When did PENN change Senator 111(2/0) from the open drag-w/thumb sized hole in the head plate, to the must totally dismantle to get at drag design-w/pinky sized hole?
I found a salty wrecked Senator 2/0 at a sale. Its says 2/0 & you can R&R the drag by just pulling the handle. My guess is early 50's-late 40's.
I opened it taking Alan's "Boss" useful guide to cleaning and taking it all apart. My goal is to build a pig puller with the 5+1 drags. The mysticparts diagram was not useful with how this reel was built.
I am testing the setup to what to eliminate to make it a 5+1 drags pig puller. The reddish handle is loose and slanted. I am looking for a greenie Penn 24-56 power handle and other "nice goodies" for it. ;D
Please let me know if the drag setup is in the right order.
I am plumb! :P More to come...
No part numbers so pretty early
Drag washer order looks good from top to bottom if you're placing one of the top fiber washers under the gear. Sometimes a same size drag washer under the gear interferes with the dog. I usually try to find a smaller diameter drag washer for under the gear, or use a small delrin washer. Without getting some of the thin metal washers, and maybe even thin fiber washers, I'll be surprised if you can get all 10 washers in that main gear. Nice find by the way. Sold my 110 a while back and wish I hadn't.
Unknown when the head-plate opening changed, but I'll bet someone here knows. What's "R&R" mean? It looks like somebody sawed-off the stand-clamp bolts. Is the clamp needed? Maybe, for pulling pigs.
I had the small hole version, with upgraded to 10 drag washers, and added double dogs. The drag worked very smooth and well.
Also, I added another post to the top for more frame strength.
Someone did sawed off the stand clamp bolts. The dog uses a leaf spring and the pinion gear has no collar. Almost all parts have no parts number. The eccentric screw is a big screw. ::)
Gfish, please share how you created your 10 drags -111 masterpiece. ;D :al
R&R= Remove & Replace
Might be good to get an aluminum spool if you're going to fish it, cuts down significantly on weight. I forget which model fits it.
Will do. But I sold mine awhile back and deleted my pictures, so I need to access my faulty memory banks. The Swami reminded me that I found a #29L-85 aluminum spool and if remember right I had get an old Penn 85 off eBay to get it. BTW, yours is a pre-1954 version with the bent copper spring for the dog. After that they went to a tiny coil spring with a different (15-99)dog.
More latter...
The drag system used was from the mystireelparts.com site: part: UU-PENN113 5+1 by Bryan Young. The SS gear-sleeve was also bought there; a 98-505, with the 10-505 Star. These in the UU-kit are extra thin metal and c-Tex washers. What came out of yours? Did they fit right?
Another bent copper spring is #14-60 and I would guess I used a #15-60 for the 2nd dog.
The post is #37-60 with 2-16-60 screws.
Some moderately precise cutting & grinding is needed for installing a double-dog system. A dremel is best. There are some good references for doing this thanks to Sal and found by searching.
Much appreciated to everyone for your thoughts and support. :d This reel came with these thick drags and drag washers. This would be my pig puller for deep water tog, if not at least a low budget bullet proof bottom fishing machine. I will continue to use my Blackfish Special until this reel is ready.
I have been searching for the 29l-85 aluminum spool and the price is more than what I paid for this reel. Mysticparts doesn't carry this spool anymore so I have to look elsewhere. I am having fun in learning more about each reel part and how this reel is 70+ years old.
I just assembled all the parts back and then I get a really strong vibration and grinding when I reel in under any kind of a load. :'(
When I was reviewing the original pinion, I noticed it doesn't have a protection ring like the ones on mysticparts. I found a ringed pinion for $2 from a broken 66 reel in a garage sale and tried it out. They look the same side by side except for the ring but this could be the culprit. I was thinking the 5 drags needs a SS gear sleeve and a ringed pinion. I will switch it back and try again. I'm saving money to buy the 505 SS sleeve and star. I found an aluminum spool after many days of searching but got outbid at the last few seconds. :P
That sounds like a gear problem. The Long Beach 66 pinion should have worked. Maybe take a real close look at both pinions and the main gear for any wear and tear. I'm not sure what other pinions besides 13-49 could be used. The 13-113 pinion fits your gear, and has no ring, but probably doesn't fit your spool: not really sure. If you get your SS sleeve with fine threads, I have a 10-505 star you can have for shipping cost. You'll get this sorted out soon. There are several Penn experts in the Ohana.
