The Find The Needle silo packs loose hay into hay wads, and that one job has a consequence worth planning around: the Silo does not destroy a needle, it traps it inside a wad. Its output must reach a scanner before it reaches the sell stand, or you can sell the needle without ever seeing it.
The Find The Needle silo and what it produces
A Hay Wad is the packaged form of hay, and the Silo is the machine that makes it. It sits under PROCESSING in the research tree, alongside the bales, wraps and bricks.
The Silo also reports what it is holding on its status display, which is worth reading rather than guessing. One status read 44 Loose Straw and 1 Needle Waiting, with no further output — meaning the Silo was holding a wad with a needle inside and would not release it.
The Silo can trap a needle
- A needle inside a packed wad is trapped, not destroyed. The wad goes on to the next machine with the needle still inside it.
- A needle that reaches the sell stand inside a product comes back to the pile. It is not lost forever, but you have to find it again.
- So the Silo's output must lead to a scanner before it gets to the sell stand. A product that carries a needle straight to the stand gets sold.
That is the whole reason a line needs a scanner on every branch, not just on the main belt. If a needle has gone missing, work through the missing-needle checklist before you change anything.
What a stuck Silo looks like
- The status display shows Loose Straw and a Needle Waiting count, and the Silo stops producing.
- Back the save up first. The saves folder is easy to copy and takes seconds.
- Do not dismantle the Silo as a recovery step. Removing it can destroy a needle, so treat a stuck Silo as something to record and report rather than something to take apart.
When a needle is missing, record the needle count, the remaining hay, the Silo status and the scanner route, and report those details. That is the information needed to tell the difference between a trapped needle, a sold needle and a needle still in the pile.