Northwest Fishing Reports

Looks like my tank top heater is toast. Looking into something to replace it with. I recently borrowed a big buddy heater that worked great. Im leaning towards something similar to this. Are there any similar but recessed propane heaters like the indoor home wall heaters that would hold up in a marine environment? Something recessed would be ideal in our lund if possible.... otherwise, whats your favorite boat heat source?

We have the standard size Buddy/Mr. Heater and place on the bow step which takes it out of the way. Works great.

Ya what Phil said. A standard Mr Buddy works great in our Hewes

A Hunter/Buddy on the step of our TJ keeps the enclosure toasty warm. Typically we get 4-5 hours on the low setting.

I've been using a Buddy Heater with a 1 gallon bulk tank for about 10 years now. As long as you have a cabin which can keep the wind off of it, they work great. If you have to expose it to the elements, the tank top styles are probably your best bet.

hewesfisher wrote:We have the standard size Buddy/Mr. Heater and place on the bow step which takes it out of the way. Works great.

Roger that! Same here. My only complaint with the buddy heaters is wind will put them right out. Canvas is a must and keep the curtain closed.

The canvas is so much more expensive than propane though.... This darned lund 1600 angler (deep vee aluminum 60hp outboard) has a single sided windscreen (driver has to tuck behind it to get shielded from wind at speed). any kind of enclosure plan at all first has to deal with the lacking windshield..... and to add to that, the boat also has deceptively low sides. Some day I'll either find a junk boat to salvage the windshield and dash, etc.. from or upgrade boats. Until then, radiant heat will suffice.

Based on the input, I'll probably end up with a "big buddy" heater like I had borrowed recently. It was pretty good about staying lit in the wind. We could even travel at 35 mph with it lit if it was turned backwards just right! Thanks for all the replies!

Sideburns wrote:Based on the input, I'll probably end up with a "big buddy" heater like I had borrowed recently. It was pretty good about staying lit in the wind. We could even travel at 35 mph with it lit if it was turned backwards just right! Thanks for all the replies!

For safety concerns, I shut my heater off when running at speed. Once less thing to keep me from averting my attention from what is in front of me when I'm on plane.

Sideburns wrote:The canvas is so much more expensive than propane though.... This darned lund 1600 angler (deep vee aluminum 60hp outboard) has a single sided windscreen (driver has to tuck behind it to get shielded from wind at speed). any kind of enclosure plan at all first has to deal with the lacking windshield..... and to add to that, the boat also has deceptively low sides. Some day I'll either find a junk boat to salvage the windshield and dash, etc.. from or upgrade boats. Until then, radiant heat will suffice.

Based on the input, I'll probably end up with a "big buddy" heater like I had borrowed recently. It was pretty good about staying lit in the wind. We could even travel at 35 mph with it lit if it was turned backwards just right! Thanks for all the replies!

Didn't know you were trying to heat the outdoors.

In your case, I'd get another tank top heater. An adjustable double element unit (10k - 30kbtu) is under $100 at HD.

I always shut our heater off when moving, heat gets sucked out anyway and the tip over shut off is so sensitive it will frequently trip in choppy water.