Why I STOPPED Using Mining Vehicles (You Should Too)

Mining in Scrap Mechanic can be a real pain! But with this new mining technique, you can mine that sweet metal a lot faster!
Ever wondered what is the best mining vehicle in Scrap Mechanic? I would say no mining vehicle. They are really hard to keep on top of a hill, and the stones fly everywhere. So I found a much better approach to rock mining.
With just a few blocks, a bearing, and a drill we can mine a lot simpler! We can go even further and semi-automate it with gas engines. It's so much fun seeing the rocks getting absolutely destroyed! I hope this will help you farm resources a lot faster!
My Discord: / discord
Enter the creative paradise of Scrap Mechanic! Build fantastic machines, go on adventures with your friends and defend against waves of evil Farmbots in this imaginative multiplayer survival sandbox. With Scrap Mechanic’s powerful creation tools you can engineer your own adventures! Now with Scrap Mechanic Survival mode!
You can buy Scrap Mechanic here: store.steampowered.com/app/38...
Music: YT Audio Libary
"March of the Spoons" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"Local Forecast - Elevator" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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[@KaneyoriHK]

I build specialized mining vehicles to deal with this, but it's because I don't care about expense, I care about looks, I like making big, needlessly large, vehicles, afterall, SM's all about creativity. But have fun in whatever way you like, afterall, it's all about what you want.

[@floppi3587]

So true

[@KaneyoriHK]

@@oakclassy I mean, I do use this tactic for a bit, then I make a mining vehicle cause it's more fun. Then again, I also do say, it's all about what you want, so do as you see fit

[@DommeDakDuif]

Have you posted any of your specialized minning vehicles ? I would love to see what areas it is great at.

[@KaneyoriHK]

@@DommeDakDuif It's been a hot minute, but what I did was have the vehicle built like a crane, I would pick up a material storage thing, lift it over to where I'm mining, and have the drills begin harvesting, I'd do this a couple of times and would basically clear the upper part pretty easy. I'd then have a conveyer and drop-off point to unload.

[@DommeDakDuif]

@@KaneyoriHK that sounds like a fun project. I already have some sort of idea to make a garbage truckt that takes those resource baskets and puts it inside to hidden refineries inside the garbage truck. thanks for inspiration.

[@UnCommentator]

The best mining vehicle I saw was just designed to pick up the rocks off the ground and drop them in a hopper filled with drills, and you just break up the big nodes with explosives which is much more fun

[@kami-kk8bo]

I think If u make a box the exact dimensions of a single big rock block it can break all of the rocks sizes to rods then add a rod collector thing and a refinery it is cheaper

[@br0kenPixel]

try making the most lag efficient vehicle, controller powered drills, electric engine for the wheels so there isn't as much wheel slip, and minimal parts. works super well, sometimes even better than the "scorpion" designs, just because of how simple it is Edit: Suspension is BAD

[@Psycorde]

Suspension works for me, it just has to be simple

[@crayder1100]

Suspension is a key component to some mining vehicles honestly.

[@Solis190491]

apart from the electric engine, my current mining vehicle is exactly as you described! once i discovered the much better controller-driven drills, and the no suspension benefits, no one is gonna convince me that any vehicle is better than mine

[@xpen2007]

Agreed on all points. But its also important to use the heaviest blocks as base to make a compact but very heavy machine. No supension at the wheels but if you use two drills, use suspensions as connectors to the drills in oder to make sure that both drills get contactto the rock. If you don't mind a bit of glitch use, then i recommend the suspension steering glitch. That should be all moveable parts, as many not rigidly attached parts cost alot of processing time and therefore slow down the minig rate considerably.

[@OttosTheName]

Nice! I have a pretty decent mining vehicle, but even that one sometimes just doens't work all that well because of the sliding around and collisions just sometimes not being detected. This is the most Scrap Mechanic way of doing it imo. If the game is broken af, just use it to your advantage!

[@ScottaHemi440]

but making a mining vehicle is fun! that and unless you're planning on using a lot of concrete you really don't need to mine the rocks you know.

