Tree milling
There are plenty of videos about already done tree miller. But none explain how to build one. I'm currently trying to create one and share it with you once done but I'm stuck.
What I mean by tree milling
I mean a mechanism that when a tree grown it will automatically detect the event and push the trunk wook blocks in a horizontal row to make it easier to recover.
Wish
If you wish I'll post few pictures of my current solution but it is very complex right now (uses more than 8 pistons, block detectors, redstone stairs up and down, monostable circuits and stuff).
My current "solution"
(Notice with up and down I mean vertically speaking)
I builded a circular sand mover which basically push a pile of sand up, then right, then down and then on the left. On the way down (which should in the stable position be empty), there are only empty blocks reserved for the tree truck that is going to grow up. (It's a little bit more than 7 blocks height because I'm referencing Birch Trees as tree type).
My idea (not really mine) is to push the sand down and push the trunk block as well. Make the trunk go all around until it goes up. Then when it is on the way to go from the upper level to the right (from which should go down again) I created a gap. Sand blocks will normally fall down and then be pushed again. Tree block will float; then a piston will detect the floating blocks and push them in a row.
I don't like to synchronize circuits and pistons, so the right and the down piston works naturally when they detect a block to be pushed. The lower pistons (the one that push on the left and the one that push up) are activated once (to start the circular movement) whenever the tree has grown and detected.
Question
The problem is that this method works only when there are as many tree trunk blocks as the empty spaces reserved for the trunk. If a tree doesn't grow a 7-blocks trunk (the maximum) and let's say grow a 5-blocks trunk, there will be 2 wood block still in the circular sand ring.
How do I solve this? Are there any guides or tutorials about this? Do you have any map example to show? Anything?