Engine unit — Factorio Production Calculator
Engine unit is crafted in the assembling machine in 10 seconds, producing 1 per craft from 1 × Steel plate, 1 × Iron gear wheel, 2 × Pipe. At 60 per minute you need 20 assembling machines, and the chain behind it draws on 1 raw resources: iron ore.
Production chain for 60 Engine unit / minute
| Item | Per minute | Machines | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron plate | 540 | 28.8 | Furnace |
| Pipe | 120 | 2 | Assembling machine |
| Engine unit | 60 | 20 | Assembling machine |
| Steel plate | 60 | 16 | Furnace |
| Iron gear wheel | 60 | 1 | Assembling machine |
Raw materials
| Resource | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Iron ore | 540 |
Machine counts are not rounded up. Add a little headroom in game — belt throughput and inserter speed usually mean you want 5-10% more than the exact number.
Engine unit recipe
| Machine | Crafting time | Output | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembling machine | 10 s | 1 | Steel plate × 1, Iron gear wheel × 1, Pipe × 2 |
What the whole chain needs
60 engine units per minute pulls in 4 intermediate products, and the whole tree comes to 68 machines across 2 machine types, fed by 1 raw resource. The table above already sums demand across every branch — if copper cable is used by two recipes, you see the total, not one of them.
Belt check: the busiest input here moves 540 per minute, which is 0.6 of a yellow belt's 900 per minute. Above 1.0 and you need a second belt (or a faster tier) before the machines themselves become the limit.
What uses engine unit
8 base-game recipes consume engine unit, sorted by how much each one takes:
- Artillery wagon — 64 per craft
- Tank — 32 per craft
- Locomotive — 20 per craft
- Car — 8 per craft
- Flamethrower turret — 5 per craft
- Chemical science pack — 2 per craft
- Electric engine unit — 1 per craft
- Pump — 1 per craft
What engine unit is made from
- Steel plate — 1 per craft
- Iron gear wheel — 1 per craft
- Pipe — 2 per craft
FAQ
How many assembling machines do I need for 60 engine units per minute?
20 assembling machines. One at standard speed produces 3 per minute, so 60 ÷ that number is the count. The calculator above rounds nothing — add 5-10% headroom for belt and inserter losses in a real factory.
How much raw ore does engine unit take?
At 60/min the chain consumes 540 iron ore per minute. Those numbers are the theoretical minimum — mining productivity research and productivity modules both reduce them.
Is engine unit needed for science packs?
Yes — it goes directly into Chemical science pack. Open the science pack page to see the demand that lands on this recipe.
Machine counts assume bare machines at standard speed. Recipe data comes from the game's own prototypes (PlayerCalc, Factorio 2.0 base game). Not affiliated with Wube Software.