[@techstuff9198]

Ember is the real problem, limits the superior stat blocks. Wood and Stone are finite to my knowledge, so anything that uses them is restricted. The only blocks I would build with are Carpet, Bubble, and Tier 3 Metal. Carpet can almost literally be farmed, and Bubble is infinite with an Oil Pond. Tier 3 metal is indestructible to all but the Big Red, so it gets used for many seemingly unrelated tasks that take advantage of this property: such as holding pistons and suspension (which only truly break when the block they're connected to is destroyed), passively protecting farmland, or as struts under the water, and an armored band at water level. I want a better glass block, both in stats and texture.

[@Takon_pilot]

@@techstuff9198 you should see the glass texture when It was first added to the game

[@techstuff9198]

@@Takon_pilot I did, they didn't do enough.

[@OttosTheName]

@@techstuff9198 This used to be true. Metal 2 used to be invulnerable to haybots and totebots and they would not even attempt to attack it, but it's changed quite a while ago. Now it's just very unlikely to get damaged with a single hit, every hit has a chance of around 0.1 % to damage metal 2 IIRC. Even lower with Metla 3, but eventually it will get damaged. The only invulnerable objects are probably warehouse keys and bodybags. But warehouse keys will all be turned into circuit boards when Chapter 2 is released. I actually use Metal 1 a lot because there is an infinite amount of Scrap metal dropping from bots and you can craft that into metal 1. But of course it depends on the situation, in a place where it gets destroyed too quickly I'll use metal 3 and if I ever do run out of Ember I'll just cheat in some more using dev commands. I want to be able to keep playing in 1 world forever if I choose to. And maybe some day they'll let us grow trees and burn trees for ember.

[@techstuff9198]

@@OttosTheName _When_ did they increase the bots' block destruction probability? Italics used for emphasis.

[@styxstones2569]

Separate your collectors from your mining vehicle, put them on a trailer or a separate vehicle and keep them away from whatever you are mining/ cutting. For some reason it messes with collisions having them too close to the mineable object and as a result it takes longer to mine. As much as I love making epic machinery to do these jobs, it seems that simple is far more effective. A small drill or saw vehicle plus a detachable collector trailer or a larger refinery vehicle that you weld your smaller vehicle onto for transport is the most effective way.

[@RzExfeL]

Did you watch ScrapMan's video?

[@just_call_me_studio]

so in my opinion heres a much quicker way and possible cheaper way of doing this. usally id bring some bombs when i mine rocks and just explode them. it is much quicker and glow poop and oil is very easy to mass produce and it also doesnt consume much paint flowers this method has been working very well for me so yeah

[@Dr-Pixel]

The problems are flowers imo. You can't plant them.

[@techstuff9198]

@@Dr-Pixel Flower field outposts and having a timer for flower respawns should work in the mean time. I intend to use carpet as my build stock block, so I'll certainly have experience with inconvenience countering solutions.

[@just_call_me_studio]

@@Dr-Pixel tbf they are very easy to find

[@wickedfast2166]

mining vehicle is more fun tho... i like to make a tiny drill vehicle and have a bigger one for collecting and refining

[@guillermoelnino]

Right now I have a big mining vehicle and a tiny refinery one :D

[@Starvaze]

@@guillermoelnino what a very strange coincidence

[@guillermoelnino]

@@Starvaze made a tiny one because of all the nooks n crannies those rods can get in. can't get them all if your wheelbase is the size of the road.

[@azericthetraveller6355]

A highly skilled player might be able to build a mobile mining arm platform with multiple joints in it, meaning you could bend and position the drill arm to mine an entire outcrop. If it can’t reach all of it, you might be able to retract the arm and drive around to the other side.

[@paladingeorge6098]

Honestly best mining vehicle I have ever made was to put two seats on the vehicle, one dedicated for mining drill controls, and put the drill on a piston connected to a controller for length adjustment. Then just wiggle the head back and forth over the rocks and it takes care of it quite handily. Alternatively, just using the controller alone for mining head controls works quite well too.

