; I can practically smell the sawdust watching the construction phase.

[@vivianevans8323]

'Tis wonderful to see how the famous trebuchet got made, and seeing how beautifully the wood has aged in the later videos. Bonus: getting infected by your enthusiasm, Tod: just what we need at the start of another year!

[@axistec]

Tod's enthusiasm and hard work is contagious. I love the attention to detail and ornaments he puts on his projects, like the edge of the windlass pole here. Brilliant

[@thedamnyankee1]

Tod, PLEASE tell us you have pictures of the trebuchet on the back of a truck. Because technically, that would be a technical.

[@vincentmueller3717]

To be a true technical it would have to corner with 2 wheels in the air

[@tods_workshop]

Actually I do - Have a look at my Insta page and I will put up a picture in the next few days for you

[@MrPlainsflyer]

"Ye olde technical" 😂😂

[@timwilliamson7504]

A few years ago, after a visit to Warwick castle, I made my own mini trebuchet in the garden. The arm was only about a metre and a half long and I could throw a ball further by hand than the trebuchet could, but it remains one of the most satisfying things I've ever done - the grace with which it flings the projectile is just a thing of beauty. Can't imagine what it must be like with a big one!

[@veybi]

Todd, you are awesome! Thank you for sharing all these great videos with the world.

[@danielburgess7785]

Now imagine, just for a moment, that you're a Roman who has to oversee the construction of four of these at twice to three times the size of Todd's. You've been packing the metal components for hundreds of leagues through all sorts of lovely weather. Now the scouts have discovered a wooden palisade or stone fort. You've got 48 hours until go time and you're off!

[@lazyman7505]

Romans didn't use counterweight trebuchet as far as I know, they used torsion catapults. Trebuchet is far newer invention, around 12th century IIRC.

[@ptonpc]

Your foreman whistles through his teeth and says "48 hours? You're having a laugh mate. By the time we do the health and safety survey, get the seasoned wood, publish a customer pre satisfaction survey, factor in the breaks and tea... Then we've got the other forts to demolish.. I can fit you in next Tuesday?"

[@Sk0lzky]

@@lazyman7505 eastern romans had access to this tech, after all they fell in XV century. I'm not sure if they actually used them

[@christopherreed4723]

​@@ptonpc And the Military Tribune says "Very funny. Almost as funny as the thought of you making friends with the arena beasts. 48 hours." 😄

[@danielburgess7785]

@@ptonpc "I was only taking the piss."

[@kdawg3484]

My takeaway is just how much three guys and some sort of lifting device can get done in even a couple days. At my old job, we had a shop building some pretty complicated custom heavy equipment. Custom is the key word here. The shop was always overstaffed. That's not only astronomically expensive, but it's extremely inefficient. I witnessed small teams or even individuals with good skills, adaptability, and the necessary tools to maneuver work complete their work not only more efficiently but objectively faster than bigger groups. Communication with and management of each new person drastically increases the complexity (and likelihood of mistakes) of projects. Especially if people don't have something to do, and you have to think of something "to keep them busy" as opposed to just working through each step and problem-solving in a natural order. Enormous multi-ton trebuchet done in a few days with three guys . Add another three, and I bet you add another week and miss the deadline.

[@tods_workshop]

I used to work on Scrapheap Challenge (Junk yard wars was US version), so I used to build able to build a working truck from shelves and washing machine in 10 hours - its a skill that's all

[@samuelbhend2521]

Or build a Treadmillcrane first as a Era-correct Replacement for the Telehandler. It will keep the additional 3 People busy while working on the Trebuchet 😎

[@RobanyBigjobz]

Trebuchets are pretty great but greatest of all is Tod's infectious enthusiasm about building and firing his :)

[@karrachr000]

I am a fan of this sort of 'how it's made' videos and could do with more.

[@theafro]

it's nice to see the old techniques being so diligently recreated, although it's not often that you read of ye olde telehandler in the contemporary texts. Top notch as always Todd!

