Propane and Buddy Heaters. Best options.

[Noon]

I have heard bits and pieces of chatter in other threads, but would like to have this information in one place. I am looking for opinions and experience on propane use in buddy/big buddy heaters.

To add a bit of context for how I will be using it, I have a 3man hub and fish when it is cold and also at night. My last trip out we went through four of the 1# tanks over 6-7 hours with a big buddy heater in order to stay comfortable (skim ice was still forming in the holes inside the shanty but we were warm enough). I also carry all of my gear or use a sled to pull it. I am not afraid to put some miles on for fishing, but I bet that distance would decrease if I have a full 20# tank in my sled adding almost 40lbs when you consider the tank/propane weight and a hose.

Information that I am looking for, and hopefully others will find useful, is related to what seems to work best for you? I know some guys are sold on using the refillable 1# tanks, I have heard of others using the 5#, 11#, or 20# tanks. Not sure how many people walking have a 20# tank.
-What set ups have you used/do you currently use?
-Do you find you go through more propane if you bring more?
-Does the size of the tank(s) play into what you are bringing? (ie. lots of 1# tanks vs one big tank)
-Do the bigger tanks pay themselves off in a reasonable amount of time?
-Are the refillable tank set ups worth it financially/ effort wise/ safety wise?
-How much of an impact does the weight of bigger tanks have?
-How low do you let your bigger tanks get before refilling them?
-Anything else you think is important when considering propane tanks?

Thanks everyone, I look forward to hearing your input.

[chevy rotbox]

I got a 10# on line. they are pricey .but worth it. got a hose and regulator set up made for buddy heater. I get two or three trips out of it. can get refilled any place they do tanks. even in very cold it last. not too much weight to drag, a twenty would kill me by hand drag. hope helps.

[Mancaveburnett]

I have a buddy heater with a 20# tank with hose. I also got one of those pepsi trays that they put the 20 ounce sodas in. I reverse the pepsi tray on the ice and put the heater on that, it lifts it off the ice and also prevents any wind hitting it that comes from under the tent. It is also extremely light. I have a heavy set up and use the machines to drag it when I can but this past weekend dragged it by hand but used a smitty sled, it dragged with ease even though im dragging about 230#s. I prefer the larger tank because it minimizes the chance of running out. I put a hat over the top of the tank so theres no chance of the tank tearing my tent on the flipover when collapsed. I will leave the propane tank right in the tub while in use, some dont like that idea but I never had a problem.

[jerryfishing]

We have been using portable buddy in Clam Nanook flip over with one pound bottles that I refill with Flame King refill kit.Its a  small insulated shelter and heats up quick and stays warm. After a while of heating, we usually turn it off and leave pilot light going. We usually walk to our spots and wouldn't consider using bigger tank. Refill kit works well and fills flame king bottles full . I don't fill regular one pound bottles all the way up because refilling them and transporting them is iillegal and it scares my wife. When I fill them, I put 20 pound tank in the house to warm and 1 pound tanks in freezer to cool. I get higher fills that way. I weigh each bottle before filling and after filling to see exactly how much propane is in bottle. Without bleeding green regular tanks, I usually get 9-13 ounces in each. We only use a bottle or two in a day of fishing. Hope this helps. Good luck and tightlines!

[slipperybob]

I run the 11# tanks.  To drag the sled and weight of everything a 20# makes only a little difference to me.  The extra 10-15# in the sled would not be noticeable.

Sled drag harness, ice crampons, and ski poles.

What makes it difficult is deep soft snow.  I have never worn any snow shoes before and would not know how this would impact me.

[perch chacer]

I never liked my buddy heater when used in a flip over hut.  My flip over is the old style and does not have a zipper flap so you have to flip it open each time you want to exit.  Well, let me tell you, Buddy Heaters are not wind proof.  Each time I opened my hut I had to re-start the heater when I got back inside.  The heater now sits in the barn with other non-functional equipment I purchased over the years.

[Alex Delarge]

I wonder if you'd be better served to have the portable buddy in a 3 man hub? The big buddy burns a lot of fuel and is more suited for a garage or camper IMO. I know I can't burn 4-1 lb tanks in 8 hours on high with the portable buddy, probably have a hard time to burn 2.
In my permanent shack I hook up to a 20lber and keep a couple of 1lbers for when the 20 runs empty then I do the swap tank thing at the store.
Sounds like you would benefit from getting a 5lber and carrying an extra 1lber for when the 5 goes empty.

[Northern_MN Outdoorsan]

Is your house insulated or not? If not I'd sell it and buy an insulated portable. fish house. A single big buddy will heat the clam bigfoot garage which is an 8x14 hub house fully insulated no problem at -20.

