Penn 113h Reel/Tank

[Dominick]

Marlinmate:  I have not done one yet but in looking at your photograph it looks like the groove you cut is about a 1/16 inch too long.  Try to stretch out the spring a little and test it again.  Dominick

[redsetta]

G'day MM,
Try Dominick's suggestion but, if it doesn't help, it may be that the dog itself is binding very slightly between the bridge and side plate, preventing it from returning fully.
I found this during the milling/testing/milling/testing process...
Have you checked that the depth of your tooling is uniform?
I used a micrometer - from memory, the milling is 2.5mm deep.
Hope that's of some assistance.
Let us know how you go.
Good luck, Justin
PS You may also need a fraction more space around the bottom curve of the base of the dog.

[Alto Mare]

I'm glad you gave it a shot Jess. The problem with that dog  is that you did too good of a job. Try leaving a hair of space at the bottom of the new dog..as Justin mentioned,also, from the looks of your new dog it appears that it is a little high. If you have the bit that I'm showing, it will tune it up in no time. My bit is a little beat up, I've done about a dozen of these plates. Sorry about the picture quality, my camera battery just died. Great job! I'm sure you'll get it to work.

[Marlinmate]

Well...I actually took the 2nd dog out, and sent it down to my bro Coores14 in Key West  to use for grouper digging with only one dog. I'll be down in May and may play with it a little more. Pretty nice big bro huh....upgraded gears, alan tani handle, new drags, 95% complete double dog etc....I'll probably build a rod for it too!

Alto...ever given any thought to making a "template" that would mount over the lower bridge screw that others could trace  and then grind out that part of the sideplate?    Might require 2 or 3 different ones, but would help others doing this upgrade.  Just a thought

[Makule]

Sal,
I don't blame ya for not pushing that aluminum spool... the chromed over spool can take anything. 
As for getting your paws on the chromed over spools... hope we won't be bidding against each other
Dom

Old post but thought I'd share the image.  The bronze spools are indeed very tough.  The fish around here are tougher.  12/0 spool cracked after hauling in a good size fish.  Pressure of the mono line against the spools cracked it when it started to compress.

[Alto Mare]

Is that a one piece spool or three piece?

[alantani]

Well....I too took it upon myself to make one of these.    Here is where I got....

What I found was that my stock 113h spring, did not have enough "return" to push the dog 100% back each time it was supposed too...leaving only the original dog doing the work.

ANyone else run into this or know what the problem could be?

get two springs, mash them together just a little offset and slide them in.  i also have a spring that is longer than the #14-99 dog spring that you have now.  let me know if you'd like one.  alan

[Makule]

Is that a one piece spool or three piece?

It was the one piece cast spool.  The three piece spools have the pressed flange that holds the sides onto the center shaft.

[Makule]

There is a review on Hawaii Fishing Forums of the Penn 113MTL reel.  It's a 4/0 that's been beefed up and seems to be pretty much the same as Sal's reel.  This is what the reviewer said about it:

This reel is built like a tank and made in the USA, the main gear and pinion is made from hardened stainless steel, not bronze. Secondly the reel has spring loaded double dogs to prevent "knucklebusters." The main frame work is a thick 3/8" aluminum stock, the reel seat is made from thick stainless material. The lugs on the top of the reel is made of thick stainless steel, not chrome plated brass. The spool is dropped forged aluminum and machined. This reel has max drag rated at 25lbs.and has a gear ratio of 4.3 to 1. Even under heavy load of jacking up slide bait rigs with bait, the gear train is smooth and has a lot of torque. Both side plates are machined Aluminum. The screws are stainless steel with hex heads not slotted

Has anyone used this reel?

[alantani]

another great reel that was a total flop here on the west coast of the united states.  funny thing about penn.  they are an east coast company designing fishing reels for east coast customers.  when they bring their reels to the west coast, they wonder why they won't sell.  and when people from the west coast try to make suggestions, they are ignored.  i think what penn needs is a separate west coast division, totally separate from the parent company, to crank out reels tailored to this market. 

[Alto Mare]

Is that a one piece spool or three piece?

It was the one piece cast spool.  The three piece spools have the pressed flange that holds the sides onto the center shaft.

I'm aware of the pressure that the line can put on a spool, but at the same time surprised that it would destroy that 12/0 spool, that's why I asked if it was a 3-piece spool. Penn did have problems with those...that's why the 3-piece didn't last long.
Not related but I just want to mention that in the late 90's a purchased a new 250HD truck and within 10,000 M the engine black cracked. No one could explain why it  happened, maybe a bad cast job  .
The 12/0 has caught fish over 1,000lb in the past .

[Alto Mare]

There is a review on Hawaii Fishing Forums of the Penn 113MTL reel.  It's a 4/0 that's been beefed up and seems to be pretty much the same as Sal's reel.  This is what the reviewer said about it:

This reel is built like a tank and made in the USA, the main gear and pinion is made from hardened stainless steel, not bronze. Secondly the reel has spring loaded double dogs to prevent "knucklebusters." The main frame work is a thick 3/8" aluminum stock, the reel seat is made from thick stainless material. The lugs on the top of the reel is made of thick stainless steel, not chrome plated brass. The spool is dropped forged aluminum and machined. This reel has max drag rated at 25lbs.and has a gear ratio of 4.3 to 1. Even under heavy load of jacking up slide bait rigs with bait, the gear train is smooth and has a lot of torque. Both side plates are machined Aluminum. The screws are stainless steel with hex heads not slotted

Has anyone used this reel?

I haven't used the reel but from reading about it, it's similar but not the same reel. The 113MTL Has some other features. I'm old fashioned, although the 113MTL appears to be a nice reel, I prefer the simplicity and toughness of my little reel/tank.

[Makule]

another great reel that was a total flop here on the west coast of the united states. 

Why was it a "flop"?

[Makule]

When Penn came out the the three-piece spools, everyone else was doing the same thing.  It was the state of the art at the time.  Consider also that the lines used were linen (Cuttyhunk) that didn't stretch very much, and (not so much for reels) hard nylon, also with little stretch.  Consequently, the spools didn't need to take as much pressure as those used with the stretchy mono.

I too was very surprised when the 12/0 cast spool crapped out.  Thought it was pretty close to indestructible.  May have been a poor casting, like the engine block.

Is that a one piece spool or three piece?

It was the one piece cast spool.  The three piece spools have the pressed flange that holds the sides onto the center shaft.

I'm aware of the pressure that the line can put on a spool, but at the same time surprised that it would destroy that 12/0 spool, that's why I asked if it was a 3-piece spool. Penn did have problems with those...that's why the 3-piece didn't last long.
Not related but I just want to mention that in the late 90's a purchased a new 250HD truck and within 10,000 M the engine black cracked. No one could explain why it  happened, maybe a bad cast job  .
The 12/0 has caught fish over 1,000lb in the past .

[Makule]

I haven't used the reel but from reading about it, it's similar but not the same reel. The 113MTL Has some other features. I'm old fashioned, although the 113MTL appears to be a nice reel, I prefer the simplicity and toughness of my little reel/tank.

Sal, I realize it's not the same reel and wondered if it would be significantly different from your reel.  The reason I wondered is because Penn discontinued it within a short time so it was clearly unpopular.  Why was this?  I would think that a beefed up 4/0 would be something people would want.

Additionally, if it was so unpopular, perhaps there are people who bought them and would want to get rid of them (I might want to buy them).  Depending on what the "problems" are, it might just be a few tweaks here and there to make it a very good reel.

I do have one 113H (early aluminum spool) and one 113LW.  Are those worth modifying?