disappeared ore smelter

[Currentmood]

I start to build ore smelter, filled it with 3 bars of iron and 10 hayes.
Then a went to forest, and when i returned there was no building pillar
Why it happened?

[Currentmood]

my land is surrounded by split-rail fence with lock so no one had chance destroy it

[Tommy]

Maybe you tried to build the smelter on unclaimed land? The fence as such doesn't change anything about that

[Currentmood]

Why? how some one can enter my land, if it is surrounded by fence and gates are locked

[oxiredo]

I start to build ore smelter, filled it with 3 bars of iron and 10 hayes.
Then a went to forest, and when i returned there was no building pillar
Why it happened?

I suspect that it decayed.
did you build (hit the build button) those 3 bars and 10 hays or just put them there?

[Currentmood]

just put

[Currentmood]

but pile of wood doesn't decay in the same situation, i tested

[Tommy]

Why? how some one can enter my land, if it is surrounded by fence and gates are locked

So: Did you claim the land before you started building the smelter?
For this you would require a "wrist of homesteading" available for 150s in your starting city and the required skill to build a claim.
If not, it is very likely that it in fact just decayed.

[Kandarim]

but pile of wood doesn't decay in the same situation, i tested

decay ticks are random ... very random...
although you probably should stake a claim before building constructions as expensive as a smelter ...

[qbradq]

Yup, decay ticks. It's not mentioned in any guide. It's something you learn about the hard way.

I built and ran a smelter on unclaimed land for two days. Then one morning I come be-bopping up to the mine with my arms full of lime and see the smelter is bright red. I understood it was damaged but not why. I tried to repair it and it said I needed brick. I arrived back at the mine with an inventory full of brick just in time to see the thing disappear.

So yea, decay ticks are *VERY* random.

Turns out I should have spent that first 500s on claims, not nails and iron. But that's Salem for you. You live and you learn, and then you die.