113 hn baja special

[alantani]

actually, i think it is!  the drive shaft (gear sleeve) of the 113hn is solid, not hollow like the 113h.  the main gear of the 113hn is all stainless steel, not a manganese/bronze alloy like the 113h.  the 113hn pinion gear is heavier and the teeth are thicker than the 113hn. 

and from screwups that i've made before, i have found that the 113h gears will shred at 25 pounds of drag.  the 113hn gears will not.

[Alto Mare]

Yes! You 're right Alan, but I don't believe that my Accurate SS gears, my Alan's SS gear sleeve, my double SS dogs from Lee and other goodies would fail at 25lb on my 113hn reel/tank. I like the baja, but with all of these wonderful upgrades from me and you guys, I'm going to stick with the simplicity and toghness of my reel/tank.
I'm wondering why the baja only lasted 4 years .
The 113h has over 50 years under its belt and still going strong.
Sal

[Norcal Pescador]

I'm wondering why the baja only lasted 4 years .
The 113h has over 50 years under its belt and still going strong.
Sal

Sal,

My personal opinion, for whatever it's worth, is that the great ideas of the Baja Special were just overtaken by other technology, maybe the higher cost compared to the 113H, the 113H is a good, basic reel of a very useful size, and like Alan said in his tutorial, " it's a shame nobody took the time to look under the hood." And with all of the aftermarket 113H accessories from Tiburon, Newell, etc., the 113HN was just ignored.

Steve Carson assured me the 113HN is still very much in production.

Kudos to you for all of your innovation. If Alan ever started a Reel-Tech of the Year, you should be the first.

Rob

[Squirmypug]

Alto I wouldn't hesitate to use your tank or the baja, they are both great reels.But for the price I think I would buy the Baja over spending money to make a reel like yours..I plan to build one someday though, for now my international torque 300 will have to fill the spot of baja/tank..it is made like a tank already and is about the same size  

[Alto Mare]

Rob, thanks for the info, I wasn't aware that the baja was still in production. When I checked Scotts it actually said that it was in production for 3 years. Thanks for setting me straight.

Squirmypug, I hear you. I just want to mention that you could get lucky and find some parts to customize the 113H. That would bring it up to the level of the Baja for less money. As I mentioned above, the Baja is a very good reel but in my opinion my ree/tank is a better reel, I really like the helical cut Accurate gears on my reel . Sal

[Keta]

Kudos to you for all of your innovation. If Alan ever started a Reel-Tech of the Year, you should be the first.

X2

[Makule]

X3

[CooldadE]

I beleive you would have to get very lucky to build a new USA 113H Tank for the $237.00 + shipping cost of a new USA 113HN.  New 113H ($90 on ebay rite now) Jvarence narrow kit ($85) Accurate gears ($75 maybe) SS  dogs ($5) Time to modify reel (??) Rough total...$250 plus not in including shipping. I am compairing new for new here and realize a person could poke around and score used stuff here and there and build a Tank on the cheap. I love Penn reels and have many modified with Accurate, Tiburon and Newell parts. I have a nice 113H I got in a deal ( a 113H and a Penn 60 both excellent for $50 ) that i will someday Tank up. I will also buy a 113HN ( I have an in home business and think I can get 113HN reels wholesale for under $200.00) I don't know how big a supply there is or what shipping would be. I Would be glad to check for interested members. Again I dont know how much the to my door shipping would be

[Makule]

actually, i think it is!  the drive shaft (gear sleeve) of the 113hn is solid, not hollow like the 113h.  the main gear of the 113hn is all stainless steel, not a manganese/bronze alloy like the 113h.  the 113hn pinion gear is heavier and the teeth are thicker than the 113hn. 

and from screwups that i've made before, i have found that the 113h gears will shred at 25 pounds of drag.  the 113hn gears will not.

Alan, I don't understand what you are saying about the 113HL gear sleeve being hollow and the 113HN being solid.  They both seem to be hollow since they both need to ride on a shaft to rotate.

Also, if Sal replaced his stock gears with aftermarket SS gear, wouldn't they essentially be the same (I don't know about teeth thickness)?

