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Yep, that is totally legal

confusedhuman wrote:I just wanted to know if i could add weight to my arm(the side with the cw on it). It doesnt break the energy rule does it? I mean as long as the arm doesnt launch without the cw it should be fine right? Since adding weight is just like making the sling arm thinner or making the part with cw bigger... right?

confusedhuman wrote:I just wanted to know if i could add weight to my arm(the side with the cw on it). It doesnt break the energy rule does it? I mean as long as the arm doesnt launch without the cw it should be fine right? Since adding weight is just like making the sling arm thinner or making the part with cw bigger... right?

It's fine because the arm doesn't launch without the counterweight on it. I'm sure some people have constructed arms that are heavier on the CW side already and have not been disqualified.

I just got two totally different opinions so could somebody please clarify and explain why or why not it is allowed to add more weight to the arm with the cw side as long as it does not go into launch motion without the cw?

On a different subject, how far are the F.A.T.s launching? I did pretty horribly at state competition and only launched somewhere around 8.7 meters with 3 kg and a 60g projectile.

confusedhuman wrote:I just got two totally different opinions so could somebody please clarify and explain why or why not it is allowed to add more weight to the arm with the cw side as long as it does not go into launch motion without the cw?

Okay, I think I know what you mean.


You can add weight onto the arm, as much as you want(however lighter arms are better), as long as the trebuchet doesn't go into a firing position without the counterweight. For example, I went to states a few weeks ago, and during impound I was told the trebuchet was illegal because it went into a firing position without the counterweight, we added weight to the arm to stop the energy, it was fine after that.

confusedhuman wrote:On a different subject, how far are the F.A.T.s launching? I did pretty horribly at state competition and only launched somewhere around 8.7 meters with 3 kg and a 60g projectile.

With 3kg and 60g projectile we are shooting 15 meters.
It can throw 25+ overall.

I was actually asking if i could add weight to the part of the arm with the cw on it as long as it doesn't fire. I also wanted to know why or why not it was allowed. By the way 25 plus meters is amazing and i cant imagine getting that much without having to build a new trebuchet.

confusedhuman wrote:I was actually asking if i could add weight to the part of the arm with the cw on it as long as it doesn't fire. I also wanted to know why or why not it was allowed. By the way 25 plus meters is amazing and i cant imagine getting that much without having to build a new trebuchet.

Yea, you can add weight as long as it doesn't fire without the counterweight. Remember the energy is supposed to come from the counterweight being influenced by gravity. I think it's not allowed because it'd seem as though there is energy stored or something. I'm not sure though.

Tramsarran wrote:Yea, you can add weight as long as it doesn't fire without the counterweight. Remember the energy is supposed to come from the counterweight being influenced by gravity. I think it's not allowed because it'd seem as though there is energy stored or something. I'm not sure though.

ummm... sorry, but u just said yes and no in one post. Will i be able to take the weight off at the competition if they don't allow me adding weight? And if i have to will they take points off for a rule violation(if it is one)?

I never did get to compete with this at state since it was one of the 5 dropped, but I'm still going to work on my trebuchet over the summer... Just for the heck of it!

confusedhuman wrote:

Tramsarran wrote:Yea, you can add weight as long as it doesn't fire without the counterweight. Remember the energy is supposed to come from the counterweight being influenced by gravity. I think it's not allowed because it'd seem as though there is energy stored or something. I'm not sure though.

ummm... sorry, but u just said yes and no in one post. Will i be able to take the weight off at the competition if they don't allow me adding weight? And if i have to will they take points off for a rule violation(if it is one)?

It's not a rule violation unless the arm fires without the counterweight being attached. If it does launch without the counterweight you'll be bumped into Tier 2.