Loader — Factorio Production Calculator
Loader is crafted in the assembling machine in 1 seconds, producing 1 per craft from 5 × Inserter, 5 × Electronic circuit, 5 × Iron gear wheel, 5 × Iron plate, 5 × Transport belt. At 60 per minute you need 2 assembling machines, and the chain behind it draws on 2 raw resources: iron ore, copper ore.
Production chain for 60 Loader / minute
| Item | Per minute | Machines | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron plate | 2,850 | 152 | Furnace |
| Copper cable | 1,800 | 15 | Assembling machine |
| Copper plate | 900 | 48 | Furnace |
| Iron gear wheel | 750 | 12.5 | Assembling machine |
| Electronic circuit | 600 | 10 | Assembling machine |
| Inserter | 300 | 5 | Assembling machine |
| Transport belt | 300 | 2.5 | Assembling machine |
| Loader | 60 | 2 | Assembling machine |
Raw materials
| Resource | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Iron ore | 2,850 |
| Copper ore | 900 |
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.
Loader recipe
| Machine | Crafting time | Output | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembling machine | 1 s | 1 | Inserter × 5, Electronic circuit × 5, Iron gear wheel × 5, Iron plate × 5, Transport belt × 5 |
What the whole chain needs
60 loaders per minute pulls in 7 intermediate products, and the whole tree comes to 247 machines across 2 machine types, fed by 2 raw resources. 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 2,850 per minute, which is 3.17 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 loader
1 base-game recipe consumes loader, sorted by how much each one takes:
- Fast loader — 1 per craft
What loader is made from
- Inserter — 5 per craft
- Electronic circuit — 5 per craft
- Iron gear wheel — 5 per craft
- Iron plate — 5 per craft
- Transport belt — 5 per craft
FAQ
How many assembling machines do I need for 60 loaders per minute?
2 assembling machines. One at standard speed produces 30 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 loader take?
At 60/min the chain consumes 2,850 iron ore per minute, 900 copper ore per minute. Those numbers are the theoretical minimum — mining productivity research and productivity modules both reduce them.
Is loader needed for science packs?
Not directly. It feeds Fast loader, and those in turn feed the science packs. 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.