Welcome! - Home of the 2012 World Champion Punkin Chunkers!
A Brief Introduction
Welcome to the 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. We have some design information, suggestions as to how to keep your various trebuchet parts from breaking, and even 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 - over 1300' in competition with a largely wooden machine that took 8-9 hours to bolt together on-site. 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! In 2012, we managed to beat Yankee Siege II and the rest of the field and take FIRST PLACE at the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin! Since then, we have made minor improvements and compete just about every year, setting a personal best with NASAW in 2021 of over 1/2-mile at 2663'!
2023 Event Schedule
October 7
NASAW will be competing in Dayton, OH at Pumkpkin Chuck Dayton - throwing pumpkins on a runway! It was a blast in 2018, we set a personal best in 2021 (over 1/2-mile!), and we're looking forward to attending again! The event is held next to the National Museum of the US Air Force. Facebook event link.
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 has helped us out ever since by growing some particularly hurling-friendly breeds of pumpkins. We send them flying well 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
2021 Dayton Punkin Chunk
Posted by Matt - Nov 14, 2021After nearly 2 years without competition, 2021 saw a couple events return, and one of those was Pumpkin Chuck Dayton. Having attended in 2018, we had wanted to return in 2020 before it was cancelled, so we were thrilled that it was going to happen in 2021! Despite the numerous issues we had at our last event, the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin 2019 in Rantoul, IL, we were optimistic for this year. We had the newly-rebuilt longer arm, which was just fine after that chunk. Our new pouch design seemed to work well (other than the sacrificial sleeve that disqualified our 2570' shot). Nick and Jason did some work in the last 2 years to properly fix the bandaged track gates that we messed up at Rantoul, and they replaced the winch bearings that were limiting the counterweight we could run at that event. Would this be the year we FINALLY got a hold of one and broke the 1/2-mile mark (2540')?
2019 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin
Posted by Matt - Dec 31, 2019The 2019 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin have come and gone. 2019 was the first year the event was held somewhere other than Delaware, and the move to Rantoul, IL brought numerous changes to the event. First and foremost only 20 teams were able to make it to the new location due to a combination of factors, but this had the benefit of leading to a smaller, more intimate event which had many benefits.
2019 Fall Schedule, and World Championships Changes
Posted by Matt - Sep 27, 2019Our 2019 schedule is set, with more opportunities to see us in action than normal! The schedule is on the main page of this site, but repeated here for posterity:
World Championships of Punkin Chunkin to be in Rantoul, IL for 2019
Posted by Matt - Jun 02, 2019Per the WCPCA website, the event is moving to Rantoul, IL for 2019. There was a huge effort to try to keep it in the Delaware area, but ultimately the best option presented itself in the mid-West. We hope to be able to attend at this event with NASAW, but cannot confirm at this time. The press release from the WCPCA is quoted below, and also available (at the moment) at punkinchunkin.com.
2018 Dayton Punkin Chunk
Posted by Matt - Nov 11, 2018This year, after years of talking about it but never managing it due to scheduling issues, we made it to the Dayton Punkin Chunk to compete with NASAW! The event is held annually alongside the runway at the National Museum of the US Air Force.
