Blaze king Princess Or Buck 81

Do you have dry wood? Is your home insulated ? Is it a single or double story home? Are you dead set on a cat stove ? I am sure others will shoot more questions your way.

There is another very good company called woodstock http://www.woodstove.com and they have some nice cat stoves as well as fantastic customer service.

Pete

Id buy the Buck, unless your gonna buy the Blaze King King!! Saw a used buck this week in teh stove stove, was sold but it was prolly in the $900 range, used of course.

I would buy a Buck, there one of the main stoves in tthis area!

The Buck is a solid,well built secondary burn type stove. The secondary type from what I understand are a little more forgiving with less than ideal seasoned wood. I could be wrong but the cat stoves are not..... That would be the upside to the secondary type stove. Now the cat stove, particularly the Blazing King Princess will burn for like 2 weeks on a single load of wood (joking), on a single load folks are talking about burns into the hours in the teens, crazy! I don't think that is possible with the secondary type. Two completely different worlds! Buck does make cat stoves though.....

My house is about 1600sq.ft. and with the 74 secondary burn type it does pretty well. I don't have any experience with a cat stove but the folks on here talk burn times that are much better than what I get. Mine is an insert..

Another thing burn times in a secondary burn stove and a cat stove wont be much different if you have to burn hard for the cold.

Pete

The 81 is a nice looking stove. Not sure what purpose the bay windows serve, or if they stay clean, but they look neat.

Two completely different animals.

I just had the Buck 94NC installed three weeks ago. I have burned about 5 times it is a real nice stove. Been getting about 12 hours with the damper closed all the way. The secondary burn tubes perform beautifully. I can't speak to the Blaze King but so far very impressed with the Buck.

Blaze King hands down but I'm kinda partial to them. When I bought mine I thought "Man if this stove lives up to just half the hype I've read I'll be thrilled", the stove has lived up to the hype and exceeded my expectations.

As a person who has had both a buck and a BK princess I would go with the BK. I found it harder to get the buck dialed in for a longer burn than the BK. The thermostat (while doing very little movement) plays a large roll in the long, even burns. I had the option recently to buy a buck 80 (cat stove 2.6c.f) or a princess (cat stove, 2.6c.f) for my parents, the buck was a 600$ used stove and the BK was a 1000$ used stove. I chose the BK. It helped that I already had an 8" class a chimney as well as a left over 6" SS liner so I could decide based solely on the stoves. What made my mind up is the FACT that the BK stove with its bi-metalic thermostat is an easier to run stove. While the buck is nice, and looks a bit better to me the BK just out performs it.. If your used to the "set it and forget it" style that a pellet stove offered then the Buck would probably drive you crazy.. Either way DRY DRY DRY wood is a necessity.. It really makes all the difference in the world, either stove, either technology-- both excel on drier wood..

Jason

sup said:

I'm all most ready to pull the trigger on a stove. Had my mind made up on the blaze king princess but i went to my local hardware store and they have the buck 81 there, nice stove. 1995.00 plus tax. blaze king 2800.00 plus tax. Any thoughts, I'm heating 1600 sq ft ranch. I have been heating with a Whitfieild pellet stove since 2004 just tired of it.

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What are your needs?
How long of a burn do you need?
How insulated is your home?
Have you ever used a Cat stove before?

PLAYS WITH FIRE said:

The Buck is a solid,well built secondary burn type stove. The secondary type from what I understand are a little more forgiving with less than ideal seasoned wood. I could be wrong but the cat stoves are not..... That would be the upside to the secondary type stove. Now the cat stove, particularly the Blazing King Princess will burn for like 2 weeks on a single load of wood (joking), on a single load folks are talking about burns into the hours in the teens, crazy! I don't think that is possible with the secondary type. Two completely different worlds! Buck does make cat stoves though.....

My house is about 1600sq.ft. and with the 74 secondary burn type it does pretty well. I don't have any experience with a cat stove but the folks on here talk burn times that are much better than what I get. Mine is an insert..

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Woodstock tested the Progress Hybrid with wet wood....all the details of the burn are available on a real time video of the burn at Woodstock's site...the cat handled the wet wood just fine...very little difference in burn time, emissions, heat output etc....take a look at the site if you are interested.

That is not to say they recommend burning wet wood...they don't.

sup said:

Home is one floor, well insulated new windows & doors. Pellet stove did a great job only ever had set on number 2 out of 5 settings. it's getting old, i bought it used in 2004 and never had any problems with it so it's due,its needs new brick that's over 100.00. i like everything i read about the BK. The only problem is finding seasoned wood, the only place I've found it is 250.00 a cord.

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That will be a problem whether you are using the Buck or the Blaze King. Buy your wood now and plan on using it next winter.

Welcome sup - as a recent pellet convertee myself,and expat from the Burgh burbs, I can give you some of the biggest tips I've learned from these guys:

-make sure the install is done correctly, and your chimney / flue is safe

-before some "professional" does something stupid to your home, run it by these guys. Most pros are pros, but horror stories abound, research your stove installer

-if it's a DIY, DEFINITELY have these guys walk ya thru it.
.
-cutting your own firewood is fun, saves cash,(kinda) and is addictive.

-you have a better chance seeing Steeler cheerleaders riding unicorns, while Charlie Batch runs the wildcat, while the Pirates simultaneously win the world series, than finding actual seasoned firewood for sale that's been seasoning LONG enough to burn.

Welcome and good luck!

rideau said:

Woodstock tested the Progress Hybrid with wet wood....all the details of the burn are available on a real time video of the burn at Woodstock's site...the cat handled the wet wood just fine...very little difference in burn time, emissions, heat output etc...

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Good to hear! When I bought a house with a stove in it last year, I had no wood, other than a pile of rounds the PO had left sitting rotting in the mud back in my woods. I split and stacked it, and was burning it within a month or two. This year, I'm burning what I split last winter and spring, a small step in the right direction. I look forward to getting to the point where I am burning two year seasoned wood, but make no mistake, I've been generating lots of heat (often more than intended) with this poorly seasoned wood in my cat stove.

Oh, and unless it's going somewhere you'll never see it, I would be buying the Buck.

Last night I loaded my 74 with 50%oak(2 year old) not sure of type, white maybe...and 50% maple, the red leaf type. I loaded at 9:45pm and closed it down about 10:10pm for over night and when I woke this morning at 7am. I had a ton of heat and coals left to easily start up again! I let it go at 8am when I left and still a raging coal bed. I bet easily still a nice bed left. The temp was in the 20's so not too bad but....

Well, I have to say I am still learning but I am impressed with the 74!

I did see the Progress video and also seen a video of a manufacturer of cats on youtube and they talked of "thermal shock" from wet wood introduced to a fire.

Keep the pellet stove another year, stock up on your wood supply and save up for a Blaze King.

Todd said:

Keep the pellet stove another year, stock up on your wood supply and save up for a Blaze King.

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+1 this. If your current pellet stove can make it save up some dough and buy a stove at the end of the season sales.