Hi all,
Happy to be a part of the group. My name is Mark. I'm 23 so all this talk about Mitchell's is a little before my time, but I'm trying to catch up. By chance I bought a 300 at a consignment sale about 6 years ago. I had no idea what I had stumbled upon! Anyways, I am getting more into fishing and would like to get my Mitchell into working condition. I'll attach some pictures so you all can see what I'm working with. I've read just about every thread on here, and here are my initial thoughts:
1. I'll be doing the degreasing/cleaning shortly. I even got my girlfriend to help me. Do I have a keeper or what? I've read that the "peanut butter clumps" are the factory grease so it looks like mine hasn't been tampered with.
2. There are no shims under any of the gears on the cover (forgive me for not knowing their names yet). However, You can see some right between the 2 screw holes, right under the spool.
3. The reel vibrates a little bit when I reel it. I can feel it in the handle as well as on the feet. Is that normal or is that something that needs to be fixed? Pictures below.
New Member
New Member
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- Mitchell_1.jpg (90.77 KiB) Viewed 2332 times
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Re: New Member
Welcome Mark!
Looks like you have some house cleaning to do to get get all of that hardened grease out of there. I've found myself in the same situation with reels that I picked up also. My experience is that cell photos during the take-apart will help with putting it back together. Also, with regards to shims, they can be sneaky and end up on the table in front of you without giving a clue as to where they fell out from. Looking closely at the pivots or shafts the gears came from may yield a shim or 2 at the base of the shaft or even stuck to the back of the gear. Shims on the 300 can be found when you remove the pinion gear to clean and lube the bore that it rides in. The shims maintain the distance or mesh between the pinion gear and gear that looks similar to it on the cover. moving the shims from the pinion end to the reel or spool end will take some excess play out of the rotating reel. Don't discard any shims, just move them from one end to the other.
Your reel is really packed with dried up grease. I would suggest spraying your favorite penetrant on the old grease to soften it up. Then it's mop up and re-lube. If the grease has become petrified, I've found that as a last resort, lighter fluid will cut through the tough stuff, but be warned, if it comes to that, do it outside and that naphtha is extremely flammable and the fumes it gives off aren't good for you to say the least. The up-side to using lighter fluid is it's quick ability to evaporate. I hope that grease isn't that tough that you have to resort to that.
I suggest using a good grease and oil meant for fishing reels. Other greases seem to be heavier and will make the reel feel a little sluggish when compared to good fishing reel grease. I stay away from white lithium grease, as it tends to harden up more so than the old grease in your reel. If you plan on using your 300 regularly, its good practice to give it a cleaning and re-lube once a year, along with putting fresh line on the spool. That keep the reel's performance at it's best.
Mitchell Reels are fun to use. Good luck with the cleaning and good fishing!
Ed Horan
Looks like you have some house cleaning to do to get get all of that hardened grease out of there. I've found myself in the same situation with reels that I picked up also. My experience is that cell photos during the take-apart will help with putting it back together. Also, with regards to shims, they can be sneaky and end up on the table in front of you without giving a clue as to where they fell out from. Looking closely at the pivots or shafts the gears came from may yield a shim or 2 at the base of the shaft or even stuck to the back of the gear. Shims on the 300 can be found when you remove the pinion gear to clean and lube the bore that it rides in. The shims maintain the distance or mesh between the pinion gear and gear that looks similar to it on the cover. moving the shims from the pinion end to the reel or spool end will take some excess play out of the rotating reel. Don't discard any shims, just move them from one end to the other.
Your reel is really packed with dried up grease. I would suggest spraying your favorite penetrant on the old grease to soften it up. Then it's mop up and re-lube. If the grease has become petrified, I've found that as a last resort, lighter fluid will cut through the tough stuff, but be warned, if it comes to that, do it outside and that naphtha is extremely flammable and the fumes it gives off aren't good for you to say the least. The up-side to using lighter fluid is it's quick ability to evaporate. I hope that grease isn't that tough that you have to resort to that.
I suggest using a good grease and oil meant for fishing reels. Other greases seem to be heavier and will make the reel feel a little sluggish when compared to good fishing reel grease. I stay away from white lithium grease, as it tends to harden up more so than the old grease in your reel. If you plan on using your 300 regularly, its good practice to give it a cleaning and re-lube once a year, along with putting fresh line on the spool. That keep the reel's performance at it's best.
Mitchell Reels are fun to use. Good luck with the cleaning and good fishing!
Ed Horan
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GreatLaker
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:05 am
Re: New Member
Hello Mark, Welcome 
Thanks for posting the photos. Always interesting to me to see new Mitchell 300 reels, regardless of their condition.
Sounds like you are off to a good start if you are thinking of getting into Mitchell reels as your fishing reel of choice. I have found them to be really fascinating and fun to work on.
Many of us on the forum love to fish but not all of us use just Mitchell reels to fish with all the time.
You will find Mitchell made many different models for different types of fishing which can lead you in many different directions as a collector, fisherman, and Mitchell enthusiast.
I suggest you watch the excellent video's Wallace Carney made (our founder of the MRM) and are on UTube.
Here is a link to a post I recently made which will take you to them.
https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... 12e3#p2435
Scroll down from the top to the third post to locate the links
If you run into trouble during your project give us a shout. Someone will eventually be along to help.
Kind Regards,
Bill
Thanks for posting the photos. Always interesting to me to see new Mitchell 300 reels, regardless of their condition.
Sounds like you are off to a good start if you are thinking of getting into Mitchell reels as your fishing reel of choice. I have found them to be really fascinating and fun to work on.
Many of us on the forum love to fish but not all of us use just Mitchell reels to fish with all the time.
You will find Mitchell made many different models for different types of fishing which can lead you in many different directions as a collector, fisherman, and Mitchell enthusiast.
I suggest you watch the excellent video's Wallace Carney made (our founder of the MRM) and are on UTube.
Here is a link to a post I recently made which will take you to them.
https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... 12e3#p2435
Scroll down from the top to the third post to locate the links
If you run into trouble during your project give us a shout. Someone will eventually be along to help.
Kind Regards,
Bill
-
GreatLaker
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:05 am
Re: New Member
Mark,
Want to learn the names of the Mitchell 300 parts?
Here is a link to a previous post I made which shows several Mitchell 300 exploded drawings. The drawings give the names of all the parts for a Mitchell 300 to get you started.
https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... bcedd7c8a3
Kind Regards,
Bill
Want to learn the names of the Mitchell 300 parts?
Here is a link to a previous post I made which shows several Mitchell 300 exploded drawings. The drawings give the names of all the parts for a Mitchell 300 to get you started.
https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... bcedd7c8a3
Kind Regards,
Bill