[FG Steve]

-What set ups have you used/do you currently use?
1) Big Buddy with 11 lb cylinder and quick connect hose.
OR
2) Portable Buddy with 5 lb cylinder and "green" hose.

-Do you find you go through more propane if you bring more?
A little, but that's good.  Rather than rationing, just making sure everyone is comfortable.

-Does the size of the tank(s) play into what you are bringing? (ie. lots of 1# tanks vs one big tank)
Yes.  I prefer the single, larger tank.  Although my Big Buddy carrying case has 2 one-pounders and the Portable Buddy case has one, for emergency backup.

-Do the bigger tanks pay themselves off in a reasonable amount of time?
Absolutely.  Around here, the one pound disposables are around $3 and propane is about $2.50/gal.

-Are the refillable tank set ups worth it financially/ effort wise/ safety wise?
Refillable by me?  I don't do that and am not poking that bear.  The discussion will go there without my poking.
Commercial refillable?  Yup.

-How much of an impact does the weight of bigger tanks have?
Depends on whether you are a bucket dude or a vehicle dude.  For a bucket dude, yeah it's a big add.

-How low do you let your bigger tanks get before refilling them?
Not very.  If it is used much, I top it off.

-Anything else you think is important when considering propane tanks?
Safety.  Lots of safety tips on here.

YMMV
IMO

[PoleJerker]

I got a 10# on line. they are pricey .but worth it. got a hose and regulator set up made for buddy heater. I get two or three trips out of it. can get refilled any place they do tanks. even in very cold it last. not too much weight to drag, a twenty would kill me by hand drag. hope helps.

Same here except I use the 20#.

[fish/hunt4ever]

I use the 20# bottles on my buddy and big buddy in the camper or I have the Denali 4 and just set the tank on the outside of the shanty right on the flap and this keeps the tank out of my way in the shanty and also has helped keep the shanty down on those windy days when I did not have any snow to set on the flaps and the ice shavings did not go to far when only drilling 2 holes.  But in the camper I can run the big buddy from low to high, and leave it on low all night long and only go through one bottle in about 3 days of running constantly, while up hunting and running it when we are in the camper for a couple hours in the middle of the day usually on high and medium and all night long on low I can usually get 5 days out of a bottle, on my heating buddy I use it in the toy hauler part to dry all the snow suits and other stuff off and keep it a little warmer at night for people sleeping back there since there is only one heating vent in this part of the camper, usually running it on low most of the time, if I never shut it off I get 3 to 4 days out of a tank.  I usually pull my shanty with the wheeler but have pulled it with the propane tank and heater stowed in it and it really did not change the weight of the shack by any noticeable weight for dragging.

[VenomInjected]

Flame King and Mr. Buddy...

Light... 2 bottles last me for 15 hours of fishing.... get home and 5 minutes later I'm ready to go again and bottles refilled... no errands, no "refilling" no dealing with 40 empty bottles at the end of season and no "weighing" the little green coleman disposables to make sure I didn't "overfill" it.

Couldn't be happier with my flame king bottles and refill setup.

ROI for the Flame king and 2 bottles is about Qty: 25-35 1#er's.

For me thats less than a season (between heating and propane auger)

[Deal Ninja]

I have a Polar Bird 3T and a Portable Buddy (one cylinder).  I have and use six of the refillable Flame King cylinders.

PROS:

-I make one trip a year to the propane store (RV dealer) with my big (33lb) cylinder.  I've already made that trip for this season.

-I can take as few or as many refillables as I think I might need on the ice (generally one or two) for day trips.

-Less weight to drag than any other option besides the Coleman non-refillable tanks.

-The propane dealers I have available got REALLY grumpy when I asked them to fill my small (5# or 11#) tanks in the bitter cold of winter.  One wouldn't fill less than a 20 lb.  They literally don't make peanuts when they fill those small tanks.

-I can refill my little tanks at my leisure and don't ever have to worry about running out of fuel or when the propane guy will be open.

-The gas I purchased cost .86 a pound vs $3.50 or so for the Coleman's.

-The refillable system will pay for itself over time just like a larger bulk tank will over the Coleman option, but I'm getting older and I drag and weight conservation is at a premium when heading out.  The convenience of taking only what you need weight-wise can't be overstated.

-They're legal to fill AND transport.

-No hoses and no filters.

CONS:

-Expensive to get started, but as stated above, the system pays for itself over time and when you've covered your investment, it's all gravy.

-You have to fill your own tanks.  I consider this time spent a wash with trips that I would otherwise be making to the propane store.