[@Saberwulfy]

I mine really easy with a vehicle, drills down 1 block higher than wheel in V shape spinning to center, built in vehicle solid axle suspension. It mine 90% smooth and 80% of debris goes to center, it's even better for trees. If you want also can expand the V with more drills and fit a collector and a refinery!

[@botislive2145]

my solution to mining vehicle is a large three part truck truck with one scout vehicle to find rock nodes (because the truck is fuel heavy) then i take the truck to a node and then detach my semi auto drill machine which is a big wall around the node with drills up top which slowly come down and mine the rocks then i press a button which brings down the collectors which collect all the rods and go back up to the refinery up top which refines the rods

[@jeremy2122]

The best mining véhicule I ever made is little car for mining the rock, heights ajustable, compact, turn well, and a another car really big with 4 refinery stuff for taking the mined stuff. Really efficient. Slow electric motor is really goof for mining rock or cutting wood. Also use a suspension for the drill, it help so much!

[@V13STOP]

I remember my first (working) mining vehicle. It was pretty wierd, but it had 2 resource collectors and refinery. My second (working) vehicle

[@tylerward4386]

To make it clear for vehical requirements. You are looking for something very close to the ground so it can't get them stuck underneath. With a smaller wheel base for a tighter turn radius. Some weight so it's easier to stay on the against the rocks. And a movable drill so you can hit what you want easier. This list is why a vehical is costly for this job. His method is perfectly fine to get that initial amount of resources easier. Pro tip: do not combine refinement/transport vehicals with your resource mining/cutting vehicals because it makes them too big and unwieldy for either job

[@limonlx7182]

Like many people in the comment section, I enjoy building vehicles. That's like one of the few things you can enjoy in survival currently, because there isn't much else to do.

[@crossbo_]

I found a even better way on the community page. What they did is make a cube using pistons, put drills inside the corners. And all they had to do is press one button for the cube to close in on itself. It's really effective and fast.

[@JamesTDG]

I gotta see this

[@crossbo_]

@@JamesTDG i can show you. You got discord. Ill add you and send a clip of it.

[@savidherb6589]

My miner has 14 suspensions, 26 bearings, 10 pistons, 3 refine bots, 19 large chest, 1 craft bot, 6 drills, and 8 saws. it can mine anywhere with little lag. I use 8 of the pistons to make a area light so i have no problem mining at night.

[@Gomorragh]

i stopped using tyres for wheels, the boots on a 8 spine setup had better grip, and if you do larger front wheels and forward drills set to opposing directions you get less skipping around when drilling....

[@TheLaziestOfNerds]

I actually made a vehicle that chews through rocks and it's so easy to use, the drills are on a 42 degree angle down and can extend by 2 blocks, and can also tilt to a 0 degree angle. a built in refining system and semi-automated gas

[@fhdang8978]

I think putting the spinning drill machine on a car that can have stilts to keep it in place it would be effective but I’ve always wanted to make a machine that could go over the top of a resource node and then just slowly go down with a bunch of drills on the belly with resource catchers on the top to grab everything but my pc is not working currently so in a week I’ll be able to test it

[@tylerward4386]

If a stone clips through the ground far enough, they will spawn i the air and drop on that spot. You'll probably need drills on top for that too

[@JoachimVampire]

i just use a robot arm (two pistons with quick and reversd pulses) to extend the radious of the drill. also i noticed that the best mining vehicles per se tend to be quite small, the smaller the better they move around the little protusions, which is quite annoying for me because i love building multi-purpose solid trucks

[@quae6843]

Idk I just made a mining vehicle with tank steering, and I experience no problem. However, I had to farm a lot of component kits to upgrade everything to the top since the vehicle has FIVE electric engines (four for tank movement and the fifth one for drills).

[@youraveragemonster]

One problem I see in this is how inefficient this can be, the could be good if your a player who is constantly low on gasoline but once you find a oil pond, you should consider a mining vehicle that has pistons to control the drills

[@zobius9191]

I dunno, my SM mining vehicle kicks ass. 5 drills, 3 at the direct front, one staggered a little farther back on either side, I can decimate an entire rock structure and auto collect all the "bars" in less than a minute, don't even have to get out of the vehicle.

