Loading siege guns

[S J Donovan]

I want to know how to load a big siege gun.  Google does not seem to understand "how to load".  What I would like to know is: crew size, how did they get the approximately 1-foot dia. iron ball into the barrel, finally size and make-up of the artillery train?  If it makes much difference, I am looking for info on Turkish siege guns.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[Captain Gars]

The principles of using tripods, pulleys and winches were well known.

Check out a copy of Eduard Wagner's "European Weapons and Warfare 1618 - 1648 " .

It was recently reprinted as a paperback.  The reprint is expensive and some reviews have commented on the poor quality of some of the illustrations.

[LouieN]

 Many of these early great seige artillery pieces fired stone shots.  Still heavy but not as much as a solid iron ball.

[FifteensAway]

Not sure how accurate it is but there is a scene in Last of the Mohicans of a large mortar being loaded.  I do recall hearing that the soldiers marching on the road were given six weeks of training to march 'in period' so I'd guess it was reasonably accurate.

Might not help with what you are after but it might be worth a look.