Welcome!
A Brief Introduction
Welcome to the new-and-improved website for Team Urban Siege. Team Urban Siege is a group of friends that have been building trebuchets since 2006 and competing in the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin since 2008. This website chronicles our team's work and also attempts to provide information on building trebuchets, the weapon of choice for mass destruction in the Medieval Era. Soon there will be design information for arms, axles, slings, frames, counterweights, and a whole lot more. Not only will there be discussion as to how they work, but suggestions as to how to keep your various trebuchet parts from breaking will be here as well. There will even be some free plans for smaller trebuchets to get you started in this fun hobby!But most of all, this site is dedicated to exhibiting our work. Before 2011, Team Urban Siege was well-known in the hurling community for highly-efficient designs. Medieval Postal Service was a breakthrough machine despite not being designed to WIN. However, that has changed with 2011. Our new machine, NASAW, the North American Sliding Axle Whipper, is a first-of-its-kind, incredibly-efficient and super-long-distance-throwing trebuchet. In just it's first season, on only it's 13th shot EVER, NASAW nearly took out the 7-time World Champion Steve Siegers and his new mammoth machine Yankee Siege II with a shot of 2316.17 feet! We have the second-longest-throwing trebuchet IN THE WORLD and it's only beginning to get tuned in!
Sponsorship
Team Urban Siege would like to thank all of our sponsors, past and present. These include:Great Lakes Pressed Steel, who made Medieval Postal Service possible by donating the steel and aluminum used, along with allowing us use of the machine shop there and the services of Glen, who did all of the welding for the machine. They were also invaluable in the construction of NASAW, our new competition trebuchet.
Creative Hands Custom Blinds and Window Treatments for wood shop usage, machine storage for most of our collapsible trebuchets, and help with constructing all of our pouches since Jeckyl and Hyde.
Wickham Farms, who was very helpful in finding us ideal test ammunition (pumpkins) at the last minute before the 2010 World Championships, and who helped us out further in 2011 by growing some particularly hurling-friendly breeds of pumpkins. We sent them flying over 2000 feet!
Thanks also to all others that have donated, time, materials, and even money to the team. A further thanks to those that helped out in other ways. Most of these are listed on the left.
Disclaimer
All information found with this site or at other sites linked to from here is used at the sole risk of the user. Team Urban Siege and its members will be in no way responsible for any damage or injuries suffered from the use of this information.
Use "common sense" when operating trebuchets and catapults. Even little ones can be dangerous. Do not place anything you are not willing to lose in the plane of the arm rotation (this includes yourself, body parts, car windshields, cameras, etc). These catapults and trebuchets are capable of throwing just as far backwards as forwards, and the use of a backstop of some sort is recommended, though the use of one does not make the region behind it safe.
Also, just because the throw got away safely downrange does not mean the end of the danger. The arm is likely still swinging wildly along with the counterweight, and there is a sling whipping around. One thing many people fail to take into account is this sling; some people put a metal ring on the slip end of the sling and this ring can HURT when whipping around!
Have fun hurling, but please KEEP IT SAFE!!!
Latest News
First NASAW Pictures Online
Posted by Matt - Dec 02, 2011We've uploaded the first pictures from the construction of NASAW for viewing. More will come at a later date, but enjoy these for now!
Sneak Peek of Team Urban Siege and NASAW
Posted by Matt - Nov 22, 2011The Science Channel just posted this video, presumably a tidbit from the show "Punkin Chunkin 2011". It features us. See it here:
Punkin Chunkin Pictures
Posted by Matt - Nov 21, 2011You may have noticed this already: we've uploaded some pictures from the 2011 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin. There will be more to follow. Don't forget to watch us on TV Thanksgiving night (this Thursday 11-24) at 8PM EST/PST!
Team Urban Siege Narrowly Edged for First
Posted by Matt - Nov 07, 2011Day 3 of the 26th World Championships of Punkin Chunkin was a wild one. The winds were non-existent all day long, leading to some super shots. The trebuchets led off again, with Yankee Siege II firing it's second official misfire of the chunk, leaving them with the 2326' from Day 2. Merlin also repeated their Day 1 shot, although not with as much hang time. Suffice to say that their 1985' from Day 2 was their best, and a personal best by a long shot. Great Gourd Experiment finally joined the 1000 foot club. Congratulations to Terry and the gang!
Team Urban Siege Drops to Third
Posted by Matt - Nov 05, 2011This year has been a bad year for pumpkins. Today we destroyed one on our competition shot. The pumpkin was turned into a fine mist of bits similar to only how torsion machines and air cannons do to them. We are pulling massive g-forces with this new machine and the weak pumpkins this year are having trouble keeping together. We did take two test shots this evening and the first one bombed out there very nicely, albeit at a high trajectory. The second one was a weak-looking pumpkin and we blew that one to smithereens as well. The "good news" is that we are simply blowing up weak pumpkins. We have some 300 fps video of our shots clearly showing the pumpkin leaving the sling intact and then blowing up shortly thereafter, suggesting the pumpkins are failing due to a rebounding effect of the rind. More investigation is in order this off-season. We are looking for the best possible pumpkin for tomorrow's round 3 shot.
