This is another of my "Understanding" guides which will attempt to not only describe Loaders, Conveyors and Freight Elevators but also explain how they can be used.

Before getting into the details of this guide I'd like to give a shout-out to a couple of mods I find very handy.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3300589373

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297627947

Loaders transfer items from conveyors to buildings such as assemblers or to elevators.


The four flavors of loaders

There are four types of loaders. There are the plain loader and one with a filtering ability. There are also 2nd and 3rd lane loaders that allow you to "reach across" to grab items off a conveyor.

Loaders have only one speed, 1800 items/minute or 30 items/second. There is a toggle on top to switch the loader to input or output. The non-belt part of a loader has to be place on a building block with low voltage power to operate.

On the filter loader there is another button that allows the loader to only input or output certain items. This can be handy if you intend to put different types of items on one conveyor.

Conveyors (Belts) come in four classes, I, II, III and IV. You can see the difference in the speeds in this video:


There are also slope and balancer pieces. All three types of components have the same speed:

Class I 160 items/minute or 2.67 items/second
Class II 320 items/minute or 5.33 items/second
Class III 640 items/minute or 10.66 items/second
Class IV 1280 items/minute or 21.33 items/second

Slope pieces are longer but maintain the same speed. Balancers allow you to split or merge conveyors or slopes. There are toggles on the balancers to give priority to one side or the other for inputting or outputting. This can be handy, for instance, if you want to be sure that one outgoing leg has primary access to the items.

I won't go into the detail of what items are used to construct the different classes, this information can be accessed through the crafting menu. There are two things to remember, one is that the faster the class, the more complex it is to make the component. The other is that all these components can be made by your character, something you'll probably do a lot in the game.

Conveyors, slopes and balancers do not need any power.

For the sake of brevity and sanity, when I mention "conveyors" in the rest of this guide I also mean slopes and balancers.

Freight elevators move items between levels. This is a simple set-up I used in another guide to test the throughput values of freight elevators.


The test rig

Those interested might want to check out that guide:

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3536815208

As with conveyors, there are four different types of freight elevators:

Freight Elevator I, 320 items/min or 5.33 items/sec
Freight Elevator II, 640 items/min or 10.66 items/sec
Freight Elevator III, 1280 items/min or 21.33 items/sec
Freight Elevator IV, 2560 items/min or 42.66 items/sec

Freight Elevators can have up to fourteen loaders connected to them, although as I demonstrated in the other guide, an elevator of a certain class can only handle two conveyors of the same class as inputs or outputs.

Freight Elevators can upload and download at the same time, even different types of items. It is theoretically possible to upload or download more that one type of item, however this makes the elevator rather likely to "jam" if you use loaders with filters to separate the items as they leave the elevator. Unless you are really pressed for space it is easier to use multiple elevators.

Like with conveyors, I won't go into the detail of what items are used to construct the different classes, this information can be accessed through the crafting menu. There are two things to remember, one is that the faster the class, the more complex it is to make the component. The other is that all these components can be made by your character, something you'll probably do a lot in the game.

Freight elevators are built by first placing either the top or the bottom piece then aligning the other piece on the four blue columns that emanate from the first piece. They do not need power, however any loaders connected to them will need low voltage power.

Any non-liquid/gaseous items in the game that can be manufactured by a machine can be moved by Loaders, Conveyors and Freight Elevators. One of the primary focuses of the game is to move items fast enough to supply machines that need them to make other things.

I'll make a list here with all the components for convenience's sake (again, conveyors include slopes and balancers)

Loaders 1800 items/minute or 30 items/second

Class I conveyors 160 items/minute or 2.67 items/second
Class II conveyors 320 items/minute or 5.33 items/second
Class III conveyors 640 items/minute or 10.66 items/second
Class IV conveyors 1280 items/minute or 21.33 items/second

Freight Elevator I, 320 items/min or 5.33 items/sec
Freight Elevator II, 640 items/min or 10.66 items/sec
Freight Elevator III, 1280 items/min or 21.33 items/sec
Freight Elevator IV, 2560 items/min or 42.66 items/sec

The higher classes of conveyors and freight elevators don't use all the same construction materials, so it is possible you might, for instance, be connecting a class III conveyor to a class II freight elevator. Loaders of course have only one class.

Ultimately, to have a successful factory, you'll want to have class IV conveyors and freight elevators to move your items as fast as possible. Loaders are always faster than the conveyors you connect them to, so they won't be the constraining factor. And to take advantage of the full speed of a class IV freight elevator, you'll need to use two conveyors for each direction, input and output.

I hope that this guide will be useful for folks to get a better understanding of how loader, conveyors and freight elevators are put together to move items. The faster items move in your factory, the more efficient it will be.