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

I'd like to see a video on trebuchet dynamics - Range - Time to get to target - Weight of projectile - Acceleration or projectile (maybe ball park it based on acceleration of the arm or have some speedometer measuring just past the arm... ideally, a speedometer tracking the projectile the whole time, and then logging its speed at time intervals). - Or perhaps figure out its velocity at a key time, like when it's about to impact the ground. From there, you can guess at the force of impact when you consider how much it decelerates. Though it also depends on whether the deceleration causes it to skip (wherein it didn't fully decelerate) or deflects (wherein it decelerates with such force that it travels in another direction completely). From there, you can calculate velocity and force of impact. That could be used to determine if it was viable as siege artillery. Also, how the heck did he attach a gopro to the projectile itself? How did it not get damaged, or was it purely just data feed while airborne? Lol

[@KrisV385]

The end of this video I just realized that Todd needed to be outside a medieval town conducting a siege. Todd the siege engineer.

[@aureliusrusticus2320]

Easily one of the coolest projects on all of KZbin. I'm hooked. I've watched every trebuchet you've produced, and I intend to watch every one you produce in the future.

[@resurgam_b7]

With every video you presented of the trebuchet firing, I have hoped that we would one day see a build video, and here it is 😊

[@JoeyC777]

The juxtaposition of the power tools whirring and the medieval music is hilarious.

[@toromac9786]

love the sound of the lit projectile rushing past the microphone as its getting shot.

[@John..18]

Boy, would I have loved to help you build that,, You are one lucky guy,, thanks for putting this build all together in one video,, 👍,,, just going to watch it all again,, 👌👌

[@orestisermeidis5272]

Tod's trebuchet must be the craziest and coolest project in my KZbin feed. It' utterly bonkers and yet, I am pretty sure, in a few years, specialised academic researchers will be using him as a reference in their papers on the understanding of medieval siege warfare! And I am so happy watching him play with his contraption (almost) in real time!

[@PieterBreda]

Dude's got serious skills

[@walkir2662]

Crazy how much work that still is with modern tools and a small one. Thanks for the look behind the scenes!

[@markfergerson2145]

You had me bouncing up and down in my seat with pure glee like a little kid watching you build and test fire that thing. You're right, that is distilled cool.

[@andyspillum3588]

Love the mace heads on the ratchet arm/lock

[@drewswoods]

Yay! More trebuchet!

[@harazhangf5782]

It's impressive how more stable it is now, it jerks way less and all. You did an awesome job at creating it and an even better at improving it. Congratulations !!!

[@cnut5475]

Im jealous, you have that great building to work in. both of my builds had to be done outside, and neither was to this scale. Beautiful work, and i love the treb videos.

[@tods_workshop]

Friends timber storage shed

[@rogerlacaille3148]

Thank you for sharing this with us...watching you build this beauty was Incredible!!!

[@tods_workshop]

A pleasure

[@michaelburrowes6347]

I just love the juxtaposition of medieval lute and JCB

[@chopsddy3]

It’s about time! Thanks Tod👍

[@jonathan198627]

a man living my dream. I hope you are having a blast.

[@hulkthedane7542]

I love, I love, I love 👍👍👍. I want one! Like the detail, that you put what looks like mace heads on the wrench levers. I would actually like to see a full hour video on the build in detail.

[@skate-life9858]

Ive always wanted a trebuchet Loved them ever since i was in Jr school What a channel to stumble across this was epic

[@SiqtheChiq]

Tod, you're living my dream! I always thought it'd be the COOLEST THING to own a trebuchet. A 4th rate Ship-of-the-Line equipped with 30 and 20 lb guns is my second COOLEST THING.

[@widgren87]

I still love the mace-heads on the crank handles :-)

[@dougdoug5949]

Always great to see a man happy with his work. 👍

[@tomtruesdale6901]

That is so cool. Tod you looked like a kid in the candy store with free run of it. Looking forward to more of your trebuchet

[@beezo2560]

Loved watching this. Thanks Tod.

[@wylmanafest3769]

Thank you for such interesting technical videos. I watch all your stuff.

[@spudgn]

Thanks Todd. Always a fun video.

[@Pankeko2]

this type of content deserves way more views

[@billjames8036]

Great work, looking forward to many more Trebuchet launching videos

[@alexandersarchives9615]

Great tribute of a video to one of your best works. Cheers!

