Big Buddy Mr. Heater

[LeRoy_Metz]

Are these Big Buddy heaters good,are they warm.Help........

[BartmanMN]

I like mine a lot and it is plenty warm. Good for inside a shack, but not good for just sitting outside with as the pilot can blow out without modifications. I rarely need to turn it on High, but when I do, look out because it throws out some btu's.

[Eckie]

Agreed --- I have both the Buddy and the Big Buddy --- the Big Buddy does its' job...well. I too rarely have it on high. Often I don't even use the fan, although the fan is a great feature (though it can drain 4 D batteries fairly quick). For me, it's much more portable than a sunflower and a 20 lb. tank.

[MN BassFisher]

Like others have stated I like mine a lot in my hub. Never used it outdoors but Low and Medium are plenty of heat for my 36 sq ft.

[that_guy]

I roll with the Buddy, it heats up my one man flip-over with the greatest of ease on LOW! I've been out there in -10* weather and it still stays on low. I think in 4yrs of owning one, I've never turned it on high.

[Nordern]

I also have been running the Big Buddy for the last 4 years and would never use anything else. And as previous post have stated you rarely need it on high.

I have used mine to heat a sleeper and the high setting really worked great to get things heated up.

[NoWiser]

Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 people (not including myself) who bought the buddy heaters and either returned them, or tossed them in the trash after a trip or two. I can think of zero that bought them and still use them. I fish with a lot of different guys, too. In my experience they are junk. Any draft will blow them out if you can even get them started in the first place. If you want to spend 10 minutes banking your portable at every spot you fish then maybe it will be fine. Myself, I may not even fish a spot for 10 minutes if I don't see anything, so I sure as heck am not going to take the time to make sure my house is set up absolutely perfect just so my heater works. Especially not when my Mr. Heater fires up instantly and warms me up in minutes no matter what the conditions are.

If you like to move around a lot to find the fish, skip the buddy, get the Mr. Heater cooker, and you will save yourself a lot of money and frustration. If you plan on parking in one spot all day in a well banked house, then maybe it will work for you.....maybe.

[buddha]

I've had nothing but fantastic luck with my buddy and it's going on 6 years old and is used often and abused. I feel bad with others that have not had as good of luck. I bought a new one this weekend and am going to keep it in the box until my other one bites the dust. I say buy one, others may disagree.

[AndRo]

I have the Big Buddy Heater and I love it. I do agree with Eckie, it is not for outdoor use. I have tried this once or twice and it gets a little frustrating if there is wind. I hardly use the built in fan, and only have to run it for a few minutes to heat up my porty, then I leave it on low.

[BoxMN]

I have both Buddy and Big Buddy, and I like the Buddy better for most things - lighter, smaller, heats just as good and usually on low anyway. I like the big Buddy when sitting out for the day, or when the kids or others are with, and I use it hooked up to 20# tank.

The main thing, the Big Buddy is hard to start the first time after hooking up the hose. It is a pita due to the type of priming they have, I wish they would have used the system like the regular buddy uses. I just have to fiddle with it until the hose gets full, then it starts great.

I have seen a mod to help protect the pilot light, just some sheet metal with holes riveted to the area by it. Seen it here I think, either Shack or soemone made it. I will make one someday, I think it would help with wind and drafts.

It beats my old sunflower, as that melted line more, melted sides of shack more, gloves more and stank, but it did get the shack warm fast

Good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

BoxMN

Connect the hose to the tank and open the valve and then take a small screwdriver or even a nail clipper and push in the little stem in the center on the end that connect to your Buddy until you smell propane and then hook it up to your Buddy and it will light much quicker. It only takes a couple of seconds to get the propane to the end this way.

[BoxMN]

Thanks for the tip Jim!!!! I recall reading something about that, but never checked it out. I now know exactly what you mean, perfect info!

[Jim Almquist]

I forgot to put in the disclaimer about not responsible for any fires or mishaps

I hooked mine up last Saturday and forgot to...

that will never happen again !