My recollection is that the externally accessible drag feature appeared and then disappeared again. I looked in Mike C's book but didn't find any mention of externally accessible drags. The 111 was introduced in 1942 without externally accessible drags. That feature appeared before 1952 and was discontinued by the time the Special Senators came out in the mid-1960's.
I reassembled the reel back to the original 2/0 pinion and I got no more vibration or grinding noise. Strange thing is I got little noise when I switched to both the ringed 66 pinion and the 66 main gear. ;D I added the reel number so it's easy to understand where the parts came from. My hypothesis is the 66 ringed pinion and 66 main gear fit each other as they were meshing fine when I bought them. The 2/0's parts are too old... :o
Thank you MACflyer and others for your help.
^-^ I will keep looking for an aluminum spool and a green power handle for my pig puller... :-[ I can't wait to try the reel with the current upgrades.
8) I reassembled the reel now ^-^ with an aluminum spool and a green Penn 24-56 power handle for my pig puller... ;D The aluminum spool came from a Penn 85 and green handle came from a wrecked reel. All I got left to upgrade is get a reel clamp and maybe a SS gear sleeve.
I added a 49 star and a newer handle nut.
Looks good! Just about time to get some line on it and get it wet.
Nice job!
A great Penn Senator IMO. 3-post/side frame, narrow platform. Slow but powerful gears. 3 screws/side for the stand, right? Can't remember.
Quote from: Gfish on January 31, 2026, 05:32:05 PMA great Penn Senator IMO. 3-post/side frame, narrow platform. Slow but powerful gears. 3 screws/side for the stand, right? Can't remember.
I tried using a Surfmaster 100 for salmon and the gear ratio was too slow, 4:1 is much better. The low gear reels are great for bottom fish though.
Hi Surfrat,
Both the 2/0 and the 3/0 senators were first produced in 1942 with external access drags.
The first (1938) 4/0's were produced with internal access drags but they had changed by 1941 to external access.
Penn continued with the external access drags on the 4/0's and 2/0's until the late (1948/1949) forties and then reverted to internal access - perhaps fishermen found that their drags got wet/failed too easily?
However, it would seem (from my collection at least!) that Penn changed to internal access on the 3/0's by 1946!
So - your easy access drag 2/0 would appear to be from the early/mid forties - thats an 80 year old reel!
The orange swirl handle is from the late fifties/early sixties and has been added later.
Cheers
Martin
Quote from: Deepennz on January 31, 2026, 11:44:17 PMThe orange swirl handle is from the late fifties/early sixties and has been added later.
Cheers
Martin
The green replacement handle looks older. No?
I thought for sure someone would mention that the 2/0 was very popular at one time for salmon trolling with 2lb lead.
Like every other guy here I have a few. I have one that I made from a 3/0. I never did troll them after all the upgrades.
The reel turned out great. What line are you going to use?
What are the "pigs" you are going to pull with this reel?
MisterStinky, I will use 50# or 65# braided line. Thanks!
Keta, The "pigs" are Tautogs or Togs or Blackfish, in my pond, it's a "Togzilla". I made my Blackfish Special for them and it's a great reel. I've definitely seen a fair share of spinning and bait casting reels blow /lock up from togging. They're powerful fish, many need to be ripped away from their holes, which is why most serious tog guys stick with conventionals.
Blackfish can be incredibly strong and stubborn fighters, especially when it's hooked near rocky structures. A reel with a powerful drag system that can apply significant stopping power is essential to prevent them from diving back into the cover. So a tog reel with at least 15 - 20 pounds of drag capacity is enough and a slow 2.8.1 or 3.1 gear ratio will give you the torque muscle needed to pull those fish away from their rocky homes. 8)
Most local guys use a Penn Jigmaster 501 or a Squidder 146 for Togzilla because it holds enough line and the drag is good. I want to try something else for Togzilla and have a bottom/chunking fishing reel.
:o)