I just picked up a Clam Yukon and I am in need of a heater. I have been looking at the MR Heater Portable Buddy. What are your thoughts about the quality of the unit? Also is there another unit I should be looking at?
I have had a Big Buddy Heater for one season and it has been a good unit. The only complaint I have is the pilot flame sometimes gets blown out when I open the shack door. I have seen some modifications made to the units that block the pilot from the wind. Maybe someone else has a pic of this modification they will be willing to share.
I second the buddy heater they are great. I too have the problem with the wind blowing out the pilot light and have thought of makin a mod to eliminate the problem. It would be nice to hear what others have done or a picture of it 
Big buddy heaters work very well. Put a board below so bottle dont freeze to ice. I also have the blow out problem thinking of making a peice of tin foil and riging it up their so it dosent blow out still working on it if it works i will put some pics on here!
I have to disagree with the above posts…IMHO the buddy heaters are junk, no offense guys! I have three of them, 2 buddy’s and a big buddy and none of them work consistently. One of my regular buddies is OK at best and works MOST of the time. The pilots go out nonstop and they aren’t “tough” like they claim. I think all the issue’s stem from the o2 shutoff. That’s fine for in the home or when your sleeping, but when I’m in the portable I want heat and something that’ll work all the time. I can always unzip the door for air.
Years prior I ran a sunflower, ALWAYS worked and kicked out lots of heat. I then switched to “buddy” heaters for about 4 years, nothing but problems. I switched back to a “sunflower” heater/cooker. It always works…and you can heat your coffee or cook veni burgers on it.
Heater/cooker, 10′ hose and 10lb. tank…HEAT.
BIRDDOG
Big Buddy heater works extremely well for me in “ALL CONDITIONS”!! I will try and post a picture of the modification I made to help keep the pilot light from being blown out. Other than the pilot light issue I run mine off of a 20lb tank and it works very well!
This one is for the fans of the Big Buddy heaters…
I’ve never owned one and have no opinion for or against. I just went and checked them out online and they run $139 – $149 depending on where you shop. Holy smokes that is expensive. I can get two of the Mr. Heater style heaters for the same price and have room for a meal and a couple drinks after coming off the ice.
So my question is, what does the Big Buddy Heater do that the el-cheapo Mr. Heater doesn’t do? I see the Big Buddy is rated for 18,000 BTUs/hr while the single burner Mr. Heater is rated for 14,000 BTUs/hr. Is that the difference that justifies the added cost or is it the housing and handle that make it worth the extra green?
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Mr. Heater MH12C
This is what I use… can’t say I’ve ever had any issue with it. I use a hose to a 10# tank. Plenty o’ heat on those cold and windy winter days.
For a few more bucks you can get the “push for spark” Piezo lighter thingie built in but matches or a bic works for me just fine.
That’s the same unit I’m running, works well. If you want to stay warm and have a heater that won’t blow out or run low on “o2” 
, it’s the way to go. 
BIRDDOG
I also have a bad review of the Buddy heaters. The one I had was very inconsistent. Half the time the pilot would blow out if you breathed on it. On top of that, it would only start when it wanted to.
I also run the Mr.Heater/Cooker now and love it. It has kept an Otter Lodge warm enough to be in a t-shirt in sub-zero weather. It also doubles as a cooker like was mentioned above.
The only thing I am going to do different this year is switch to a 10# tank. The 1#’ers get really expensive and are a pain to deal with all winter long.
You can’t go wrong with simplicity 
I use a Mr Heater with a 5 pound tank. Works great, and by using a 5 pound tank it lasts for ever, and a lot cheaper.
I cannot justify a buddy heater for my needs. The big deal with them yers ago was the CO2 shut off sensor. Maybe a small permanent shack would be an ideal place for a buddy heater.
I beat the living daylights out of my equipment. I can’t have anything with me that needs that much special care. ESPECIALLY a critical piece(heater).
The Mr. heater/cooker has done an excellent job for the past 12 years considering how I beat them.
I also have used a Big Buddy for two seasons and it has worked awesome, with a cheap mod. The one thing I like about the big buddy is the built in fan, although it adds extra weight with batteries, the big buddy spreads the heat out extremely well in the portable. I’m planning to get the hose extension so I can layoff the 1 lb’s this year. Good when you take the wife along, mine can’t stand cold at all, but she’s fine when I have the big buddy on blast.
I would go with the Mr heater. Me and a friend have eskimo quick flip 2s he has the buddy i got mr heater. He freezes and is over in my shack where we fish in tshirt and jeans. If you buy the one that mounts directly to the cylinder u can throw it in the boat on those early march pool 4 runs! easy to warm the fingers after unhooking all those eyes!
James, The main difference is the Buddies are low pressure and they have the o2 cutoff so they won’t put you to permanent sleep and the price! They also have catalytic inserts that seem to burn any byproducts so no more sunflower headaches and burning eyes. But what I really like for ice fishing though is they are really QUIET!
