Got Enough Grease..!!

[alantani]

I bet it was Quiet.

and heavy!

[Bill B]

News Flash........authorities are reporting a previously unknown tar pit emerged in the Florida area and a fishing reel repairman is missing..........hey anyone heard from Keith lately?           Bill

[mo65]

Zoinks! Surprised the dog would even engage. On second thought...it's behind the bridge...and prolly dry as toast! I bought a beautiful mint 712Z that was very stiff. Opened the side plate and it nearly sprang off  because grease was so packed into the reel!

[Fish-aholic]

This thread reminded me of this video I viewed on Youtube recently:



Must go through pounds of Penn grease per season with such application.  

[Shark Hunter]

That was ridiculous.

[mo65]

That was ridiculous.

I'm glad you said it.

Joe

 BAHAHAHAAAA!!! I wanted to say that yesterday...but being the "new guy" I figured it might be stepping out of my bounds. A thin film of grease on the inside of the plates is a great idea for salt water use...screws too...but that slathering was a bit much...

*This actually touches on the subject of YouTube tutorials...something you should be very careful about.

[johndtuttle]

I think he goes a little over the top.....

But, in his defense I do wipe off excess grease from various places (screws etc) after buttoning up and that ends up being used to wipe down the reel. I think the net result of his on the outside is fine. A very thin film of protective grease is not a bad thing.

Remember fellas, he could easily be a member here or a fan of Alan's....play nice  .

[Shark Hunter]

If He Wants to use 1/4 pound of grease on each reel, Hey, to each his own.
He didn't take off the non handle plate to grease the rings and screws, didn't check the drags, shim the sleeve if needed.
No attention to Detail. Just a poor service. It is what it is.
We all have to start somewhere.

[foakes]

You guys will probably throw rocks at me -- but this charter guy is doing what he should be doing.

He is providing a service, by making money -- and staying in business...

Lets face it, the folks who come on his outings think a five stack is what you get at Denny's for the breakfast special --

All they want is to catch enough meat to fill a gunny sack -- they need to be successful.

Fishing these rigs 250 days a year with kids, women, newbies, and pilgrims who just want a smooth reel, good crank -- while they play with the controls they know nothing about -- anti-reverse, drag, clicker -- plus using 100 # mono -- means these reels will get a workout for about 3 years -- then get tossed or recycled into other reels needing parts.

With untangling lines, baiting hooks, gaffing, unhooking, rebaiting, and showing newbies how to bring in the fish (just crank it fast, Chief -- you got a big one!) -- the last thing they need is to be dealing with is a problem reel.

Anyone with more experience -- will 9 times out of 10 -- bring their own gear, anyway...

Sometimes, we need to see the motives and effectiveness of systems that we would not ever do ourselves in a hundred years...

Many things in life are counter-intuitive to experts like us -- sort of like some of the old time blacksmiths or loggers who work the woods for a living -- they store their sledge hammers with the heads immersed in a bucket of water.  They get rusty -- but the head is always tight -- and they don't need to be pretty -- they just need to work.

For me, 2 things we can learn from this guy --

1) This is a testament to the quality of Penn reels.

2) Do not buy this guys old reels on Ebay -- thinking you got a bargain because they were so cheap.

Just my opinions...

Best,

Fred

[mo65]

You guys will probably throw rocks at me

  Naw Fred...we'd never throw rocks at ya!   You've actually made some valid points here...especially the one about buying used reels on eBay...similar to my warning about YouTube. Maybe we can view this servicing as a "charter special".

[Alto Mare]

I've opened some charter's reels, some weren't worth fixing. This man knows what's doing and I believe he's doing the right thing as well.
Those reels don't get touched for a year, sometimes two. As long as they keep bringing the fish to the boat, they're left alone.
1/4 pound of grease is better than no grease in this case.

[Bill B]

There is a lot of experience in his head, he learned his gear is meat getting specials, not shelf queens, all the grease keeps them working all year with little maintenance, as he has learned, as stated above, customers want to fish not watch the deckhand fix a problem reel. My hats off to him for realizing gear needs pre fish service and offering his customers a piece of reliable equipment......JMO.....Bill

Ohhh yeah, glad I don't do the rebuilds for him, I'm sure the EPA would classify my work bench a Super Fund Site......

[Shark Hunter]

I understand, He is a Charter Captain, but why only service your reels once a year?
It seems counter productive.
Why not service them more than once a year to keep from throwing them away?

[sdlehr]

Why not service them more than once a year to keep from throwing them away?

He clearly has decided that his time doing reel maintenance is not worth as much as replacing the reels every 2-3 years. Not everyone is nuts about this like we are. He is a captain, a fisherman, and a businessman, probably in that order, and he just doesn't have the fun we do with our reels. I bet he's never hot-rodded a reel. It's all about what the reel can do for him, not what he can do for the reel. Just my opinion. His reels probably have poor self esteem and all kinds of other psychological issues because of how they are treated.

Sid

Sid

[Brendan]

If you only service them once a year that would prevent corrosion, may not win any casting contests but that could be remadied with an easier clean up than dealing with a heavily used non serviced reel. The video reel. Not the original pictures. That's just out of control.