Okay, required Tree Farmer program

Weeell, someone said that none of the tree farming programs work, which I didn't know 'cause I don't use 'em, preferring my own. Which I never posted.

Shame on me. Here it is:

repeat
  turtle.select(2)
  while not turtle.compare() do sleep(20) end
  turtle.dig()
  turtle.forward()
  while turtle.compareUp() do
   turtle.digUp()
   turtle.up()
   for i = 1,4 do
	turtle.dig()
	turtle.turnLeft()
   end
  end
  while turtle.down() do end
  turtle.select(1)
  sleep(200)
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.back()
  while turtle.suck() do end
  turtle.place()
  for i = 1,6 do turtle.back() end
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.refuel(turtle.getItemCount(1)-16)
  for i = 3,16 do
   if turtle.getItemCount(i) > 1 then
	turtle.select(i)
	turtle.dropDown()
   end
  end
  turtle.select(1)
until turtle.getFuelLevel() < 18

Oh no, it doesn't work. But that's because we haven't set it up properly. First we have to create our little square farm. This is a "rooftop" farm, so you can think of the bottom layer as being the ceiling of a building. Cause otherwise you'll have trouble getting access to it. The two top layers look like this:

Bottom/Ceiling		Water, Saplings, and Turtle
+++++++++++++++++++	+++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++	+W-------W-------W+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++D+++++CCD+++++	+----S-------S----+
+++++C+++++++++++++	+----T------------+
+++++C+++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+W-------W-------W+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++C+++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++C+++++	+-----------------+
+++++DCC+++++D+++++	+----S-------S----+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+-----------------+
+++++++++++++++++++	+W-------W-------W+
+++++++++++++++++++	+++++++++++++++++++

+ can be any solid block of your choosing that will contain water (I use glass, so I can see what's going on up there).
D is dirt, C is chest, W is water (a source block), - is flowing water, S is saplings, and T is your turtle (it should be facing the nearest sapling, and contain a stack of saplings in slot 1 and a log in slot 2, it should also have enough fuel to run the first few cycles).

I recommend birch trees, for their fast, predictable growth and large quantity of saplings (which we will be burning as fuel). Also, they are attractive enough to put on top of your glass ceiling. I also recommend running this program from a remote control program that allows execution of other programs. Or, you can put a catwalk just above the water/sapling layer, for easy access.

Lousy X's. Okay, +'s then.

So I tried this. It breaks the first block and just stops. Not sure why. Tree is grown but now I need it to move forward

repeat
  turtle.select(2)
  while not turtle.compare() do sleep(20) end
turtle.dig()
turtle.forward()
  while turtle.compareUp() do
turtle.digUp()
turtle.up()
for i = 1,4 do
	    turtle.dig()
	    turtle.turnLeft()
   end
  end
  while turtle.down() do end
  turtle.select(1)
  sleep(200)
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.back()
  while turtle.suck() do end
  turtle.place()
  for i = 1,6 do turtle.back() end
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.turnLeft()
  turtle.refuel(turtle.getItemCount(1)-16)
  for i = 3,16 do
   if turtle.getItemCount(i) > 1 then
	    turtle.select(i)
	    turtle.dropDown()
   end
  end
  turtle.select(1)
until turtle.getFuelLevel() < 1

Um…did you fuel the turtle first? It does try to burn extra saplings to keep fueled, but if there's no fuel in the first place it won't do anything.

I did exactly like you say gave it a full stack of saplings in the first slot and a log in slot 2
Here is the turtle interface

and the overall view of the tree farm


any help would be great

I switched it to a logging turtle and it worked.. Thanks, does it pick up the saplings from the water?

Ummm…not the way you've got it set up. The water layer is supposed to be on the same level as the saplings and turtle, above the layer that has the dirt, and chests. I suppose the confusion is understandable.