WHICH REEL IS EASIER TO CRANK

[Ron Jones]

It is important to remember that power and IPT are just 2 elements of many when it comes to choosing line for a reel. Spool capacity, target species and environment all come into play also and that is not a complete list. Probably the most important is reel comfort.

I cast best with a 3/0 sized reel and I pprefer live bait fishing where a slow gear ratio can be of benefit. In the 3/0 size reels from Penn you can have a gear ratio from 2.5 up to 5.0 and all the drag you want. With the same handle on the same gear sleeve and with the same gears, the slow geared 85 or 60 or even better a 2/0 with 113 gears is the most powerful of them all, you just crank and the fish comes in as long as you don't snap the line. Change spool diameter by going from the 3/0 Senator to the LB66, and here all else is equal, and the 2/0 loses because the bigger spool can produce more work. It takes A LOT more energy to generate that power but it is a more powerful reel.

None of this matters if the fish you are after require 30# line. Lets say a 3/4 day topwater out of SD in spring where YT is what everyone hopes for. I am sold on braid and floro for top water live bait fishing, your hook up ratio is ridiculously higher. You can get an adequate amount of 30 # braid on any Penn reel (I'm sticking with Penn for consistency, insert whatever manufacturer floats your boat.) In fact, if you load up a 66 sized spool with 30# braid you are wasting money. So now it comes down to an appropriately sized spool with the gear ratio that provides enough power that you are strong enough to use. Switch methods to surface iron, and now you have to CAST the thing all dang day. Believe me, weight of the reel comes into play. At some point power becomes less ans less important. It is never irrelevant, but it can't be the primary consideration.

I have about a half dozen reels with 66 spools. They are spooled with everything from straight 40# mono (bottom fishing in rocks) to 80# braid (big top water live bait). The grouper specials have totally different uses even though there power is the exact same. Same spool, transmission and arm. They are bolted to different rods and have different line because their intended purpose is totally different.

Ron

[johndtuttle]

We have had this topic come up before so I put the question to an Engineer at Abu Garcia who is also a Vice President.

Fundamentally, the length of the handle translated through the gear ratio to the spool height plus the "helical cut" of the gears determines cranking power.

Increase the handle length, decrease the spool height, decrease the gear ratio and decrease the helical cut and you gain cranking power.

This is why Penn Internationals have no helical cut to their gears for example, it leads to a more efficient transfer of force and stronger teeth on them. However, gears that are helical cut mesh more quietly etc etc. and people like that too (as they rightly or wrongly perceive it as quality).

As gears have grown they grow slightly in efficiency, but according to my friend, they principally do that to get stronger to handle the strain of higher gear ratios, longer handles and to be larger internally for bigger drag stacks. For example this allows you to have ~20lbs of drag in a small reel with a 7:1 gear ratio and have a reasonable expected life for the gears provided the frame can handle the strain etc.

Bigger gears have led to stronger small reels that we can put longer handles on and not tear them up instantly when fishing heavy drag.

[MarkT]

Not to mention that narrower reels don't wobble as much as wide reels which make cranking easier.

[Tightlines667]

We have had this topic come up before so I put the question to an Engineer at Abu Garcia who is also a Vice President.

Fundamentally, the length of the handle translated through the gear ratio to the spool height plus the "helical cut" of the gears determines cranking power.

Increase the handle length, decrease the spool height, decrease the gear ratio and decrease the helical cut and you gain cranking power.

This is why Penn Internationals have no helical cut to their gears for example, it leads to a more efficient transfer of force. However, gears that are helical cut mesh more quietly etc etc. and people like that too (as they rightly or wrongly perceive it as quality).

As gears have grown they grow slightly in efficiency, but according to my friend, they principally do that to get stronger to handle the strain of higher gear ratios, longer handles and to be larger internally for bigger drag stacks. For example this allows you to have ~20lbs of drag in a small reel with a 7:1 gear ratio and have a reasonable expected life for the gears provided the frame can handle the strain etc.

Bigger gears have led to stronger small reels that we can put longer handles on and not tear them up instantly when fishing heavy drag.

Interesting...about the effects of gear cut angle on effective transfer of power.

As always, thanks for shedding some light here John!

[johndtuttle]

Not to mention that narrower reels don't wobble as much as wide reels which make cranking easier.

Absolutely correct Mark.

[johndtuttle]

We have had this topic come up before so I put the question to an Engineer at Abu Garcia who is also a Vice President.

Fundamentally, the length of the handle translated through the gear ratio to the spool height plus the "helical cut" of the gears determines cranking power.

Increase the handle length, decrease the spool height, decrease the gear ratio and decrease the helical cut and you gain cranking power.

This is why Penn Internationals have no helical cut to their gears for example, it leads to a more efficient transfer of force. However, gears that are helical cut mesh more quietly etc etc. and people like that too (as they rightly or wrongly perceive it as quality).

As gears have grown they grow slightly in efficiency, but according to my friend, they principally do that to get stronger to handle the strain of higher gear ratios, longer handles and to be larger internally for bigger drag stacks. For example this allows you to have ~20lbs of drag in a small reel with a 7:1 gear ratio and have a reasonable expected life for the gears provided the frame can handle the strain etc.

Bigger gears have led to stronger small reels that we can put longer handles on and not tear them up instantly when fishing heavy drag.

Interesting...about the effects of gear cut angle on effective transfer of power.

As always, thanks for shedding some light here John!

If you think about the Vectors of the Forces it makes simple sense. When the force from the handle does not align perfectly perpendicular to the interface between main and pinon there must be a loss of energy in the transfer. What percentage is lost I could not tell you but I am sure there is an equation that takes the helical angle into account to calculate the loss of efficiency.