Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!!.I have 5 of these TTS 50w reels that are almost in brand new condition.2 of them have been used 5 or 6 times & the others once or twice.I have had them since new and did not do much to them because I had no time to use them until now.I have taken them all apart and done the regreasing.I have one reel that the pre set knob was frozen on and after freeing it up,when the pre set is tightened,the reel gets stiff to crank.The tighter the pre set,the harder the reel is to crank.I took one of the other reels apart (nice to have more than one in this instance)and do not see anything different or out of place.I have tried several things within the pre set area to get it loosen up but to no avail.Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this one.Thanks!!
try swaping bearings from another reel that you know works fine. i would think one of the side plate bearings may be bad.
Yea, odds are the the pinion bearing -- the bearing under the pre set knob -- is bad. This bearing is almost always the first to go in a lever drag reel. Corrosion gets it of course, but it also goes bad if you crank down the drag too much. Good luck.
Worth your while maintaining these, imho. I have 8 (at last count) of these in 30's and 50w's and love them. They get tested by big tuna in my waters and I've never found a flaw in one yet.
Great, strong reels built to perfection, easy to maintain, and without gratuitous decoration.
Yockman, soon to be in the US
I fish these old reels too... 7 50w's and a 80w 2 spd for a trap. heavy, yes, dependale...without a question.
Danny