I have both types and the sunflowers are by far more rugged and able to operate outside in wind. I do like the Buddies though for inside a portable.
Ferny.
I picked up a Big Buddy for $89 at Menards a couple weeks ago, the main reason I went for it, previously with the Mr. Heater Cooker and Sunflowers, I would get bad headaches when they were running fished with Big Buddy’s a couple times last year and no headaches, I can live with re-lighting the pilot light as opposed to a massive headache and not wanting to have heat while fishing
Heater cooker here also, 20+ years use and still going. I did replace the screens and a thrmocouple a few years ago but thats just general upkeep IMO. Mine kicks out close to 25,000 BTU if needed, also burns below the normal low setting for those kinda warm calm sunny days. I have modified it a bit. Little fan stuck to the top pole on my QFIII and we stay toasty.
Why Buddy Heaters? No headaches, no burnt clothing, and no burnt up shacks for starters. Spend 10 mins making a guard for the pilot light, problem solved. Use a filter or the hose with a built-in regulator when connecting to bulk tanks.
No more flame throwers for me, not inside my Otter’s. 
I used the Little Buddy heater for a year… and ditched it for the Mr Heater/Cooker as James posted above. Besides for the problems of wind blowing them out… they just did not heat the shack very well. The Mr heater/Cooker keeps me toasty warm in my Yukon… even on LOW.
I fish out of a scout most of the time so the buddy works best for me, the mr heater cooker just heats the scout up way too much. Fishing out of anything bigger than the scout, then I would reccomend the mr heater cooker
plus right now The Mr. Heater Jame’s posted is on sale at the Gander store for only $39.
do you have a picture of the flame gaurd you built? I am interested in that.
There are 2 ways to fix the “problem” of the pilot light on a Buddy Heater being susceptible to wind. Fab up a wind shield or move the thermocouple closer to the pilot light.
2 good threads with pics here:
http://www.chitown-angler.com/1fish/viewtopic.php?t=36910
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=27056.0
thanks for the threads, I think I’ll try both moving the thermo coupler and fashion some sort of shield, I have both heaters and will use the buddy more often, unless it’s brezy out. I also hate the headaches the sunflower gives me.
Used my Big Buddy for the last two ice seasons and been very happy with it. Got mine from Fleet Farm on sale for $89, as I recall. I always used the sunflower prior to that and was very happy with it. The primary reason I changed over was for a reason not listed above…my little ones were starting to ice fish with me. I felt that if one of them ever slipped/tripped and fell, there would be a better chance that their hand would “graze/slide” down the front side of the Big Buddy than with the sunflower (especially in the horizontal/cooker position). Even in the vertical position, I felt the sunflower might tip back and put a small hand right into it. Of course, I always keep the heater on my side of the house (away from the kids), but there’s a reason they’re called accidents.
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Used my Big Buddy for the last two ice seasons and been very happy with it. Got mine from Fleet Farm on sale for $89, as I recall. I always used the sunflower prior to that and was very happy with it. The primary reason I changed over was for a reason not listed above…my little ones were starting to ice fish with me. I felt that if one of them ever slipped/tripped and fell, there would be a better chance that their hand would “graze/slide” down the front side of the Big Buddy than with the sunflower (especially in the horizontal/cooker position). Even in the vertical position, I felt the sunflower might tip back and put a small hand right into it. Of course, I always keep the heater on my side of the house (away from the kids), but there’s a reason they’re called accidents.
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Great post. I was so nervous last year whenever I would step out of the shack leaving my daughter in it to “fish” while I relieved myself. The ice is so slippery in the portable I could see how it could happen very fast. Especially as clutzy as my daughter is.
Just an update. I moved the thermocouple on both my Buddy and Big Buddy heaters (see links in my post above). WOW, what a difference! With this mod and a shield, it will take a Category 1 Hurricane to blow my Buddy’s out. The little Buddy is easy to do, the big one definitely takes a little more time to figure out how to get it apart. I spent about an hour on it, then did my friends heater in about 20 minutes. Well worth the effort!
I use the Sunflower cooker, i think it is the only way to go. I have 2 friends that have big buddy and hate them. It heats up my X2 on the coldest day.
I agree 100% with James except i hook a 20lb tank up to mine.
I use a Buddy Heater, have been for 3 years. I have an X2, and I cannot honestly remember my pilot ever getting blown out. I used sunflowers and the cooker ones in the past, too HOT !!! Plus like others mentioned, noisey and the headaches. Worht every penny to me. Mine gets bounced around in my fishhouse or in the box on the back of the wheeler, it’s pretty tough as it still looks like new. Maybe I got a good one, but there is no way you could get me to go back to a sunflower… another thing I don’t miss, is don’t pay attention for a second and burn your line on the flower…
big G 
Ive had good luck with the buddy heaters on the ice and even in the boat.Yea they blow out once in a while.I used to use the sunflowers all the time and they do heat really well and are very durable.However headaches,watering eyes and burnt clothes etc. are definitly drawbacks.
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