Tractor randomly runs out of fuel, despite both stations refueling it?

[Ghost_Ship_Supreme]

I have a tractor going a pretty short distance from my base to collect coal and return to the main factory. But for some reason, it sometimes randomly stops dead half way, with no fuel! It's automatically refueled with coal at both loading stations.

Does running out of power for long times cause this? As my coal power plants had run out of water and i was running backup generators for a while to refill my reservoirs after adding another pump.

[Suzaku]

Truck stations need to be powered to function. If the power shuts down long enough, your vehicles won't be refueled, and might end up stranded.

[Grandaddypurple]

Yes, mostly if you power it up with coal. It's a pretty fast consuming fuel item. If you want a very efficient fuel, I suggest you use color cartridges. Empty your inventory, farm a sh*t ton of flower petals with the chainsaw (the best places are the grassy areas where you have yellow flowers yielding petals), put it in a storage, connect it to some constructors to make color cartridge, connect the constructors to your truck station. They'll last 3 times more than coal and it's easy to farm every once in a while (plus you can still have coal as a back-up)

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by Grandaddypurple:

Yes, mostly if you power it up with coal. It's a pretty fast consuming fuel item. If you want a very efficient fuel, I suggest you use color cartridges. Empty your inventory, farm a sh*t ton of flower petals with the chainsaw (the best places are the grassy areas where you have yellow flowers yielding petals), put it in a storage, connect it to some constructors to make color cartridge, connect the constructors to your truck station. They'll last 3 times more than coal and it's easy to farm every once in a while (plus you can still have coal as a back-up)

This is a -BAD IDEA-. By the time we have trucks and tractors the entire point is complete automation to completely do away with hand-feeding anything in the game. What people should actually be doing is setting up a refinery and then feeding trucks and tractors packaged turbo fuel for late end-game. A stack of packaged turbo fuel is enough for a large truck to make a complete round trip around the entire map and back to one spot and not run out of fuel.

[PersonIDK]

Originally posted by Grandaddypurple:

Yes, mostly if you power it up with coal. It's a pretty fast consuming fuel item. If you want a very efficient fuel, I suggest you use color cartridges. Empty your inventory, farm a sh*t ton of flower petals with the chainsaw (the best places are the grassy areas where you have yellow flowers yielding petals), put it in a storage, connect it to some constructors to make color cartridge, connect the constructors to your truck station. They'll last 3 times more than coal and it's easy to farm every once in a while (plus you can still have coal as a back-up)

This can't be automated tho, so I think the OP would be better off leaving it coal as they get that straight from the cargo they're carrying anyway. (atleast until they get access to better automatable fuels) Using colour cartridges would mean they'd have to worry about filling it up, which brings them all the way back down to the biomass grind.

[Grandaddypurple]

Well I did assume he was in the early-mid game, my idea was to do that once (maybe twice) and then he wouldn't need to bother about it
And who doesn't recolor their factories seriously you NEED COLOR CARTRIDGES

[phugedaboudet]

okay so dumb question: how do you program the tractors? I tried to record a route then run the autopilot but nothing happens.

[Suzaku]

Hop into the vehicle, use the vehicle wheel to start recording, run the entire path that you want to follow, stop recording, and then turn on autopilot. The vehicle should then try to follow the nodes you placed while you were recording.

[DrNewcenstein]

1. Enter vehicle
2. Begin Recording
3. Drive path
4. Finish Path
5. Enable Autopilot
6. Exit vehicle

It won't run the program with you driving it. You can stand on top of it, but you can't Drive it and the program run.

[phugedaboudet]

okay Ive done the recording, enabled autopilot. recorded the whole loop. I think I even got the pauses for load and unload. but there's no movement. gonna make sure Im not in or near the vehicle and see if that works.

[Suzaku]

Vehicles don't drive themselves while you're in them. The only exception to this are trains.

[Tizferatu]

Originally posted by Aquafawks:

Originally posted by Grandaddypurple:

Yes, mostly if you power it up with coal. It's a pretty fast consuming fuel item. If you want a very efficient fuel, I suggest you use color cartridges. Empty your inventory, farm a sh*t ton of flower petals with the chainsaw (the best places are the grassy areas where you have yellow flowers yielding petals), put it in a storage, connect it to some constructors to make color cartridge, connect the constructors to your truck station. They'll last 3 times more than coal and it's easy to farm every once in a while (plus you can still have coal as a back-up)

This is a -BAD IDEA-. By the time we have trucks and tractors the entire point is complete automation to completely do away with hand-feeding anything in the game. What people should actually be doing is setting up a refinery and then feeding trucks and tractors packaged turbo fuel for late end-game. A stack of packaged turbo fuel is enough for a large truck to make a complete round trip around the entire map and back to one spot and not run out of fuel.

Should be using batteries late game (or a small amount of nuclear rods if it's an area you plan to rarely go near).