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Bearing pins. Replacing the bearings.

Stephen Crowhurst said:
Could you not use a bolt and some washers then use a nut to pull the bearing out the seat, then as the old Haynes manual refitting is the reverse of removal. Effectively make a puller. Be safer on the seat.
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Sorry, your question seems to have got lost somehow. That can certainly work when you have unfettered access to both sides of the bearing. If not, it's a bit difficult to get an appropriately sized nut or bolt head through the centre aperture of a bearing you'd like to remove.
 
Neil Smart said:
Great stuff this , but how many true 'pins' if any are sold now? And what is the real difference in performance between a bearing and a pin?.
I have a true pin and the mindset it seems these reels are only good for ledgering.
Also, is it really necessary to have a reel spin so freely..for me that has to be a birds nest in the making. I get the reasoning but it must have it's own drawbacks.
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As Chris said, hard to know how many new true-pin reels are sold. J. W. Young & Sons do two models, the Triton True-Pin (£460) and the Trudex Mk III (£220). All their other new reels are bearing reels. I’d guess that the majority of true-pin reels currently sold are “classics” in vastly varying quality (think Match Aerial, Trudex, Speedia). There are a handful of bespoke reel makers who produce true-pin reels (Garry Mills and Chris Lythe as perhaps the two most obvious candidates), but I don’t imagine they’re churning them out in huge numbers.
 
Chris Jones said:
That can certainly work when you have unfettered access to both sides of the bearing.
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No actually It can’t.
I’m reading both posts and trying to picture something but There would never be a case where, even if you had the access, you’d not be able to draw it out like that. There’s either a back plate behind the bearing to screw up against and you have no access to apply the nut or there’s no backplate giving you the access but nothing to screw up against to draw it out

Internal bearing puller would be the only way. There’s a couple of different types but most people are unlikely to have one or even heard of them.

Edit…… unless the back plate could be unscrewed/removed to give you access to apply the nut then screwed back on to give you something to draw on to after. It’s a big if but that essentially could allow the idea to work
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
No actually It can’t.
I’m reading both posts and trying to picture something but There would never be a case where, even if you had the access, you’d not be able to draw it out like that. There’s either a back plate behind the bearing to screw up against and you have no access to apply the nut or there’s no backplate giving you the access but nothing to screw up against to draw it out

Internal bearing puller would be the only way. There’s a couple of different types but most people are unlikely to have one or even heard of them.
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Not by turning either nut or bolt it out it can't, but it might give you something to grip and more even pull than prodding about with some form of hook does. However, if you've got good access to both sides you may as well just gently tap the bearing out with a suitably sized flat headed punch. I suspect much will depend on how happy you might be to be wielding a punch/dowel and a hammer near what may be a treasured pin.

If I'd been able to find an internal bearing puller small enough to use on centrepin bearings, I'd have bought one by now. I doubt that producing something would be beyond the wit of man. Whether it would be commercially viable is another matter entirely.
 
Ian Woods said:
Regarding the freeness a reel spins, the more freely it spins the better, it can't spin too freely for me.
I do like to use a centrepin reel for still water float or even light leger fishing. Casting....using a centrepin reel I can cast more accurately, get right up to snags/bankings, under overhanging trees etc and I prefer the drag mechanisum by a country mile 😉👍.
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One of the best ever tips i got, was find a big riverside dock leaf, put your bait and lead/feeder on the leaf, place gently into the river, and allow the flow to take it under any over hanging branches. When it's where you want it, give the line a little tug so they drop off the leaf. Works a treat.
 
Chris Jones said:
If you encounter one for sale, please let me know.
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They are not uncommon at all.
I think mines Gedore but others make them.
You’ll just need the spreader with the grip. You won’t need the slide hammer attachment for centre pins

Edit mine might be crilusso actually
It’s one of those German brands but it’s been so long since I used it
I’ve got the slide hammer attachment too somewhere
 
Pl
Derek Funcks said:
One of the best ever tips i got, was find a big riverside dock leaf, put your bait and lead/feeder on the leaf, place gently into the river, and allow the flow to take it under any over hanging branches. When it's where you want it, give the line a little tug so they drop off the leaf. Works a treat.
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I remember people would use a bread crust for that purpose 😉👍.
 
Chris Jones said:
I had absolutely no desire to make the reel more free running. It ran well enough as it was. My sole aim in replacing the bearings was to reduce the noise and rumble that was emanating from the originals.

