How do the different trebuchet designs differ in their effectiveness?

Answer 1

There were at least three different trebuchet designs in the Middle Ages.

Simplest was a hand trebuchet, which could be operated by a single soldier. It was a large sling mounted on the end of a pole, and could throw objects farther than an ordinary sling, even a staff sling, from which it was derived.

Larger, and capable of throwing heavier object farther, was the traction trebuchet, which was operated by a crew, all of whom pulled on ropes to power it.

The largest trebuches were counterweight trebuches, which were powered by gravity. The arm of the trebuchet was pulled down with a winch, and this raised a counterweight at the other end of the arm. By slipping the rope holding the arm down off its connection, the arm was freed, and the projectile was thrown. This resulted in sufficient power to throw objects weigh hundreds of pounds against castle walls or over them. This was the heaviest artillery available before the introduction of the cannon.

New designs in trebuchets have been recently introduced as trebuchets have begun to be used for sport. The floating arm trebuchet is engineered to be as efficient as possible for modern sporting events.

There is a link below to an article that describes these differences in more detail.