[BartmanMN]

All you have to do is hold the button down with the arrow on 'pilot' for 20 seconds and your hose will be full.

[acman2u]

Wow, I must have a perfect big buddy heater! I hole hop a lot and it is a pain to move as I use my 20# tank instead of small ones but no big deal. I usually only need mine on medium or low in my portable but one night at the end of 2008 ice season I was scouting for a spot and the crappie were stacked up like cordwood, I didnt want to miss the action so I just pulled out the bucket and cranked the heater on high in the open. It started snowing HUGE "chunks" of flakes falling together and got fairly windy and the heater kept me warm as it hissed and popped with the snow peppering the flames. Even though it has been snowed on, blown around, and used a ton it still fires right up and keeps me warm. I will buy another when this one dies! Yes, buy the inline filter if you use refillable tanks!

[quickfish6]

I got a big buddy heater last year for christmas and I had nothing but problems! Couldnt get it to run on a 20 lb tank. It would only work on 1lbs and that gets expensive quick. Took it back got a double burner mr heater and called it a day. Over priced never got it to work right and you have to modify it to work in the wind. My double burner can take a straight shot of wind and stay lit! I would say SKIP IT !

[Freedom81]

I have both buddy and big buddy. I love the buddy... works flawlessly and puts out plenty of heat. I've had nothing but problems with my big buddy... just never seems to work right, takes forever to start(I will try holding the pin on the in-line filter as stated above), but have had much more success with smaller buddy. Heats my clam 5600 great down to about 0 degrees F. If it's colder I wear another layer.

[Jim Almquist]

All you have to do is hold the button down with the arrow on 'pilot' for 20 seconds and your hose will be full.

I have the 10' hose and it seems like hours (OK maybe a minute or two )

[fishit]

I purchased the big buddy this year for my permanent house and it has worked great. I remove it from the 20# tank everytime I leave and when I hook it back up the pilot starts with a couple clicks!! I have the 5' black hose with the fuel filter on it. I did get the exteneded warranty ($8)at menards so I have 2 years I think that I can replace it if something should not work. So far so good

[walleyeslammer]

I have a reconditioned Big Buddy and love it. It fires right up when the hose is full. I have found that if I leave the hose hooked up to the heater and then hook up to the tank when I get to the spot that I only have to prime the hose once a year. I even cooked some brats on it with a simple cheap homemade add on

[ribsey_77]

I have a big buddy for sale!!!! Hate it i'll stick to my heater/cooker same light and easy if you want with one poun ders but never go out like the buddy does on a full tank buddy runs great but if you burn 1/2 to 3/4 you are doon with it pilot wont stay lit.

[MN BassFisher]

I've heard you are suppose to run a filter on your Buddy heaters when you run off big tanks otherwise it can gunk them down. I use a 12' hose with a quick disconnect which is another option (that was you don't have to run a filter).

[quickfish6]

I ran mine with a filter and the 10ft hose and it still wouldnt like brought it back ! I wouldnt recommend to anyone!

[Mainehazmt]

I have 3 big buddys and 1 buddy they are all great 1st get the good hose one flexible in cold weather 2 keep a tank on the oppisite side of the hose if your still having issues drill a bigger hole on the pol fitting (1 you connect the larger tank to ) never go out! the tank on the other side just holds a reserve of vapor kinda pre heats it some the big buddys are great ya can turn them up double what the buddys do ya can always turn them down is my theory!

[Hubcat]

I have had the Big Buddy for 4- 5 years and the only problem I have had is when I change or disconnect my 20# tank it takes a long time to run the air out of the 6 foot hose. I think a lot of the problems people are having is related to this. If you cannot get the big buddy lit, try holding the pilot button down and try to light it with a lighter. You will probably see that the flame from from the lighter will be blown sideways from the air in the line. Some times you will need to hold the pilot for more than a minute before all the air gets out of the line.