Big Buddy Heater

[Geezer_]

Just a heads up if you are looking for a Big Buddy Heater, Sportsmans Warehouse has them at $ 109.00, lowest I've ever seen them. These are not the reconditioned units.

[meathead_MV]

Thanks for the heads up been looking for a good deal on one.

[Baetis62]

If you have a Tractor Supply Store in the area they have the big buddy for $99 until the 15th at least here in CO.  My old one still works fine so I didn't even need one but I couldn't pass it up at that price. 

[Geezer_]

$ 99.00 is a great price. Our Tractor Supply had them at $ 119.00 the week after Black Friday . Went to pick one up and they were sold out.

[HardH20Fishin]

If you don't mind getting in the yellow color, you can take the add from Tractor Supply into Lowe's and they will usually beat competitors by an additional 10% (make sure you ask for the store manager not just the person working the floor).  The one Lowe's sells is the exact same unit, just in yellow.

[Madplumber]

$85 on Amazon it is the 9000 btu perfect for pop ups

[400bullelk]

I'm on my second one of these, don't feel like I abuse them, but hard to get them running.

[dubob]

I have 2 different models; big one for the double flip over and small one for the single flip over.  Never had a problem with either one.  Used the small one Saturday on Little Creek at below zero temps and it worked fine all day long.  Turned it off and restarted at least 4 times with nary a problem.

[Geezer_]

When these first came out every one was having problems because they were jetted for sea level. Part of the reason I think for all of the re-furbished units that were on the market. Now you can run them up to about 10 thousand feet before you have problems. I run my Big Buddy off a large tank with filter and hose and thought that it was defective until I realized it takes a little time for the gas to flow through the 12ft hose. Now I give it a little time and it runs great.

[tomertim]

I finally broke down and got a Big Buddy a few months ago.  I'm not quite sure how I ever lived without it.  Ranks right up there with the invention of football on my list.

The only problem I had was a went to pick up a new refilled propane tank from Harmons, and the heater wouldn't stay lit.  Kept having that humming sound.

Took the tank back and switched it out and it's back to working like a champ.

[muskyon46]

With the buddy heaters there always a few things I do to ensure I don't have many problems. Most answers were found here on the shanty or from trial and error on my own part

1- when using any external tank always have a filter inline unless your using the green hoses

2- when using external tanks always just crack the valve, then light the heater, then open the valve the rest of the way slowly

3- always have a fresh air source close to the heater (low 02 = little pilot light = thermo coupler shuts off heater)

4- its good to swab out the gas line right by the thermo coupler with some alcohol on a Q-tip every once in awhile, just let it dry completely before firing it up

Here's some links to useful info for buddy heaters (mods, problems, answers ect....)

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=224866.0

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=288321.msg3007290#msg3007290

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=161438.0

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=164815.msg3362569#msg3362569

this thread by far is the coolest for everyone doing some cooking on the buddy, 18 pages but there are some cool pics which spur so many mods in my mind

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=132730.0

[herefishyfishyfishy1]

Are there any known issues with the refurbished models?

[muskyon46]

I haven't read many of the post this year but I believe some were having issues with the pilot light not burning high enough to keep the thermo coupler working. Running a Q-tip in there with some alcohol to clean it up worked for some and others had to replace some lines