-One pound tanks are more susceptible to freezing up than larger tanks if it's really cold out.  (another reason to take an extra tank with you)

-The more tanks you have, the higher your odds are that one will fail and leak, maybe at an inopportune place and time.  Don't store in enclosed areas, especially inside your home.  I'm comfortable with this risk and always keep my cylinders capped when not in use.

Hope this helps.

DN



 

[bootstrap]

I know you asked about propane but here is my setup and I've changed my ways from strictly propane:

Coleman Dual Fuel Lantern on unleaded 87
Buddy Heater with 1 extra bottle

I will run the buddy heater on low during the day if needed at all.  At night I run the coleman lantern and it serves both light and heat.  I don't bring extra gas and 1 gallon of gas in the shed lasts quite a while.  I'll run the buddy heater on low if the lantern isn't enough.  If the forecast isn't too cold I don't bring the buddy heater at all.  This saves me some money with this setup.

i hope you have co2 detector

[Noon]

i hope you have co2 detector

I think you mean CO. (carbon monoxide) but yes, I had the same thought. I will stick with the buddy heater with its oxygen detector built in. I have actually had it kick off before because oxygen levels were too low after hours of being inside our hut. Pretty easy reminder to air out even if it is freezing cold. I prefer that and the cost difference to falling asleep from too much CO and not waking up.

[johnb340]

I'm thinking 4 bottles of propane gives off more carbon monoxide than my full fount of fuel.  I've done this for decades and I also air it about every 2 hours.  I hope you come up with a solution that you like.

[HWeber]

I love how people trust a bs feel good feature on a heater many people have problems with 

[Hoserman]

Went fishing yesterday and used my new Buddy heater. Left it on low and it kept my shanty warm for around six hours on a one pounder. I love it.

[Royalwapiti]

I have lugged a 20# tank many times before I bought a 5# tanks.  The first time I filled it the gas dealer had a 2 gallon minimum, cost me $7.00.  Since then they charge it, I fill some 20# with it.   

The 5# lasts me two to four times fishing.  Usually 15 degrees when I fish and I have to turn the portable buddy off because it over heats my Clam Nanook. 

I have tried the refilling 1# and I had one leak out, in my garage, I didn't notice it, but thankfully it didn't ignite.  I stopped messing with that, besides I could only get them 60-70% full.

I am surprised nobody mentioned for you to get a smitty sled.  They make pulling any sled much easier. 

[FG Steve]

My local Farm & Ranch store and my local propane dealer both fill my 5# and 11# with a smile on their face.  Sorry to hear all the bad stories.  The propane dealer is better at getting the 5# genuinely full.

[Noon]

I appreciate everyones input. Thanks for taking this time to share. I have gotten a bunch of ideas. To answer one of the questions, yes i am building a smitty sled. But i think instead of exploring different propane options as it seems to be a matter of preference, i am going to work on some insulation mods to make better use of whatever heat i am producing. 

A side note, being someone who looks at threads for information, i encourage anyone to keep posting their ideas. I hate reading along in a post looking for more info on a topic to find the original author is satisfied and ends the post

[DTro]

Something I discovered this year is that the shelter and insulation makes a BIG difference.   Last year I had an insulated Clam (XL 4000T  8x8).  This year I have an Otter Lodge XTH (8x8).   The difference is very noticeable.  In most cases with the Clam and Big Buddy I was med to high, always on high with temps at teens or below.    This year with the Otter, I’ve never been able to move it to high and in most cases I’m switching between low and med.    The BTU math is pretty easy, heat is heat and usage is usage.   With a big buddy its approx 11 hours on low, 5 hours on med and 2.5 hrs on high.   I have 4 flame king tanks and I have yet to be worried about running out of propane and only have switched out to the 2 extras on one trip so far (7 hour sit).

[mudchuck]

I have heard bits and pieces of chatter in other threads, but would like to have this information in one place. I am looking for opinions and experience on propane use in buddy/big buddy heaters.

To add a bit of context for how I will be using it, I have a 3man hub and fish when it is cold and also at night. My last trip out we went through four of the 1# tanks over 6-7 hours with a big buddy heater in order to stay comfortable (skim ice was still forming in the holes inside the shanty but we were warm enough). I also carry all of my gear or use a sled to pull it. I am not afraid to put some miles on for fishing, but I bet that distance would decrease if I have a full 20# tank in my sled adding almost 40lbs when you consider the tank/propane weight and a hose.

