[AT] Heater Review

[Francis Robinson]

	I recently bought one of those small LP heaters sold as "Mr. Heater" portable Buddy heater.
http://www.mrheater.com/productdetail.asp?id=678

	I bought it initially for an unconventional use. I wanted it first to use in my combine cab. The factory 
heater in that cab has some problems and parts from the dealer to fix it are almost $200. I normally rarely 
need a heater in there anyway so I had just let it slide. Some #$%& wet weather this year has forced me to do 
some combining on frozen ground. It has to freeze several inches deep to hold my combine up especially 
when it gets about 3 tons of grain in the tank. I paid about $75 for the Buddy heater and have a lot of uses in 
mind for it. The Combine cab is roughly 4' x 4' x 5.5' tall (very rough guess). Like many older units it is miles 
away from being airtight. There are big holes where the pedals go through the floor and the grain tank serves 
as the back wall. The fit between the tank and wall leaves almost an inch gap all around. I found that the 
Buddy heater on the lowest (4,000 BTU) was more than adequate to keep me warm at windy temps well 
below 20 degrees F. At that setting the 1# tank lasted all day (YMMV). It sat solidly on the floor and never 
offered to be at all tipsy in the motion of the combine. It did over heat my left leg a bit so I did have to sit with 
that leg off to the side. About the only trouble I had was when driving over some very rough areas the safety 
tip over control did shut the heater down a few times. It was obviously working...   :-)    No big deal, just set it 
back to pilot, hold the control knob down and hit the igniter and reset the control knob to the 4,000 BTU 
setting. If I would use it a lot for this I would hang a 20# tank on the outside of the cab and use the optional 
hose connector in to the heater but I don't really expect to use it for that again in future years.
	One of the reasons I was willing to buy the heater was that I have a lot of other uses for it. At an 
antique tractor swap meet last spring we slept in our old van and were freezing in a sudden cold snap. Since 
we had an electric hook-up at our site we ran to Wally World and bought a small electric heater and ran it all 
night. Not all sites have power. This Buddy heater would heat that old van with the windows partly open.
	We also have a 32' gooseneck horse trailer with large living space (no heat) in the front and this heater 
would heat it easily in any weather we would be using it. We also have a 24' travel trailer that we could use it 
in. It has a furnace in it but I have never tried to fire it up since it is very hard to get to, very old and I am not 
sure of its general condition. We never camp in real cold weather but this Buddy heater should heat it fine in 
mild spring/fall weather.
	I also expect to use this heater for spot heat at various working locations over the winter. One example 
is a couple of smallish buildings that I expect to be working in this winter. Even though I don't expect to be 
sitting around in my shorts in them having this heater going will knock out the damp chill and at the 9,000 BTU 
setting add some comfortable radiant heat. I will keep it in the shop most of the time and use it for spot heat.
	I already have the hose and connectors for the 20# tank. I ran across one at a yard sale for $2. It can 
also be used to refill the one pound bottles to about 50 to 60% just by inverting the 20# tank.

	At this point I am quite pleased and think of it as a very useful tool. 
	





"farmer"


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net