"Boris"

The following videos show NY Pumpkin farmer Jimmy Golub take on a local newscaster in a battle of accuracy when throwing pumpkins with a huge trebuchet!

"The Challenge"

"The Rematch"
This is the one we hit the trampoline with the flying pumpkin!

"Rubber Match"

2006 saw the introduction to the area's first trebuchet or catapult for launching pumpkins brought unprecedented attention to Our Farm. We call him Boris.

Boris the Trebuchet

Boris the Trebuchet at "Our Farm"

The Trebuchet

The trebuchet was used in warfare since 300 BC in China.

The crusades used this technology to knock down castle walls at a safe distance from the archers and defenses of the castle. “Huge boulders were sent crashing into the walls. Sometimes flaming objects were hurled, or even diseased bodies to spread pathogens. A true wonder of engineering, it allows a counterweight to power a projectile using extremely efficient energy. It is said to be the most powerful nonexposive weapon ever invented. Leonardo DaVinci designed one.

Boris stands some 15 feet tall and with the throwing arm in the resting position stands 27 feet high. The throwing arm is 22 feet long, and the counterweight is 1200 pounds. We estimate that he can throw an average pumpkin 150 feet high and a 200 feet distance (although this varies depending on the weight).

Boris is now going into his 7th year of service. He has been extremely reliable, due to his sound construction and strength when he was built. But wear and time have required us to do some maintenance and also we made some improvements. We had to replace the bearings on the throwing arm pivot point. This meant we had to get a back hoe to lift the weight off the throwing arm. Also, the winch is now attached with an iron frame that gives it much more stability. So at a glance, Boris looks the same, but he is beefed up and reconditioned and ready to please the crowds.

I would like to thank many people who helped make Boris a reality.
Doug Durfee helped me get started and also built the trigger mechanism and other componants. Jay Gianforte helped me with the sling. A special thanks to Jeff Martin, who let us use his shop and all the tools and accessories and also did some welding and fabricating. And a very very special thanks goes out to Steve Geer who first convinced me I should have a trebuchet, and then spent countless sessions putting this project from his mind into reality. Farmers are the most resourceful creative people on the planet.

The castle was constructed in 2007 as a target for Boris.

I would like to thank Steve Burden, who helped build the castle, Jimmy Mason, who donated the large bales, and Lynn and Marcia Ketcham, who got us the round bales.