I've never heard of such a thing... has it ever worked before?
Has the game been modified with mods (other than from Steam Workshop)?
You can try if the UI of the log station works easiest in the so-called proving ground.

Originally posted by LeeQuid:

I've never heard of such a thing... has it ever worked before?
Has the game been modified with mods (other than from Steam Workshop)?
You can try if the UI of the log station works easiest in the so-called proving ground.

Maybe it was only in Spintires and I'm horribly misremembering? but then other people online are openly talking about using the station instead of the crane ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. So... we're all crazy or the game is broken.

I'm using just some vehicle and map mods, nothing should conflict with the ability to load trailers, I'll give proving ground a try

It works perfectly fine on the proving ground, I have no clue what's going on here. Not sure if it's modded maps or modded vehicles causing the issue

I completely understand some people don't like operating the crane manually, especially not using the keyboard (in my mind it's much easier with a gamepad but there are also enough people who swear by the keyboard and sooner or later you get used to almost every kind of control). Personally, for me operating the crane is part of the experience - and playing the so-called hardcore/simulation mode it's a must anyway.

For the easier difficulty/casual mode, there are (community) maps that offer both, a log station (for automatic loading) next to a log kiosk (for manual loading). Mostly maps do not offer both, but a log station on the easier difficulty or a log kiosk in hardcore/simulation mode. On some of the base game's DLC maps that offer scavenge sites, you have to use the crane manually even in casual mode and you won't find automatic loading zones.

Within the automatic loading zone the UI should appear when the vehicle isn't moving. But I think we need to clarify first... do you even see the marked zone of a log station on these maps where the problem occurs? (e.g. like in proving ground)
It can happen that the area around the map looks like a timber stockyard, but the loading zones are only defined for certain (marked) areas.

What he said, not every loading site has both the automatic loading and manual loading, some sites offer the only the manual loading even on Casual.

Originally posted by LeeQuid:

I completely understand some people don't like operating the crane manually, especially not using the keyboard (in my mind it's much easier with a gamepad but there are also enough people who swear by the keyboard and sooner or later you get used to almost every kind of control). Personally, for me operating the crane is part of the experience - and playing the so-called hardcore/simulation mode it's a must anyway.

For the easier difficulty/casual mode, there are (community) maps that offer both, a log station (for automatic loading) next to a log kiosk (for manual loading). Mostly maps do not offer both, but a log station on the easier difficulty or a log kiosk in hardcore/simulation mode. On some of the base game's DLC maps that offer scavenge sites, you have to use the crane manually even in casual mode and you won't find automatic loading zones.

Within the automatic loading zone the UI should appear when the vehicle isn't moving. But I think we need to clarify first... do you even see the marked zone of a log station on these maps where the problem occurs? (e.g. like in proving ground)
It can happen that the area around the map looks like a timber stockyard, but the loading zones are only defined for certain (marked) areas.

The maps I tested have the same style of log loading zones as the proving grounds. The one had a quite small zone so I thought size was the issue, but even trying the map with the slightly larger zone and using a Unimog (I could probably fit a grid of 9 unimogs into the size of this load zone for context) it never popped up for me. Then I tried the big MAZ with a log upfit that even slightly went over the edge of the proving ground load zone, and the white square on the ground turned red and gave me the ui popup when I hit the brakes. Modded vehicles also work in the proving ground so the issue is either broken maps, OR there's an conflict with combining mod maps and mod vehicles.

For clarification, I haven't played in 3 years so it's entirely possible I've just got some old ass janky maps in my old subscriptions. Next time I report back will be after clearing old maps and trying some maps that are recently popular.

If you don't mind your savegame on a specific (already problematic) map - and the map is from Steam Workshop anyway - then you can unsubscribe, re-download and test a maybe updated version of it with your selected mod vehicles.

Which maps (in combination with which vehicles) do not work for you? I'm interested to see if I can reproduce the behavior too...

It's the towing vehicle that always counts for the loading zone (apart from the fact that this makes no sense at all, but usually the zones are big enough).

Something that comes to my mind... if it's an oversized or overheight map and you aren't using SpintiresMod[stmods.org], the game may not be able to calculate certain areas correctly.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the devs have subsequently limited the possible size/height of the previously already possible values (certainly for a legitimate reason, howsoever). The mentioned mod tool allows this again (I'm not sure if it was actually MudRunner or still at the time of Spintires, though), but the fact is that there are a lot of maps that are oversized and require this mod tool.

So if it's one or more very old map(s), that could be the case. And it wouldn't be the first game/software where newer versions cause problems with older mods.


btw. SpintiresMod requires Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes version 2013. Please note - both x86/x64 versions can be installed in parallel. I've not tested the current version of SpintiresMod (v 1.14.2), but with v.1.12.9 the runtime can be found in its installation path: ...\SpintiresMod\_CommonRedist\vcredist\2013 (it won't be installed automatically, and I think it will be the same as with 1.14.2).

However, there is a known problem, where mods cause crashes in multiplayer mode using SpintiresMod.

If you need some help, I've put together a Steam guide explaining the installation and configuration of the mod tool (among many other things to give people some start assistance).

Okay, I've figured out it's just some maps are busted. I'll uninstall them and then just get new ones, maybe redownload some but no big deal. Loading a modded vehicle fine on a vanilla map. Many of the mods I've got are kinda willy nilly downloaded anyway, I need to clear it out and just keep the quality stuff

I appreciate the help here man, I thought my game was broken lol

Sure, you're welcome and good luck for sorting things out in the game. The game still has its peculiarities and there are still so many things that could have been better. But it's still a game that has its very own charm and is great fun! :)

Have fun with the game! But without wanting to offend you, please consider choosing a proper username. It's not for me to judge, but that makes a community or public area much more pleasant too.