Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I run a few of them, mostly as my primary straight ahead cranking reels. I really love the smoothness, castability and power the reel provides, but like any other piece of equipment(reel) not neccessarily built for the rigors of casting and retrieving large Musky lures, it has weak points. I have replaced the main pinion gear on two of the three and the worm gear/level wind assbly on two. I have since orderred parts so I can swap out when needed on a trip, as the turnaround is a bit longer than a month from Penn. Further, the instant anti reverse has actually outlasted most of my other reels, making it a candidate for jerkbaits now too, albeit the pickup rate is a bit slow for burning tails and ripping dawgs etc.
So, I wouldn't hesitate to run another one of these reels, as I did put alot of hours on them before any type of gear failure(as many or more hours than a few more expensive reels I have that also require overhauls), and once the level wind issues were cleared up, I haven't had any trouble with that since.
Edited by Reef Hawg 7/10/2009 8:08 AM
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