Halibut reel - cordless drill adapter

[Threeweight]

Last year around Neah Bay time there was some discussion of electric reels and crank adapters to allow the use of cordless drills to assist with bait checks.  Being a cheap bastard unwilling to spend $550 on a Daiwa electric reel, I searched all over Portland for hardware that would fit the crank shaft of my Penn 330's and 345, but had no luck. 

Broke down tonight and ordered two of the stainless crank adapters from the Electramate folks (link below).  $20 a pop is excessive for a glorified bolt, but alternatives are limited.  The pair + shipping came out to $50.  Will report back on them once I get them. 



http://elec-tra-mate.com/store/store.php?crn=229&rn=468&action=show_detail

I plan on hitting Goodwill for some old 12 volt drill motors, then I want to hack them to run them off a Scotty downrigger plug.

[Markshoreline]

$20 IS expensive for a bolt!  Last May vancouvertechie brought a nut and bolt setup that might have cost .80 cents!  Maybe he'll post here?

[Threeweight]

He and I chatted a lot about it last year.  Think you guys use the Penn 209/309 reels? 

For some reason, the 320/330/340/345 reels use some kind of wonky British thread pattern (7.5 mm, fine thread).  Even Fastenal couldn't match it here in Portland.

[Markshoreline]

Correct about the 309!

[HemiGTX]

7.5mm?  I thought we defeated the metric system when we won the Cold War?!

I like everything about that nut adapter and have been meaning to buy some. 

When did 12v cordless drills get phased out?  It might prove difficult to find any survivors.  Worst case: buy some cheapo 14v drills.  It's hard to justify electric reels for a few hours of fishing every year.

[Threeweight]

I'm still wondering why the heck would an American-built Penn reel designed in the 1970's would use metric?

On drill motors I'm hoping to find a few $5 specials at Goodwill in 12 volts or greater.  I figure it doesn't hurt to run a 14.4 or 18 volt unit at 12 for my purposes.  I'm with you on spending the $$ on an electric reel.  I get in maybe 3-5 days of halibut fishing a year. 

[Peddler]

If you have a Habitat For Humanity ReStore near you, check it out for your cordless drill. They're a treasure trove of good/used and hardly-used tools and materials.


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[BigMac]

I'd try Tacoma Screw on Columbia St. in North Portland (they have stores in other cities too) before giving up on a nut to work with a cordless drill.
They are clever guys in that shop. When they couldn't find a cap screw that would fit, they cobbled together a combination to end up with a hex nut. 

VT might have some more info on this.  As I recall, he borrowed one of my reel's(can't remember which) hex nut and found one at the local hardware store.
There also is a big fastener store in Vancouver, WA which has been helpful, so I would try different places if not successful with one.

With 110v available, you can charge up cordless drill batteries overnight and get by that way.  Two 14.4 Ryobi's (2 speed) with 3 batts have been successfully used for the last couple years.  (I had a couple cheap 18v Harbor Freight drills with batts as backup that I sometimes needed.)  This year I'm adding a 20v Lithium nut driver with 2 batts to the arsenal.

(Dave)

[Markshoreline]

Most of the used drills I've seen at thrift stores have dead batteries or ones that won't hold a charge.  But if you have new batteries that will stand up to the duty that would be very convenient.

[Threeweight]

I tried Tacoma Screw, Fastenal, and Parkrose Hardware last year.  The guys at Parkrose tried the hardest, but none of them were able to find a solution for me.

I hit the local Goodwill earlier tonight, and picked up two cordless drill motors (one a heavy duty Craftsman) for $6 each.  Going to re-wire them tomorrow.  As a bonus, I found a brand new "Frigidaire" brand vacuum sealer for $13 bucks.

[ATGEP]

I would think for this kind of use, you would ditch the drill batteries and wire the drill to a DR plug. (make sure it is fused) I know the older makita drills are built like tanks but the batteries were the weak link. This looks like a fun winter project.

[BruceL2_Fish]

Steve, that bolt you bought should do a great job.   You are right that it seems to be a bit high priced but they probably can't get the units produced high enough to get the cost down or they are just charging what they feel the market will bear.   Not a lot of options.   
I know after making my own for my Penn Fathom 60 last year I would recommend this to all.   
I used a very old well used Dewalt 18V with old Batteries and it worked great.  Not near as nice as the Diawa Tanacom my wife has but it really was nice for bait checking and pulling up for making a move. 