[@nigeldepledge3790]

Edward III had one with a 30-metre arm. At first, I was just thinking "wow, that's big!". But it niggled at the back of my mind until it turned into a question: How did Edward III's engineers make a 30-metre arm that could handle all of the forces involved? And how did they make the supporting structure for it? I think it might be time for a "trebuchet versus laws of physics" crowd-fund . . .

[@slrnuttall]

Love it! Thanks for the montage. Cheers mate.

[@Visitingwombat]

Man that looks like it came together real well and real quick

[@Abishek_Muthian]

What an epic Trebuchet video.

[@waynewhite4101]

Thanks, l've been hoping you'd show the build. While testing your creations is very interesting, the construction is what l really appreciate and wow this was a big project.

[@tods_workshop]

A pleasure

[@WingNutRC]

OK...... now we definitely need to see Tod build a 30m arm one!!!!!

[@LuxisAlukard]

I have a grim question: Could you throw a (dead) man using a trebuchet, and how big should it be, and how do you do that? I read/heard that was used during sieges to demoralize people inside castles, so I would like to know how they did that. Cheers!

[@CreepyMF]

Ah that was a lovely process to observe, trebuchet's are so cool.

[@ihcfn]

Awesome as always.

[@si1verg3cko]

Not going to lie this is the image that was conjured in my head when they were calibrating the trebuchet range. Shuffling into the kitchen wearing little more than my fuzzy slippers and my dressing gown, I pour myself a cuppa. Adding in the requisite cream and sugar to start the day I look out the kitchen window into my drive. I take a sip when suddenly a crashing noise from outside slams into me startling me spilling tea everywhere as my auto suddenly erupts in shattered glass as it is stuck by a projectile that fell from the sky. I took toward the horizon from the direction it came and by angered boiled up inside me and from the top of my lung I bellow, "TOD!!!!!"

[@brianamo3393]

Very cool ! There is a lot of ppl like me that was waiting for a video like this . Thanks enjoyed watching, and wanting to build one lol

[@Joe___R]

How are the bolts holding up in the oak? Are you concerned about iron sickness in the timbers?

[@ApfelJohannisbeere]

Simply awesome!

[@harperrob]

I hadn't spotted the mace head on the ratchet before, but love that detail! :)

[@ulfthereaper71]

Great work Tod🙂 Best wishes from Sweden.

[@TGWBALH]

Love these "How to" videos :) More, please!

[@bradleyrobinson7552]

Kewl build, fella!

[@Nemo2342]

Trebuchets vs Armor when? :D

[@timhawley1068]

yes i wood love to see more of the trebuchet i am one who would love to have one but getting to old to build one of my on

[@SquirrelArmyStudios2015]

Watching this has got me thinking what was the medieval equivalent of PVA wood glue. Dowels and metal pins obviously had their historic equivalent but how well did their glue bond wood together?

[@robinbiddlecombe9202]

Hoof and horn glue is as good as PVA (modern wood glue) but it needs to be heated and it stinks, so it has fallen out of fashion.

[@aussiebloke609]

@@robinbiddlecombe9202 Probably a very cheap glue, though - in period, anyway. After all, in an age before the industrial revolution, far more people would have used horses or oxen to pull carts...and thus, there would be far more hoofs to be had at the knackers that can be boiled down for glue.

[@SuperFunkmachine]

@@robinbiddlecombe9202 And it comes off in the wet, get eaten by mould an insect's too.

[@jharris280zx]

Hey tod i'm sure you're tired of shooting arrows at armor but i think one last test might be necessary for hardened leather seeing as it was shot head on as apposed to the piece of leather being shot at an incline the same way a tank's armor deflected bullets by putting it at an angle.

[@themastermason1]

This reminds me of that old NOVA special where two teams competed to build two trebuchets to attack a wall section.

[@hrogarfyrninga3238]

Mounted on a truck it's basically HIMARS. High Mobility Artillery Rock System.

[@Fazoer]

absolute ledgend

[@pillypoo1]

That's one epic way to get your conkers out of the tree!

[@euansmith3699]

Tod came, Tod saw, Tod conkered, Tod got questioned by the Parks' Department Police. 😄👍

[@christiangrantz6906]

No man ever needs to explain why they're building a trebuchet. It's simply what one does

[@tods_workshop]

Quite so

[@vaxpire]

loved every episode!

