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[94dima94]

What's the easier technique I can use to bring magma from the caverns to the surface?

Do I have to build a 50 z-levels pump stack? Or am I missing an easier way?

[LordUbik]

Well, it depend on your purpose. If you want magma to create elabourated things like magma cannons and similar, a pump stack is the best solution.
if you only need it to power your forges and smelters, a magma piston is probably a faster and less resource intensive way to have it.
Also a minecart sistem can bring magma up, but i've never tried it myself, so i don't know how effective it is.

[94dima94]

Well, it depend on your purpose. If you want magma to create elabourated things like magma cannons and similar, a pump stack is the best solution.
if you only need it to power your forges and smelters, a magma piston is probably a faster and less resource intensive way to have it.

Well, both actually. A magma forge closer to the surface is a priority, but what kind of idiot would ignore the opportunity of a magma execution chamber?
I did this stuff when a volcano was available, but I don't like to be so limited when a magma ocean is just there, waiting.

[Quietust]

Out of curiosity, why exactly does it have to be near the surface?

[LordUbik]

Yep, you're right! XD

To use lava to it's full potential i fear the pump stack is the only solution... it's the only method that gives you enought magma!

[94dima94]

Out of curiosity, why exactly does it have to be near the surface?

I need it near the surface for magma traps at the entrance; other than that, i just want magma forges closer to the fortress.

[Absentia]

Unless I have a need for a trap that uses a tremendous amount of magma, I find minecarts to be the best solution. You can easily fill up a few tiles for magma forges and such, and then either dump magma directly from carts onto goblins or gradually create a reservoir suitable for a decent-sized magma chamber.

[Tacomagic]

If I'm looking at a pumpstack taller than say 30 or 40 levels, I usually opt for a dwarven-powered minecart magma collector.

Basically, it works very similar to the design posted here:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Magma#Design_2

The primary difference in my setup is the way I collect the magma.

The magma dumps into a 1x1x2 chamber with a pressure plate in the bottom set to 7/7 magma.  Once the chamber reaches 7/7, the switch opens an adjacent fire-safe door that drains the magma downward into an arbitrarily deep 3x1 chamber.

This chamber is hooked to a small inactive pump-stack with a disengaged gear assembly.  Near the top of the chamber is a another pressure plate with 7/7 magma.  This is set to engage the gear assembly.  When the pressure plate fires, the pump stack is activated for 149 turns and pumps into a chamber sized* to prevent evaporation when emptying the 3x1 stack.

Just set it up and it'll run until the chamber is full.  It's a good idea to create some kind of feedback that will stop the system if it reaches capacity.  A secondary 7/7 pressure plate above the pump-stack activation plate set to disable the rollers out of pile C works good for that.

When set up, it's fully automated and can be used to slowly collect an arbitrarily large pool of magma for use around the fortress.

[Cobbler89]

Wait a second... am I understanding correct that safe handling of magma-filled minecarts calls for putting the minecarts inside wheelbarrows?

[Tacomagic]

Wait a second... am I understanding correct that safe handling of magma-filled minecarts calls for putting the minecarts inside wheelbarrows?

Welcome to dwarf physics 101. 

[freeze]

As far as I can tell it's just so that building a track from the magma to the surface isn't necessary. I successfully used the track method a couple times in .34, too bad I never thought of hauling the minecarts.

[Tacomagic]

As far as I can tell it's just so that building a track from the magma to the surface isn't necessary.

Correct.

I've personally never had a dearth of spare hauling laborers who needed something to do, and it saves all those ramp designations you need to make a 30+ z-level impulse elevator (or worse yet a 30-z roller powered elevator).

These magma collectors tend to be a temporary method anyway.  They give me magma access up in my fort long before I have the components and infrastructure necessary to put together a magma stack that's 40 zs high.

[freeze]

I've personally never had a dearth of spare hauling laborers who needed something to do, and it saves all those ramp designations you need to make a 30+ z-level impulse elevator (or worse yet a 30-z roller powered elevator).

These magma collectors tend to be a temporary method anyway.  They give me magma access up in my fort long before I have the components and infrastructure necessary to put together a magma stack that's 40 zs high.

Exactly. I used a roller to get the cart out of the magma fill area but the rest of it was guided. Never had a problem with !!Haulers!!, though as you say it was only briefly used.