Information that I am looking for, and hopefully others will find useful, is related to what seems to work best for you? I know some guys are sold on using the refillable 1# tanks, I have heard of others using the 5#, 11#, or 20# tanks. Not sure how many people walking have a 20# tank.
-What set ups have you used/do you currently use?
-Do you find you go through more propane if you bring more?
-Does the size of the tank(s) play into what you are bringing? (ie. lots of 1# tanks vs one big tank)
-Do the bigger tanks pay themselves off in a reasonable amount of time?
-Are the refillable tank set ups worth it financially/ effort wise/ safety wise?
-How much of an impact does the weight of bigger tanks have?
-How low do you let your bigger tanks get before refilling them?
-Anything else you think is important when considering propane tanks?

Thanks everyone, I look forward to hearing your input.

I use the 11# with buddy heater and walk on almost all the time, the tank fits perfect in my wide1 inferno along with the buddy heater and all my gear. I can get numerous trips out of the tank before needing to refill.

[chilly-willy]

I run the big buddy heater with a 20# tank I do stay over night certin areas and spend night the other thing is 20#tanks are really 15#tanks when you purchase them that's why 30# are twice the size of the 15#barbecue tanks it's like a double size but besides that I would check in to 5#steel tanks etc I pull the 15 # tank by hand and it's not fun pulling up hills etc.. with ot with out snow.. a lot of fishing spots around here you pull up hill as you leave.. any how that 5# would be perfect for that but you got to think If  useing the shelters solar heat during day time and heat at night when sun goes down do you have enough with a five number tank?? You got to calculate hours is my problem with 5 # and eleven numbers not far from a 15#  so think about it enough before you invest.. about hours used if you stay over night it's coldest in morning just before dawn..

[chilly-willy]

Also check in to those exchange a tank programs in your area I use blue rhino but most gas station that are 24 hour carry blue rhino in the areas I fish.. so if I run out of lp I can excange in middle of night I also fill mine at tractor supply cause its $2.59 agallon on my last fill per gallon only holds 4.6 gallons empty aprox any how the tanks if they get old as in out of date just exchange for another tank and keep going those tanks are only good for I think 3 years before they red flag ya and won't fill them for ya.. the 30 lb is closer to 2 x 20 #tanks in size at tractor supply that and mines stamped 15 lb on the tank  handle which makes me think there 15#tanks but sold as 20# tanks if you look in person the 40#tanks at tsc are 3 x size of the 20#tank why cause 3x#15 is 45# think about it that way.. any how they market them as 20 # s but are more a 15#  any way that exchange programs saved me more then ant thing from freezeing and you can't exchange a 11# or 5# tanks so think about that..

[antelope76]

I love my 5#.  it last way longer than five 1 pounders.
Good for camping trip also.

[P Meyette]

use the 11pounder and filter have no problems at all

[Huntindave]

mines stamped 15 lb on the tank  handle which makes me think there 15#tanks but sold as 20# tanks ,,,,.. any how they market them as 20 # s but are more a 15#

You are quite confused as to the information stamped on your LP tank.

  What is the tare weight stamped on your tank? 

I suspect the 15# stamp you see is the Tare weight of your tank.  For reference, MOST tanks sold as 20# tanks and used on gas grills, have a tare weight of around 17 or 18 lbs.


What is the water capacity stamped on your tank?

The water capacity will tell you exactly how much LP the tank will hold when full.  Again a "standard 20# tank"  will have a water capacity of 47.6 pounds. A propane tank that will hold 47.6 pounds of water will hold 20 pounds of propane

[Noon]

You are quite confused as to the information stamped on your LP tank.

  What is the tare weight stamped on your tank? 

I suspect the 15# stamp you see is the Tare weight of your tank.  For reference, MOST tanks sold as 20# tanks and used on gas grills, have a tare weight of around 17 or 18 lbs.


What is the water capacity stamped on your tank?

The water capacity will tell you exactly how much LP the tank will hold when full.  Again a "standard 20# tank"  will have a water capacity of 47.6 pounds. A propane tank that will hold 47.6 pounds of water will hold 20 pounds of propane

Thanks for this informative post Dave!

[chilly-willy]

You are quite confused as to the information stamped on your LP tank.

  What is the tare weight stamped on your tank? 

I suspect the 15# stamp you see is the Tare weight of your tank.  For reference, MOST tanks sold as 20# tanks and used on gas grills, have a tare weight of around 17 or 18 lbs.


What is the water capacity stamped on your tank?

The water capacity will tell you exactly how much LP the tank will hold when full.  Again a "standard 20# tank"  will have a water capacity of 47.6 pounds. A propane tank that will hold 47.6 pounds of water will hold 20 pounds of propane

Probably more then likely right but who knows if its tare weight as for water capcity not sure would have to look ..