[@WynterLegend]

I hope this is supposed to be a joke. You mine more quickly the more rigid the machine is. Electric Motors have better grip. Create a mining arm to reach for the rocks from stable ground. Also, having Resource Collectors on your vehicle impedes the physics of the drills and rocks. Removing them, or having them on an easily separable trailer, improves this drastically. If need be, weld your Arm, or vehicle to a post of blocks to force it's stability. You shouldn't have to, if you give your vehicle appropriate outrigger legs, and can reach the rocks. Check out kAn Gaming for his "Jitter Piston" telescoping assembly, if you're looking for ideas on how to create the mining arm I mentioned.

[@titanium_viper5049]

Scrapman already taught his fans that the simplest way to do mining is actually the best way. Literally a tiny mining vehicle with 3 drills on it. No collectors on the vehicle. You should also have a separate vehicle just for collection. But make sure to put the collection vehicle on a lift for max efficiency mining. All of this combined will lead to you magically mining rocks almost instantly. It actually amazing.

[@aarepelaa1142]

I did a mining thing that automatically refines the rods so i don't run out of space, worked pretty well

[@guillermoelnino]

If I do find myself needing mine a lot in a hurry this seems to be a good option. I like the set it and forget it aspect. Maybe I could just plant down a bunch of engines and drills on my route and just collect later.

[@kaiserwilhelm121]

Explosives do the work in a matter of seconds.

[@andujunior4756]

I personally have a gantry crane that is drivable for mining rocks, mines vertically but also has X,y,z control

[@Wreckedftfoxy]

u saved me i was gonna go mining once then glitch the stone and metal so i can get glass and those stuff

[@fancygames9683]

one thing i like to do is use multiple large explosives to destroy the rocks. call it wasteful but when you have an endless supply of fuel, glow and paint to burn it really comes in handy. explosives are fun too :)

[@Dr-Pixel]

I think I underestimated how easily you can craft them. Still remember the days when fuels wasn't as broken.

[@Zedstein]

For when poor, the first method is an amazing technique. I just use more advanced vehicles because they can go faster if sufficiently advanced

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

Build a mining vehicle (based on a platform like a truck IRL) then put a crane arm with a drill equipped on the back.

[@bee_nades8880]

you could also get a piston and a controller to controll the lenght and not restrict drill by the pole

[@RichardGQue]

I assume most of us thought of this the first few times we tried mining. my friends and I cerently tried this before we built a vehicle for it. powering the drill with the hammer is a pretty great idea. but I quickly moved away from this methoid because it's so slow compaired to a good vehicle.

[@cancer955]

omg, this is EXACTLY what I've been doing since survival came out xD But I still build mining vehicles for late-game, if you make a good one they're usually faster than this.

[@Dr-Pixel]

Yeah, my vehicles aren't the best. Definitely no that kind of person, but this sure helps in the beginning.

[@williamburroughs9686]

I find this both creative and entertaining. But I think I will stick the vehicles. While these methods show value. They don't help with the whole mining. Sure you can knock down rocks but the idea is to get all the metal and stone minded, processed and ready for transport as soon as possible. Your method does pretty good with the first but does nothing with finishing mining, possessing and storing it. You still wind up with a mess which may take you even longer than what you began with. Maybe finding a more efferent way while using vehicles would be a better method. I mine, but then sometimes have to dismount to bust up the smaller peace's before advancing. But when I do, those pieces get sucked up by my vehicle's collector. Which is in tern sent to be processed. Which is then stored. Then I am already on my way. Still fun to watch. lol I didn't know that you could do all of that.

[@km077]

me: *Makes a big, super-maneuverable, multi-purpose vehicle that can not be tipped over and has lots of engine power and traction to force itself into the rocks and is capable of mining them from the front and front-bottom.* the game: How about 10 fps on RTX2060 at medium settings whenever you touch that big fuck-rock that has half of itself under the map? me: How about I change res to lowest possible AND turn everything to off/low? the game: Enjoy 2 fps, bro. me: You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the lag, not join them!

