Penn surfmaster 70

Member Joined: Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 25

Hi guys

Just bought myself a Penn suftmaster 70 for £50. I haven't used it yet but it feels very nice and seems very well made.

Has anyone got any experience of these, good or bad? I did have a read up on a lot of other reels at around the same cost and had to make a decision in the end and went for this. Now i'm thinking i should have gone for the penn 850 or the okuma epix pro.

Sometimes you can do too much reading!

Cheers

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:06 pm

You would have come unstuck with the penn 850 as it suffers from a weak bale arm spring and when you crank the handle to tighten your line it jumps off and you have to put the arm back manually. It is a manufacturers fault and as yet not been rectified. Cheers keith

Member Joined: Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 25

Thats makes me feel so much better. I was a fag paper away from buying the 850. Cheers Keith

Regular Joined: Oct 16, 2007 Posts: 333 Location: Bridport

Hi, I just got myself a penn 70 this week too, just like you I was so close to buying the 850 or the 750.
I tryed it out for the first time lastnight, it seemed nice to use but it was real windy and dark so I did not know how fare I was casting.
I have loaded it with 15lb F1 black line, I have read that you must not overload the spool as it can slip behind the spool and crack off.

All in all I think we have both made a good choice mate...........for now big grin

Occasional Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Posts: 193

Dam, another good reason to stop smoking !
Blue rizla guy who went for the 850 crying

It's not all bad tho', with a little brute force and cunning you can get around the bail arm issue.

Haven't had the line go under the skirt. suprise

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:32 pm

Sorry to be all doom and gloom but if you remove the spool you will see that the gears are plastic I'll give it one season and it will be knackered. Only trying to help as you may be able to trade it with someone you dont like lol. Cheers keith devil

Occasional Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Posts: 193

No doom No gloom, I didn't get a forty quid reel expecting it to be an heirloom.

Plastic ?
Certainly not an expensively machined bit of exotic alloy;then again a cheap to replace,injection moulded ,self lubricating, nylon based polymer ,shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

Only last a season ?
Lets hope so, but when your seven year old lands a sizable bream and bass on his first outing, it's got to be worth every penny and then some.
(Come to think of it, it might be an heirloom already! )

Dear Santa,
.................................................

Best Regards , Stowaway

Regular Joined: Oct 16, 2007 Posts: 333 Location: Bridport

So you saying this reel iv just got is Crap????

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:28 am

No mate, all Im doing is pointing out its faults and then leaving it to your judgement. After all its you that going to use it. I only posted the faults because I was asked.

What suits one person dont mean that it will suit another. You may be quite happy with it and if so then good luck. I replied the the previous post to try to help, not to upset anyone. Cheers keith big grin

Member Joined: Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 25

Dizzy...i think Keith is going on about the 850. Not the 70.

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:44 am

Thanks rosserman, it is the 850 that I was refering to. I should have explained myself better. Cheers keith big grin

Regular Joined: Oct 16, 2007 Posts: 333 Location: Bridport

I think you all have taken my reply the wrong way guys, I was just asking if I have purchased a load of shite lol,

So thanks for your help.

Thats the thing with text, it can be taken the wrong way.

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:21 pm

No problem, I always give my honest opinion without trying to upset folk. lol. The 850 was the worst reel they ever turned out it certainly wasn't up to their useual standards, I think they were aiming at the lower end of the market, but now that Shakespeare have taken over perhaps they will rectify the problems or discontinue the reel altogether. Shame really as it looked quite a nice reel with plenty of line capacity. Cheers keith big grin

Occasional Joined: Jun 29, 2008 Posts: 220

rabbi2 wrote:

Sorry to be all doom and gloom but if you remove the spool you will see that the gears are plastic I'll give it one season and it will be knackered. Only trying to help as you may be able to trade it with someone you dont like lol. Cheers keith devil

This is a fixed spool reel - how can you see the gears by removing the spool, the gearing is situated in the main body of the reel ??????

If you are referring to a cog behind the spool that locates on the oscillating shaft then its naff all to do with the gears, it'll just be the ratchet cog for the clutch, otherwise if its like some of the smaller penns that I've owned it will be part of the anti-reverse mechanism, which is housed in the back of the roller head.

These parts are commonly made of injection moulded nylon or plastic and its no reason whatsoever to assume that the reel will fail.

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:14 am

Any comments on the weak bale arm spring? Or is that just my imagination?

One thing I have learnt over the years is that I differentiate between quality ang crap and to me the penn 850 is crap.

I was asked for my opinion and I gave it.

I am also of the opinion that the tackle tarts of this world are slightly upset at Shakespear taking over penn as most of them derived Shakespeare due to the fact that they always run shakespeare gear down as working mans rubbish when in fact it is themselves that have paid over the odds for hyped up tackle at inflated prices.