[@daemonharper3928]

Great vid and great build - very well done sir, well done indeed! Fantastic fun and wow, what a resource for experimental archeology. Chapeau.

[@frankcastle3319]

I came for thiago, you gained another subscriber bro 🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@kodihunt5997]

More trebuchet = more fun and awesomeness!

[@GREYFLWRMUSIC]

How cool would be a video where he builds a trebuchet with a crew and no modern equipment, like a long process and an accompanying vlog.

[@tods_workshop]

If you dig on YT there is an asking one where a Swedish? museum builds a Viking longship in time lapse - awesome

[@enuhsolrac]

This is amazing !!!!!

[@soma_trip1863]

Have you messed about any with staff slings? They are very much like man portable trebuchets, but you can really fling them AT something. Traction trebuchets or mangonels might also be an interesting corollary to investigate, with less financial burden - but I think each is a step on the way to the medieval counterweight job - and may help you work through ideas with less down time between shots.

[@Ian-mj4pt]

Love watching you and how you explain and are so excited what you do

[@tods_workshop]

I am so privileged to be able to do this stuff and I love teaching and I love learning, so how could I not be excited?

[@ptonpc]

This is an awesome build :) EDIT: On a slightly morbid note, I wonder if anyone was ever executed by Trebuchet. I suppose they would have a nice view on the way.

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

We will fire him into the eternal darkness as a testimony to our piety and godliness. Imagine his agony as the flames rise higher, higher until he is but a ball of living fire! Imagine his horror as the mighty ballistic device hurls him high into the depths of the blackened sky! Imagine the terror of his suspense as our poor sacrifice waits for the darkling earth to rise up and crush him to its harsh bosom! Imagine his final horror as his miserable life is snuffed out in a glorious bone-crushing cascade of phosphorescence as he finally, agonizingly smashes into the ground!

[@bobwebber8521]

Never thought much about these things but after watching this I realize that a lot was probably psychological. "What is that dirty big machine going to chuck at us?" Well done.

[@Debbiebabe69]

Remember there was no Geneva or Hague conventions back in those days. As well as bog standard rocky rocks and 'Greek' fire, expect barrels over the walls filled with bees, rats, poo, wasps, rotten corpses, more bees, piss, snakes, locusts, mice, wood-boring beetles, even more bees..... any or all of these 'payloads' could be delivered ablaze if required........

[@markedis5902]

I wonder what the timber merchant said when you went in and said “I’d like £20,000.00 worth of oak and £5,000.00 of ash please”

[@tods_workshop]

We have known each other a long time...

[@ArniesTech]

Tod is the happiest adult-child on the interwebs 🤣💪

[@throwing_things7773]

Fun to watch this video.

[@calvingreene90]

How about shooting action figure with a parachute?

[@CAARaeed]

I am too dumb to know what he's on about half the time but it's still fascinating. Engineers must find this stuff so cool

[@Gunslinger2121]

So how soon before you have these available in your store? I think it would pair magnificently with a Bollocks Dagger!

[@Crowwalker100]

British craftsmen have to be some of the cleanest dressed craftsmen I have ever seen.

[@nilo70]

Loved this , I have . Cheers from California 😊

[@Cheesarion]

Just out of curiosity, where can I listen to more of the medieval music that sometimes plays in the background?

[@SLD127YT]

Such an awesome thing to build and have. I want one! Though, I've always wondered if the slow crank couldn't have been improved by putting a transmission upwards, with a gear or chain, to a secondary mechanism off the ground, so it it can be cranked in a continous motion, without needing to move the crank-handle for every turn? Could even be used to reduce the power needed at the cost of more revolutions. Though I'm not sure at how historical such would be, I don't see it as completely implausible for medieval people to come up with. Unless I'm missing some crucial problem preventing such mechanism.

[@cyberiankorninger1025]

If Jim Stansfield is so good at Trebuchet math we really need him to calculate the size required to haul a 90 kg projectile over 300 meters.

[@tods_workshop]

He certainly can, but this was designed for some specific requirements for a PR launch which it fulfilled beautifully, it is only afterwards that I have repurposed it to make it shoot further, but it will never be as good as if it were designed for it.

[@Phootaba]

I've read somewhere that a fairly common failure of the trebuchet is that the payload goes straight up, and fall down and destroying the trebuchet!

