spool bushings vs. spool bearings

[CapeFish]

So you are saying the world distance casters should ditch the bearings in their reels and put bushings in? There is no difference?

[Jeri]

Hi  All, 

Isn't this a lovely debate!!!!

I can appreciate and empathise with nearly all the points of view being expressed, having done a considerable amount of different fishing around the world, and over the past 50 years – and some of that with 'bushed reels'. We have all seen huge developments in the tackle that we use, however, the point is that while I and many others will have caught fish with very basic tackle from 50 years ago, we do now benefit from some of the advances in materials technology, though there are still obviously people that prefer the older styles. Try convincing some of the fly fishing old timers the advantages of carbon fly rods over split cane? None are 100% wrong, and none are 100% right, what we need to do is accept that at one level, there are groups of people that will have very valid reasons for having some of the latest technology in their fishing reel, and support their points of view with enthusiasm – conspiracy theories or otherwise.

However, all of the above could equally be applied to: Carbontex drag washers, Tiburon frames, SS dogs, ABEC 5 bearings (sorry those are ball bearings), ABC bushes (just to 'balance out' the equation – must start a company called ABC!!!), and the list goes on. We are all looking to improve or at least address some of our perceived shortfalls of the designs of the reels that we use, for the specific application that we are applying that reel. I frequently advise clients in my shop, that 99% of the reels that we use here in southern Africa, were basically designed as a boat fishing reel, and we have to adapt that to suit our surf fishing situation, whether that is through preventive maintenance or different internal components. And we will remain in that position, until some enlightened manufacturer develops reels to suit our exacting needs.

There are millions of disturbed electrons on this site alone that have suffered for the issues of various bearings, and there are some very profound words on the subject, equally there are millions of electrons disturbed about lubricants – various and many. We all have a different set of priorities about the specific fishing that we undertake, and those priorities also dictate our preferences of the modifications of the reels that we use. Debate is good, but none of us can be finite about any given situation, so let's have the debate, it will share all the combined knowledge, and then we can 'cherry pick' what we each need.

A closing thought – is there a company out there making hi-tech bushings of replacement sizes for all the ball bearings that we find in 99% of our reels today? – just a thought!

Cheers from sunny Africa

Jeri

[Keta]

So you are saying the world distance casters should ditch the bearings in their reels and put bushings in? There is no difference?

No one has said there were no differences.  What is being said is for most situations bearings are not necessary and can (not nessassarly will) cause problems in a dirty environment.  Casting competitions are one good place for bearings but that is not fishing.  There is a time and place for SPOOL bearings, but bushings also have their place.

......Carbontex drag washers, Tiburon frames, SS dogs.....


......
A closing thought – is there a company out there making hi-tech bushings of replacement sizes for all the ball bearings that we find in 99% of our reels today? – just a thought!

Carbontex is a major and needed improvement
Solid frames are not a "must have" mod but they do make a big difference when pushing a reel over it's rated capacity
SS dogs are a bad thing if used with a brass gear sleeve but if a SS gear sleeve is used (another needed improvement when pushing the reel over factory spec) SS dogs are far better than brass.  Using a mixed set can cause dammage to the softer brass part.

I don't think anyone could sell bushing replacements for bearings due to lack of knowledge and bearing marketing hype.  I've thought about having some bushings made to be used with thrust bearings to replace Avet pinion bearings.

There is a time and place for bearings, the same can be said of bushings.  For most needs more than 2 bearings in a reel is marketing hype.

[Bryan Young]

FYI, I tried using a bushing to replace the pinion bearing and it didn't work.  The bushing does not allow the pinion to spin freely.  The best replacement is a thrust and radial bearing replacement like in the Squall LD.  They definitely did their homework.

The inner race of the radial bearing puts pressure on the thrust bearing, and therefore, the radial bearing is never pushed out of alignment due to the width of the inner race.  I need the time to experiment with what is out there to possibly have a solution for our trusty Avets.

[Keta]

Thin bearing with thrust bearing behind it, is the side plate strong enough to take the load?  Someone needs to make a run of flanged angular contact bearings to cure the problem.

[Jeri]

Thin bearing with thrust bearing behind it, is the side plate strong enough to take the load?  Someone needs to make a run of flanged angular contact bearings to cure the problem.

Hi Keta,

So is this a quiet admission that bushings are probably not the sole solution to all the issues in reels??

As I said, I do agree that there are a number of locations where bushings might be an acceptable solution to the problems of lack of maintenance, however, bearings do offer a solution to a good number of issues in reels.

The point about all the other goodies that we fit to our reels is that different folks have different priorities, carbontex is perhaps an adequate solution to some of your problems, in the surf fishing world it is totally a waste of time if the reel with whatever was already fitted as a drag material offers up to 20lb of drag, as so very few people can pull a surf rod round to more than 20lbs of drag, so anything more than that is a waste. However, very free spool bearings are pretty essential in these days of duistance surf casting - and not over grass - but over water - to catch fish.

As said, it is all a case of priorities, and there are no 100% solutions that cover all situations.


Cheers from darkest Africa - the sun has well and truly gone down.


Jeri

[Keta]

As said, it is all a case of priorities, and there are no 100% solutions that cover all situations.

Yup

[day0ne]

So you are saying the world distance casters should ditch the bearings in their reels and put bushings in? There is no difference?

No, but then, they aren't fishing, in sand, dunking reels, etc. They have very specialized requirements that have little to do with everyday reel use. Not a good argument

[slgriffiths]

As said, it is all a case of priorities, and there are no 100% solutions that cover all situations.

Yup

X2

[CapeFish]

So you are saying the world distance casters should ditch the bearings in their reels and put bushings in? There is no difference?

No, but then, they aren't fishing, in sand, dunking reels, etc. They have very specialized requirements that have little to do with everyday reel use. Not a good argument

I dunk my reels in the saltwater all the time and they get full of sand, none of them have a single bush, we need the bearings to get distance, we fish big reels with heavy big baits and sinkers, the spools need to spin as fast as possible. I do preventative maintenance once a year and for the rest of the time wash reels in freshwater after fishing and if I swam a lot will open the left sideplate and put a drop of oil on the bearings - no problems with the bearings at all. If you do this, however, and leave the brass bush below the driveshaft of a torium in place it corrodes into the frame, I have seen that plenty of times and in due course the drifeshaft also wears away with the bush. DIfferent strokes for different fishing techniques as Jeri has tried to make clear.

[Alto Mare]

I don't know anything about your torium, but I do know that bushings take way more abuse than bearings..... on my reels anyway.