[@snugg1escat676]

I wish you could weld rocks I would love to break them up and put them on a trailer to dump into a full Refinery building

[@sdvtpplbcn]

I personally haven’t had a issue with my mining vehicle with rocks but with trees I do, I do see how you would have this problem though

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, new raft mechanic custom game will have better tree and stone collisions! They are honestly not that great in vanila.

[@I3orrovv]

Slap your drills on a plate attached to pistons. Let the plate rotate on a bearing downwards 90 degrees. Problem solved.

[@saipranavpalla1467]

Use electric engines bro. The vehicle will be very manoeuvrable

[@ogur7783]

Honestly i prefer using dev console or any other trainer, just spawn urself a nice big rocks on flat terrain and grind it with vehicle then delate or keep dev console or trainer (its up to you)

[@McGeraet]

why dont you hook up a controller to the bearing of the drill so it spins fast enough without consuming gas if you take a lvl 5 controller it even has 10 connections like a lvl 5 gas engine

[@jcd9456]

Could the last method be used as base defense?

[@spudthefluffyfox]

This is an upgrade to my mining strategy, I just have a drill loose drill on the ground and hit it with a hammer

[@jastrone9505]

Dude. Just put the first vertical method on a car. Or even just put the drill on a long stick so ypu dont have to drive up the hill

[@rice9199]

I've been mining this that way since day 1 of sm survival when it first came out

[@cornbonzo7027]

even if free "normal" mining vehicles are ineffective, you can implement the strategies in this video into vehicle designs, and you won't even have to rebuild every time. besides, manually mining sucks.

[@midrealmdm9016]

Your example mining vehicle used gas engines, you get better performance , more control, and less slippage with an electric drive. You should try electric before condemning the mining vehicle. Also - your time comparison is flawed as you did not factor in the amount of time it is going to take to rebuild that machine over and over to mine all the stone down to rods. Which, if they start rolling away, will require you to rebuild many, many times. And before anyone says 'just use a hammer' - the point is to build a machine to do the hard work, not to do it by hand.

[@sovietman9917]

I would love to see a survival playthough on an survival server.

[@jfletcher12]

You found a way to play that removes the fun. good job. i hate when fun gets in the way of playing games.

[@viktoranderas9541]

I like putting a piston on mining vehicles and it makes it way easier to mine stuff.

[@Redstonista]

Cool, very usefull when start a new survival

[@butlazgazempropan-butan11k87]

0:20 no theese in forests aint on the hill. thats why you always should mine them

[@haydan0955]

ima actualy do this now, great vid

[@aelsi2]

Why do people even play SM survival? The whole thing is just pain and grind

[@Starvaze]

Ye

[@linn1964]

Sm survival would actually be my favorite game if they would update it

[@xandersfs2346]

I’m going to do a mining vehicle with this kind of arm on it

[@superkota5440]

You can do even without the bearing you can just punch the drill to a corner

[@blackoak4978]

This was like watching an infomercial, "Are you tired of knives that don't cut?"(shows regular knife being used sideways crushing a tomato)"you should buy our knife"(shows knife being used properly cutting tomato) Know what, no. It's like a parody of one of those infomercial, where the knife being sold crushes the tomato even when used correctly. I've seen plenty of mining vehicles do fine. Just build a bobcat equivalent, and take care of the broken stone as you go. Or if your parents paid for your computer, just lag the f@#k out of it until it overheats Gawd I hate this type of video

[@AgentWest]

Can confirm, drill on a stick is a surprisingly efficient thing.

[@WlDoWMaK3R]

Guess I was lucky with my builds, never had any problems getting metal. Widows survival harvester on workshop, the last use I brought back 2k metal in about 1 hour.🤪🤪💙👍

[@Dr-Pixel]

Wow, that is impressive. I think my method is more for the people that don't want to bother much with building cars for mining.