As far as "true pins" are concerned, I've no idea how many are sold. I know that there's at least one model currently available from J.W. Young. However, I have four true and I usually prefer them to bearing reels. I prefer the way they run when I'm actually fishing. The only exception might be at the height of a long hot summer when flow rates on my closest river can be feeble (it wasn't an issue this year).

How long a reel spins when I'm sitting at home in my armchair is a moderately interesting diversion. It has little relevance to the reels I choose to use. It's also worth noting that all I use centrepins for is trotting. I rarely do anything but floatfish these days but haven't yet come to understand why anyone might choose a centrepin for legering or any stillwater floatfishing.
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Ledgering? The ratchet scream is a thing of beauty.
 
Ian Woods said:
Pl



I remember people would use a bread crust for that purpose 😉👍.
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Yeah I’d do it on small becks with cheese paste for chub. Slice of bread supported in your landing net, lower rig on to slice and lower the net to let em go.
just hold the line when your ready to depart and the rig drops off.
Not done that in years now mind.
 
Neil Smart said:
Ledgering? The ratchet scream is a thing of beauty.
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Not for me I'm afraid. It's the old fashioned equivalent of a bite alarm. The noise can be exciting in that it signals a run. Beyond that, the actual sound of either sets my teeth on edge. It's a bit like listening to someone play a decent fish on a fly reel. That gets wearing after a while unless it's you playing the fish.
 
Chris Jones said:
Not for me I'm afraid. It's the old fashioned equivalent of a bite alarm. The noise can be exciting in that it signals a run. Beyond that, the actual sound of either sets my teeth on edge. It's a bit like listening to someone play a decent fish on a fly reel. That gets wearing after a while unless it's you playing the fish.
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Depends on the sound of the ratchet, my okuma sheffield has a sweat sound and manys the time when the fish have stopped taking a moving bait so i've threaded a small bomb over the hook and used a shot as a stop, used my net head as a rod rest and the handle which was a large extending bankstick as what it was really for....a bankstick, and legered. To be honest it was great fun because back then it was literally less than 5 min's before the avenger rod tip pulled over and the reel started to play it's music 😎👍.
 
Another update…..
these things are like those fidget spinners when they are not in use and sat on the coffee table next to you.
I’ve spent the last 3 evenings after work just constantly picking it up, giving it a few spins putting it down and those bearings are well run in now.

It’s gotten even more free running now over time it’s by an mile more free running than any other pin I’ve picked up before and in the flat position it runs so quiet you can’t hear anything at all until you put your ear right next to the drum.

Hung vertically you can still both feel and hear the bearings but it’s definitely a big improvement on the originals and the knocking has gone altogether.

Angular rock has been increased only ever so slightly on the drum when physically grabbed and rocked on the pin itself but it still doesn’t represent any negative impact during running but I just see this as a bit of a negative.

Why……? Because I’m an engineer and it’s there. It’s play that wasn’t there before and isn’t there in my other pins. I’ll have to get used to the fact it’s there now and I’m 100% sure it’s down to dry running ceramic balls being able to fractionally move on races more than an oiled bearing.
So that’s the trade off .., Even freer running than before but small amount of angular rock present from free play in the bearings.

As far as pins go it’s just perfect. My favorite to use definitely!!!
I wish more 5 inchers were available!!!

Ticks every single box and practically made my young’s bearing pins redundant (baring barbel trotting)
Now we’ve sorted some fundamental quality issues out it’s every bit as good as my BJ and super light but in a far more useful size for long trotting.
I’m going to find and buy another one …. Unless someone can recommend a 5 inch pin that’s even better……. State why it’s better please.
 
There are two of the fox reels on ebay atm. I think they are 180 and 190 and both for sale with the same seller.

Here you go....

www.ebay.co.uk

Bob James Fox Stratos 5" Centrepin Reel | eBay

This is the finest trotting reel I have ever had the pleasure to use.
www.ebay.co.uk

www.ebay.co.uk

Bob James Fox Stratos Centrepin Reel. | eBay

The reel has 2 ball bearings, a max line weight of 10ish lbs.b.s and a single-action gear ratio. It is right/left handed interchangeable and was manufactured in an unknown country or region.
www.ebay.co.uk

I know Chris would prolly part with his if he had a good offer.
 
yeah I saw those.
I’ll keep an eye on them see where they get to.
There’s a 5 inch Stanton on there too fitted with ratchet
Looks a bit scuffed but would probably clean up. I’m also watching that.

Chris has just done the bearings in his own. I’m sure he’d get in touch if he wants to flog it. He knows I’m a fan of them
 
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