Tree milling


What I mean by tree milling

I mean a mechanism that when a tree grown it will automatically detect the event and push the trunk wook blocks in a horizontal row to make it easier to recover.


If you wish I'll post few pictures of my current solution but it is very complex right now (uses more than 8 pistons, block detectors, redstone stairs up and down, monostable circuits and stuff).

My current "solution"

(Notice with up and down I mean vertically speaking)

I builded a circular sand mover which basically push a pile of sand up, then right, then down and then on the left. On the way down (which should in the stable position be empty), there are only empty blocks reserved for the tree truck that is going to grow up. (It's a little bit more than 7 blocks height because I'm referencing Birch Trees as tree type).

My idea (not really mine) is to push the sand down and push the trunk block as well. Make the trunk go all around until it goes up. Then when it is on the way to go from the upper level to the right (from which should go down again) I created a gap. Sand blocks will normally fall down and then be pushed again. Tree block will float; then a piston will detect the floating blocks and push them in a row.

I don't like to synchronize circuits and pistons, so the right and the down piston works naturally when they detect a block to be pushed. The lower pistons (the one that push on the left and the one that push up) are activated once (to start the circular movement) whenever the tree has grown and detected.


The problem is that this method works only when there are as many tree trunk blocks as the empty spaces reserved for the trunk. If a tree doesn't grow a 7-blocks trunk (the maximum) and let's say grow a 5-blocks trunk, there will be 2 wood block still in the circular sand ring.

How do I solve this? Are there any guides or tutorials about this? Do you have any map example to show? Anything?

  • 2
    You can limit the height of a tree by placing a black above the growing site. I think 7 blocks up will give you a consistent four blocks of wood. – Michael May 15 '12 at 22:25

I don't know the definition of tree miller...

[EDIT: as the video I linked to disappeared, thank Robotnik for pointing this out]

But there are a variety of semi-automated tree harvesters out there that are capable of a modest amount of AFK.

The idea is for you to have saplings in your hand, plant one, have a bone meal dispsenser adjacent, which bone meals the sapling.

Once the sapling grows into a tree, a large redstone device, which surrounds a 5x5 area pushes the logs out to a large wood collection area.

If you are daring, you can build an enclosure for a wither, and have the wither blow up the wood, most of which will get harvested.

Saplings are collected in hoppers at the bottom, and moved back to you, so you just have to sit and plant saplings.

There are many tutorials on the topics, in particular, google: Minecraft automatic tree farm (or minecraft AFK tree farm). A video from a more famous youtuber than previously posted is here:

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