[@TheCleverJoker]

mod to add buildable handheld mining drill?

[@swampcooler8332]

Behold, 2 sticks that out class a multimillion component kit vehicle, and you don't even need insurance!

[@hugoalmroth8491]

You still need to get the small pieces so you need a car after all unless you want to punch all the peices

[@incognito8p298]

Mine only has one drill bit has a crane I can re position without too much movement

[@tematist8673]

how do you move so fast? i couldnt find speed variable in the files

[@Dr-Pixel]

you need to set the movementspeedfraction of a character

[@tematist8673]

@@Dr-Pixel Thanks

[@dubl33_27]

yeah... imma stick with a 3x3 of drills pressed agains the stone nodes

[@bruno_yt]

I still think mining vehicles are better. And component kits aren't that rare. You can just get like 6 component kits in one ruin.

[@casualbird7671]

I mean, at this point.. why not just install this kind of rotating arm on a vehicle that can move it into position?~

[@archimedest.mk02]

how to connect block in scrap mechanic?

[@rigelstarz6032]

1:10 Instead of the top pole you could use a piston

[@balsay]

ah, you are the type of person who optimize the fun out of the game, and while you do you, you shouldn't say "you should too"

[@Mr_Itchy]

What's scrap mechanic without over engineering the hell out of a machine you'll use for 10 minutes at a time

[@Fabian-lc6xb]

New Mining update is comming! Dr Pixel: STOP using Mining Vehicles!!!!!

[@HXRRVISH]

idk i just slapped 2 drills on my small buggy and it works

[@soulreaper6559]

Can tnt work?

[@kittyn5222]

Tip Use controllers It's more effective than you think

[@manclad4833]

FML I should've just watched this video in reverse!! lol Thanks for the video ;)

[@oggi42gaming77]

Here I am still trying to build the most effective mining vehicle... what a waste of time :D Danke für das hilfreiche Video Dr. Pixel! Ich werds definitiv in der nächsten Runde Survival mal ausprobieren :)

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, you can build very good mining vehicles that can be more effective, but it's very hard.

[@machintrucGaming]

Space engineers be like: First time buddy ?

[@alsonboudoin4226]

Making a big badass mining vehicle is fun tho

[@jonathanrodrigues7710]

Amazing thanks bro

[@JKidder1990]

Not getting that 10min back.

[@Rafiki6629]

I just use a massive mining vehicle that uses tons of fuel but is extremely efficient otherwise

[@KazuyaYuza]

Mining with vehicles is more satisfactory tho :P

[@aluizioms3923]

I prefer my machine(car) i use 4 drill some pistons and i just drive and see the magic happens.

[@ianmcnab9534]

The easiest way to mine rocks in scrap mechanic survival is actually with explosives

[@delavanty]

You forgot about the nodes that are under the ground

[@Wheagg]

You know what would make using this easier? Putting it on a car.

[@BurningCrusader]

How do you get near your drilling machine without killing yourself lol?

[@juanfranciscosanmarco7330]

You forgot one way, that is.... BLOW EM UP!!!! XD

[@inund8]

Just weld your mining vehicle to a pillar attached to the ground. gg ez

[@scoobythebest57]

Dude i have suxh a simple vechile and its so good

[@kaito0022]

This looks like one of these shopping channels guys who can't use knives at the kitchen

[@bluedragon2185]

Wait, do you not know that you can break the smaller rocks that explode out of the bigger rocks with a hammer?

[@Dr-Pixel]

I do, but it's faster with drills usually.

[@Neuro537]

Explosives are more convenient

[@narimikoaldera5387]

just make a drill bike and do DUPSTEP ON THE ROCK then use a 30 TRUSTER MEGA CARGO SHIP TO LIFT EVERYTHING TO A MEGA RAFINERY its ez you see ... what ? i have 36 day of play time on one map

[@Dr-Pixel]

lol

[@oggi42gaming77]

Hey Dr Pixel! I used your idea to make crazy mining chains. Thank you so much for your inspiration! Here is the promised video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKKwcmqwbbutoNk