.....can be an useful exercise of analogy,thinking and imagination.
About Bessler's MT18 design: www.orffyre.com/mt1-20.html
About "applicability"...can be ,let's hope the aim of this forum.
To open the discussion,I propose an old hurling machine,the counterweight trebuchet ,at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet
The resemblances and differences between them,in my opinion,can open a way to imagine a simplified,reliable,practical gravity powered device...
All the best! / Alex