So, whats the best way to harvest a wheat field this size?

[David Chambers]

Here it is.

http://imgur.com/KB8Xua1

140x140. I'm thinking Steve's carts is the only way? If so, how do I use those carts? Never really used Steve's Carts before.


Thanks

 

[KirinDave]

Golems will work. So will multiple Minefactory reloaded harvesters and planters with upgrades. Steve's carts can but will decrease your yield.

What's funny is how crazy your intelligent straw golems will go if you use them. Their range resets on each operation so presumably even a few will just roam the field randomly, forever.

 

[David Chambers]

Hmm, haven't looked at Thuamcraft yet. I couldn't find much info on the minefactory machines, how do you use them?

Thanks

 

[KirinDave]

Hmm, haven't looked at Thuamcraft yet. I couldn't find much info on the minefactory machines, how do you use them?

Thanks

By watching their mod spotlights and using them in the manner suggested. Note range upgrades are new, cheap, and pretty absurdly good.

 

[Lambert2191]

Golems. Didn't have to look at the size of your field Golems will always be the best bet.

 

[David Chambers]

Golems. Didn't have to look at the size of your field Golems will always be the best bet.

Wouldn't you need an awful lot of golems?

 

[Lambert2191]

Wouldn't you need an awful lot of golems?

no because:

What's funny is how crazy your intelligent straw golems will go if you use them. Their range resets on each operation so presumably even a few will just roam the field randomly, forever.

 

[David Chambers]

no because:

Ah, I took randomly roaming to mean they wouldn't do anything except wander around. Sorry

 

[Guswut]

Ah, I took randomly roaming to mean they wouldn't do anything except wander around. Sorry

So long as there is a fence around the field as a hole, and he puts covers over those water blocks, they'll be fine.

Best? Possibly. Most amusing to watch? We have a winner!

 

[KirinDave]

So long as there is a fence around the field as a hole, and he puts covers over those water blocks, they'll be fine.

Best? Possibly. Most amusing to watch? We have a winner!

Well the real challenge is the harvesting, anyways. You can either have a ton of machines gridded out to cover the range or just scatter golems with hovering enderchests to dump into. I think the golem solution gives you the best yield per unit area.

You need a lot of wood golems (preferably perceptive), but those are the cheapest golems so it may be fine.

 

[ILoveGregTech]

140x140?
Let's just not count the water holes in the middle, that's 19600 wheat/3=6532 wheat (102 stacks...)

 

[tehBlobLord]

Throw a few random straw golems in (the intelligent ones so that they replant); a single one can manage an almost infinite field but it's more efficient to use more of them. Make sure that it's chunkloaded so that they don't bug out. You'll need a lot of perceptive wooden golems though, but as it was said above, they're really cheap.
Also, to get rid of those water holes, you could use Xycraft soil (which also boosts the growth rate and are stackable) so that the crops are always hydrated; golems interact fine with them. That should raise your efficiency and speed a bit, although with a plot of that size, that's porbably not your greatest concern.

 

[Shakie666]

Why exactly do you need so much wheat? If you want it for biomass, sugar cane is much faster.

As for harvesting, as everyone is saying, golems are pretty much your only option that is practical (that I can think of).

Also, if you have Xeno's reliquary installed, put a lilypad of fertility on each water to increase growing rate.

 

[WayofTime]

Conceivably you could make a frame harvester that sweeps across the field and picks up all of the wheat, replanting it as it passes. It doesn't even need to be computer controlled, needing just a timer or two, and two counters.

 

[tehBlobLord]

Conceivably you could make a frame harvester that sweeps across the field and picks up all of the wheat, replanting it as it passes. It doesn't even need to be computer controlled, needing just a timer or two, and two counters.

It is my goal to make a small one of these for the sheer awesomeness of it, but golems are so tempting xD Maybe I should use it for sugarcane instead, that would be simpler...

 

[KirinDave]

Conceivably you could make a frame harvester that sweeps across the field and picks up all of the wheat, replanting it as it passes. It doesn't even need to be computer controlled, needing just a timer or two, and two counters.

I think this would be much harder than using golems because: how would you know when to harvest? Golems know when something is mature. A frame machine will have to devise some tricky indirect method, right?

 

[CodaPDX]

SC would work, but you'd need 2000+ tracks to cover it all, and you'd likely need multiple carts, cargo managers, and cargo distributors. If you use golems, you'll need ~400 wood golems and maybe half that number of straw golems.

That said, why spread out like that? Wheat farms stack on top of each other really efficiently, and golems have no problem traveling through 1-block tall spaces. Instead of 140x140, you could easily make it 18x18 and eight layers tall. If you provide stairs for golems to get from one layer to another, you could probably get away with a fraction as many golems, too.

 

[Guswut]

Instead of 140x140, you could easily make it 18x18 and eight layers tall.

Or 140x140 with sixty-four layers, and have more wheat than you ever thought possible.

Really now, a 9x9 wheat farm with a single intelligent straw and wooden golem is enough for most situations I've seen. So much wheat.

 

[KirinDave]

SC would work, but you'd need 2000+ tracks to cover it all, and you'd likely need multiple carts, cargo managers, and cargo distributors. If you use golems, you'll need ~400 wood golems and maybe half that number of straw golems.

That said, why spread out like that? Wheat farms stack on top of each other really efficiently, and golems have no problem traveling through 1-block tall spaces. Instead of 140x140, you could easily make it 18x18 and eight layers tall. If you provide stairs for golems to get from one layer to another, you could probably get away with a fraction as many golems, too.

There is the argument that such arrangements are inevitably implausible and often ugly.

 

[WayofTime]

I think this would be much harder than using golems because: how would you know when to harvest? Golems know when something is mature. A frame machine will have to devise some tricky indirect method, right?

Perhaps, however the time that it takes to sweep one way and then to return can be factored in. The efficiency may be at 80% or so, depending on the extra delay that you add, but seeing as how simple and pretty consistent it is, that shouldn't be a problem for a build this size.