[@Jagdtyger2A]

Nice toy, you should start an English version of the "pumpkin chunking" competition where contestants try to see who can launch a pumpkin the farthest. I would have two classes: mecanical and gas/powder launched

[@Kholdaimon]

Weird question, but is a trebuchet classified as a weapon? Are you legally allowed to own one as a civilian? I mean, swords are regulated, guns are regulated, bows are regulated... Is a siege weapon regulated?

[@tods_workshop]

Interesting question. Uk law is mostly based on intent and context. So for example I can own a sword at home, IF I am at some sort of organised event at which the sword is in context, for example a reenactment/renfaire type thing, I could carry it in public. I could draw the sword to show someone for example and that would be OK. However if I got in a fight with that sword, then suddenly it would change from an innocent object into being an offensive weapon. IF I just walked out my door wearing it but not to an event, then it would also be an offensive weapon. Trebuchets are not licensed like firearms (bows and crossbows are not licensed here either), But it is so oddball that I could easily have it in my front garden and thrown lumps of foam and I would just be a wierdo, throw a rock and it would be some sort of offence.

[@Kholdaimon]

@@tods_workshop But you are throwing rocks and darts and flaming projectiles. Does that not make it an offense? Or because you do it in a field and not in your "front garden" it is okay? Or do they just not care until you cause property damage or physical injury?

[@HalSchirmer]

First, great project, and great workmanship. BUT (isn't there always) I'm REALLY worried that 45° pulley setup will cause your ropes to fail early. I worked as a tree cutter for a couple years, used LOTS of compound pulley setups, and believe me, I have gotten yelled at to NEVER pull the middle of a rope into a triangle to pull the ends - you only get a fraction of the power/stress you apply because you are reducing the 'Acting Angle' and put more strain on the rope that you get in work doing the pulling I'd check into a compound pulley that keeps the acting-angle at 0° to make it easier on the rope and the guy doing the winching.

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks and in fact the pulse set up was shown in a book that clearly shows how the author thinks it was done, but It pretty clearly wasn't, so I went in and changed it to what I have now.

[@HalSchirmer]

@@tods_workshop Good to know that- I thought the windlass looked different in the later videos, glad all are staying safe. Believe me, you learn quickly when the load bearing rope shifts, the load drops ... and the guiding line pulls taut and lifts YOU into the air... They "Who did that cool tattoo of a silver snake curling around your arm?" Me "It's not a tattoo, it's rope-burn from a nylon arborist's rope..."

[@calvincheney7405]

Impeccable~

[@PieterBreda]

That is as cool as cool can be.

[@Specter_1125]

Would it have been possible to have the winch operable on both sides, so that two people could turn it at the same time? When one person took out the lever to reset it, the other person could continue operating the winch.

[@josephbiggie6047]

One thing I dont quite understand is that the trebuchet recreations I've seen never seem to be able to outrange a bow, not by a longshot. So you set your trebuchet 100 meters from the castle walls. But a longbow can shoot out maximum range to 250-300 meters. So 100 meters is an easy shot to get fairly accurately. Trebuchets take time to reload and reset and I cant imagine being able to work well while under continuous fire from even a dozen longbowmen on the walls. You manage to get a handful of shots out each hour, while every minute you get a dozen arrows coming your way. They dont have to be very accurate before you start to run out of crew members. And while of course they could put wicker shields in front of the crew, I imagine the longbow arrows would be shooting near vertically to get that range, so would be coming from above at a parabola, not from straight ahead.... so the shields wouldnt stop much unless you are standing directly behind it and not moving.

[@tods_workshop]

You can do the maths and design a trebuchet to achieve certain things and so all the relationships of the timber and pivot lengths ar designed in. This was made to throw some odd and overweight stuff, not very far for a game launch PR stunt. After I repurposed it, but without some massive reengineering of dimensions and relationships it will never be amazing, but I can still have fun with it and learn and play.

[@greensoplenty6809]

lubricate anything? think i read somewhere they may have used pig fat or could be misremembering excellent making mace heads on the levers for the crew in case of a sally

[@andresperedo1275]

According to Age of Empires 2, if we consider that the wood used is equivalent to whatever it is "200 wood units", your salary should be "200 gold units". I hope you got your 200 gold!