[Alto Mare]

I beleive you would have to get very lucky to build a new USA 113H Tank for the $237.00 + shipping cost of a new USA 113HN.  New 113H ($90 on ebay rite now) Jvarence narrow kit ($85) Accurate gears ($75 maybe) SS  dogs ($5) Time to modify reel (??) Rough total...$250 plus not in including shipping. I am compairing new for new here and realize a person could poke around and score used stuff here and there and build a Tank on the cheap. I love Penn reels and have many modified with Accurate, Tiburon and Newell parts. I have a nice 113H I got in a deal ( a 113H and a Penn 60 both excellent for $50 ) that i will someday Tank up. I will also buy a 113HN ( I have an in home business and think I can get 113HN reels wholesale for under $200.00) I don't know how big a supply there is or what shipping would be. I Would be glad to check for interested members. Again I dont know how much the to my door shipping would be

Good point cooldadE, but I just want to mention that the new older-model 113h comes with stainless steel gears, that would bring you to $190. You also didn't realize that you would have parts left over from the original reel when you're done customizing. I believe that you could sell the spool, frame and gears for around $60, that would bring you to $130. figure about $70 for the 4:1 ss gears and you would still be around $200. The only problem we have here is trying to find the Accurate gears, I know that there has to be e a few that could help us here , we're waiting for them to step up to the plate, as Lee ( Keta )  did. I remember buying a dozen Newell SS gears for $420 shipped,and that wasn't long ago

[Makule]

I know that there has to be e a few that could help us here , we're waiting for them to step up to the plate, as Lee ( Keta )  did.

Just yesterday, I visited my machinist friend with a set of gears and asked him to check on the price of comparable SS gears.  He will check with his gear source and get back to me with the information.  I know that the gears he finds will need some machining work (I.E., cut the teeth off a section of the height, and hollow out the inside for the brakes to fit the main gear) but I can do that so I'm not very concerned about it.  My hope is that the cost for each gear will be low enough to justify getting them for modification.

The pinion gear is more difficult than the main gear because it needs a portion to be milled out and I don't have a milling machine.  Still, if the cost is right, then I could use my friend's milling machine to make the modification.

I also asked him to check on getting a set with a higher ratio.  He was a bit concerned about the reduction of strength since the gear teeth would need to be smaller (hence, weaker).  We'll see what they come up with (if anything).

[basto]

with 6 ball bearings and a disengaging pinion gear, I think the Baja will freespool better than a  113h, but I don`t see any 4/0 as a casting reel.

[Tunanorth]

Hi All,
Just to review;
The 113HN Baja Special is definitely still in production [was discontinued briefly in 2008], and has its own dedicated page in both the Penn printed catalogue [p.9 in 2012], and on the Penn website.
This is one of those head-scratchers in that the "zeitgeist" can't seem to be stamped out.
Maybe its just that once something is on the web, its gets "Googled" forever.
As Alan has noted in various locations, even compared to an old US-production, fully upgraded "Yellowtail Special" 113H with all the aftermarket goodies including handle, the Baja Special 113HN still offers more ball-bearings [6 vs. 2], double-dog anti-reverse, disengaging pinion gear [better casting/freespool], reversible harness lugs, and the choice of orienting the gearbox "forward" or "rearward" for optimized ergonomics.
Interesting point about selling-off unused pieces from a conversion, but the 113HN comes all done, which is nice and convenient too.
Having talked to literally thousands of anglers inquiring about Baja Specials, I can say unequivocably that the issue is cosmetic; not enough "bling".
 

[Makule]

Having talked to literally thousands of anglers inquiring about Baja Specials, I can say unequivocably that the issue is cosmetic; not enough "bling".

When it comes to fishing reels, I'd take brawn over bling any day.

[Alto Mare]

Hi All,
Just to review;
The 113HN Baja Special is definitely still in production [was discontinued briefly in 2008], and has its own dedicated page in both the Penn printed catalogue [p.9 in 2012], and on the Penn website.
This is one of those head-scratchers in that the "zeitgeist" can't seem to be stamped out.
Maybe its just that once something is on the web, its gets "Googled" forever.
As Alan has noted in various locations, even compared to an old US-production, fully upgraded "Yellowtail Special" 113H with all the aftermarket goodies including handle, the Baja Special 113HN still offers more ball-bearings [6 vs. 2], double-dog anti-reverse, disengaging pinion gear [better casting/freespool], reversible harness lugs, and the choice of orienting the gearbox "forward" or "rearward" for optimized ergonomics.
Interesting point about selling-off unused pieces from a conversion, but the 113HN comes all done, which is nice and convenient too.
Having talked to literally thousands of anglers inquiring about Baja Specials, I can say unequivocably that the issue is cosmetic; not enough "bling".
 

My thank also has two ss dogs, having 6 ball bearing and a floating spool  doesn't necessarely mean that it  is a better reel. I like my 113H tank much better...just my opinion.