The traction trebuchet by itself was not overwhelmingly powerful; its use was limited largely to a supporting role in most sieges. What was needed to make the trebuchet a truly important piece of siegecraft was a way to make it more powerful. The traction trebuchet was restricted to smaller projectiles, generally under fifty pounds. During the twelfth century the counterweight trebuchet with its massive weights had become the new weapon of choice in most sieges led by western Europeans. The transitional step up, however, from the smaller human-powered engines to the enormous counterweight devices was not the application of ancient technology to newer ends but rather somehow a quantum leap in design. The supposed transition between the traction and the counterweight trebuchet was called a hybrid trebuchet and is depicted as having both a partial counter-weight and a pulling crew to launch the projectile. An alternate interpretation of the evidence raises the possibility of an improvement on the simple traction trebuchet by counterpoising the weight of the projectile and the throwing arm.

The traction trebuchet was severely limited by its smaller supporting pole frame. The Frankish trebuchet was developed in western Europe with a much larger and more robust trestle-framed support structures, although still human powered. A more structurally sound frame allowed for the components of the throwing arm and axle to increase in size. The increase in size would also imply an increase in weight of the throwing arm itself and allow for an increase in the weight of the projectile in the sling.