Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)
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As with chainsaws, finding someone to competently repair reels is a hard thing to find. There use to be a repair shop in St. Louis that I went to years ago to try to buy bail springs. I had used them before with success. This time, the only person there was more interested in playing with his phone and not helping me. They went under shortly after that. That's why I try to repair both, saws and reels, myself.
The crazy thing is I can build nearly anything mechanical and I still can’t reliably change a bail spring.
The last place I went to wasn’t too helpful. I think 2 or 3 of the reels they repaired didn’t work and they made excuses. It was cheap so I walked away rather than trying to deal with unmotivated people.
The last place I went to wasn’t too helpful. I think 2 or 3 of the reels they repaired didn’t work and they made excuses. It was cheap so I walked away rather than trying to deal with unmotivated people.
One thing I’ve done a lot of is strip reels of the heavy grease they come with from the factory and replace with a light oil so they can be used for ice fishing. Even at 30 degrees you can barely crank some of them because everything is so gummed up. If a guy really wanted to do it right you could use graphite but light oil works fine for as cold as I want to fish.
Ok I’m at a loss . I don’t know if it’s chrome or not but this is what I get when I try to load this site on my tablet Works fine on my phone with safari 
It was all glitchy a few minutes ago....my posts weren’t posting then they posted double.
To my knowledge all Mitchell’s were made by Garcia. Which one in the pic caught your eye?
At a glance, all of yours were probably made in France by Garcia. The one's with the wing shaped anti'reverse lever definitely were for sure,
( unless parts have been swapped). Garcia sold the rights to the Mitchell series of reels to Johnson outdoors in 1980, and they sold it to pure fishing in the early 90's. At some point in the 80's, production moved from France to Hi-Fong-Wu, and that's when the plastic bodies, plastic side covers and plastic rotors destroyed the most iconic reel in the history of the sport.
France is what I remembered as point of manufacture for the Garcia Mitchell reels. Early '60s as a kid I felt like the richest soul on earth when I had a Garcia Mitchell 300 in my hands.
I inherited my dad's 308 (I think that's the correct #), the mini size. Was a prized possession of mine. Took my son fishing on a local lake (think he was about 8 yrs old) and he fumbled & dropped the rig overboard. It stung, but I couldn't say a word beyond "Could've happened to anyone."
Still have a 300 sitting on a shelf at camp. Can't recall but I think the bail spring might have been its only problem.
Shimano Sahara reels are my go-to now.
I inherited my dad's 308 (I think that's the correct #), the mini size. Was a prized possession of mine. Took my son fishing on a local lake (think he was about 8 yrs old) and he fumbled & dropped the rig overboard. It stung, but I couldn't say a word beyond "Could've happened to anyone."
Still have a 300 sitting on a shelf at camp. Can't recall but I think the bail spring might have been its only problem.
Shimano Sahara reels are my go-to now.
That's funny stuff right there lol.Pretty sure I've got enough wood to get through the summer.
I just hauled in a couple medium wheelbarrow loads to fill the rack, and one large one that will get left in the wheelbarrow.
Should be good until next weekend. I wasn't out, but there is snow coming tomorrow and I figured why not get this done ahead of it since I have time today.
Also cleaned the snow off the excursion and gave it a jump, I'll be replacing the battery soon. Moved it to the area I cleared out for splitting next week so I can clear the trailer off there. Spring isn't far out for us, I see the maples showing buds already, won't be long and we'll be as warm as it is there.
Have a great Monday.
Took my MIL's car in for some service a while back. Tire place will not touch tires that are over 7 years old, except to check pressure, or replace them. They will not patch a leak, replace a stem, balance them, etc.
Philbert
Philbert
Sitting here watching the snow melt. Was about 10" total on the ground a few days ago. Been a few degees above freezing for 4 days, today starts the serious thaw. 38* and a strong breeze going. I'm hoping for several days of split/haul/pile of the old locust bunch before my surgery on the 4th. Definitely not looking forward to 6 weeks of 'do nothing'...
Wa state opened up for limited business now so out coffee group is back in business. Everything has been closed sine last November. Just me in house that long other than a weekly shopping spree got real old, really fast.
Wa state opened up for limited business now so out coffee group is back in business. Everything has been closed sine last November. Just me in house that long other than a weekly shopping spree got real old, really fast.
We had 3-4 of them back in the day. The only one left is a 308 my dad purchased from K-mart when my mom worked there. Mom quit her job at K-mart shortly before my sister was born, in 1969.
This is what I went with (L to R):
- the old style, ball air chuck that would not seat easily on some short valves (for reference);
- simple, straight air chuck that came in an air compressor accessory kit many years ago;
- straight shot 'pencil' pressure gauge, 0- 60 psi;
- dual end inflator;
- valve extenders, to keep in the glove box of each car, in case I am at a gas station somewhere and have to use their hose, etc.;
- dial type pressure gauge with straight on inlet, and release valve, 0- 60 psi.
The chains (because someone is going to ask) is to keep the small parts from getting lost. They get clipped to a wire shelf next to my hose reel, so that they don't fall off and roll behind something, when I am using a different accessory.
Philbert
Being on the East Coast all of my stuff was surf gear. I had a few small Mitchell Salt Water Reels. I did have a bunch of stainless 1950's vintage bait casters. I had one NIB DAMM QUICK 5000. I took it into a tackle shop in Ocean City MD. When I took it out of the box he said, "I'll spool it up for you, but I don't want to. You can sell it on line and make enough to buy a new Tuna size reel". I put it on ebay and made enough to buy a Savage 1899 I wanted. The rest didn't sell for beans. Looks like you have a few old Mitchell's in your pile. I think I sold every thing but 4-5 big Penn's and 4-5 medium Daiwa's.
I know a lot of the national chain tire stores won't touch anything 10 years or older but haven't heard a 7 year limit. I'm about done with them for that reason alone and happy to pay a few more dollars to the local mom and pop shop.
I knew what the chains were for, I was just going to say, what a good idea. Mine sets on a shelf and I constantly knock it into a pile of junk below.
I've never heard that, but I don't blame them. My smallest trailer is road legal and has 15" car tires on it. Loaded to it's max it holds half a cord. I haven't had it on the road in several years. The tires on it were brand new, and at most have maybe 2,000 miles on them. I noticed they had lumps forming on the sidewalls. Kinda looked like the hernia on my belly. My mechanic said the side walls were breaking down. He knows I mostly use it around the house and said to keep doing that. But, if I wanted to take it on the road, new tires were a must. I believe him.