[Markshoreline]

I really prefer the drill drawing from the two big batteries, here's how I. hard wired my drill a couple of years ago. I filled the battery cavity with epoxe to provide water resistance and strain relief on the cord.

[HemiGTX]

3wt, have you had a chance to wire the drills up?  How do the drill adapters look? 

[Vancouvertechie]

I would have to see either cordless or corded with the Marinco Scotty adapter is the way to go.  I picked up a 12v drill off of ebay for about 15.00.   Bait checks are a thing of the past with either of those setups.  We used Mark's corded for awhile and then switched to my cordless and they both worked great.  3WT, I was able to order some metric bolts to match up to the model reels you are using.  My 321GT was in that category. 

Either drill works, but you will need to find the nut adapter for your reel to make it work.

VT

[Threeweight]

Finally got the bolts in the mail (I was on the E. Coast all last week).

Now that I see them, $20 makes more sense.  They look like they are individually machined from one piece of pretty high quality stainless stock.  Pretty complicated little piece of work, and the addition of the "star" collar around it allows the retention screw on the reel handle to prevent the drill motor from over-tightening it and stripping out the threads of the shaft.

Have not had a chance to put them on a reel yet.  Will do that tonight. 

[BigMac]

3wt--
The hex part of the bolt sticks out quite a ways.  One reel handle I have put my knuckles too close when hand cranking.  I carefully ground about 3/16" off the end to get more clearance.  Don't know if heat affects stainless, but it was much more controlled (and likely easier) than using a hacksaw.
BTW--It still left plenty of nut for drill attachment.
(Dave)

[HemiGTX]

I can see how those could chew up some knuckles if you got excited/tired while cranking up a big slab.  I'll face them off for sure.  I'm always looking for ways to avoid shredding my hands while fishing.

[StreamFixer]

Hemi---  That is easy, simply avoid rough, hard or sharp objects and teeth   :whistle: 

You can accomplish that by letting Nicole handle that kind of stuff   :biggrin:

Let me know when you have other difficult issues to deal with   

I'm sure I can come up with a viable solution, tailor made for your circumstance   :party:

StreamFixer   

[Threeweight]

Perhaps you guys with bear paws for hands should stop using so much moisturizer and develop some calluses  :whistle:

Will see if I have the same problem tonight.  Another solution could be to convert over the oversize Alan Tani reel handles, that position your hands further away from the nut.  As a bonus you get better leverage to crank up those giant butt's (or on Russ's case, rocks).  I have a giant "bicycle" handle for my monster Penn 345, but since it doesn't have a counterweight on it I think the wobble from it when using the drill to reel up would be crazy.

[HemiGTX]

Sigh.  It's so difficult to soar with the eagles...
When you flock with turkeys 

Moisturizer...

I replaced all the cranks on the halibut reels with big manly ones.  I'm willing to deal with the wobble vice trying to wrap my bear paw around the toy handles they originally shipped with.  Those things have to be grasped similar to how Streamfixer holds his teacup!

[croaker stroker]

Right now I am picturing Wedocq. Sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and propped up on the gunwale. Longneck beer in his left hand. Index finger of his right hand pressed firmly on his Electra-Mate button while his 100# Halibut struggles against impossible odds while being towed slowly to the surface.

[Tj805]

I'm interested to see how this works?
Wonder if I could throw one one a penn senator ?
Cool stuff thanks for sharing

[Threeweight]

Installed them (and did reel maintenance on one reel) tonight.  I think the handle issue Dave experienced is very reel specific... both reels I put them on have big oversize handles, and I don't have any issues with clearance.  With the skinny knob handles, there might be issues.

Here is one on a Chinese-made Penn 330 GT2 that has a few miles on it:



And the other on my behemoth American-made Penn 345 GTI (with approximately a billion yards of 65# braid on it):



Tested them with a drill motor... a standard-depth 3/8" socket fits nicely on them.  The tops of the bolts are rounded slightly, which makes it easier to get the socket on.  Drill works as expected... however, the counter-balanced handle on the Penn 330 had much less wobble when reeling up than the old-school handle on the 345.  The wobble wasn't so bad as to be unusable, but I am probably going to swap that handle out for a counterbalanced one.

I think a 2 speed drill motor on low speed is ideal.  A high speed drill would wobble too much, I think. 

TJ, they make the bolts to fit a wide-variety of reels, including Senators.

[BruceL2_Fish]

Sweet!