J.A. Coxe Cradle

[reeltackle]

I love Coxe cradle reels, overbuilt and under appreciated.

Here are some photos of my 20/0 Coxe, the only one I have ever seen to date. This reel appears to be the same reel Zane Grey is holding (below) whereas the reel that Coxe is holding (in my photos, re-poster by m3040c and wrong99) appears to be almost identical with the exception of the round star drags and a different shape winding knob. The cradle superstructure on the 20/0 reel is quite different than the cast cradles on the 14/0 and 16/0 size reels, and you think the 16/0 reel is heavy, this behemoth weighs a ton. The raised pillars allow the spool to come all the way to the edge of the side-plates which helps account for some of the reel's greater line capacity. The side-plates on the 20/0 are made of hard rubber unlike the ones on the 14/0 and 16/0 which appear to be a Bakalite or some other composite material. The reel is not marked but has Joe Coxe written all over it, definitely not a Bronson made reel.

The reel is built like no other reel I have owned, it is amazingly strong.

I have attached photos of the reel with, and without the second handle.

Has anyone seen another?

















Here are some pages out of a first Bronson Coxe catalog, #37, promoting the new 20/0 Coxe reel alongside the full line of new salt water reels and products. Notice the price for the 20/0, $750.00! Its no wonder they can't be found. The 20/0 is not found in any other Coxe catalog, perhaps it was discontinued because the prohibitive cost to the angler or because it was to expensive to make. My guess is that it was due to a falling between Bronson and Joe Coxe and he was no longer around to make the reel for them (just a guess).

Another question that begs to be asked in regard to the #37 Catalog and the Bronson Reel Co./Joe Coxe relationship; judging from the quantity of items in the catalog this deal must have been in the works for perhaps a few years. I would love to know more about how this deal went down.







Here is a letter that came with my #37 Genuine J. A. Coxe and Bronson Coxe catalog. Interesting how they play up Joe Coxe in this letter. He must have had a tremendous reputation in the big game fishing community and Bronson must have considered old Joe quite a feather in their cap.



This page of fishing tid-bits from a 1937 Outdoor Life magazine is the only other place I have ever seen this reel in print. Has anyone seen other information on this reel?

[john elder]

gorgeous reel, Ed!

Hey, Ray, I can't recall....do the drags on both sides of your cradle function? We are dealing with at least two others where the "non-functioning" side (left side) free spool is frozen...will not come off in spite of heroic measures. We were starting to wonder if they somehow froze up that side at the factory, after it was clear the dual crank was not going to be accepted.

[kingfisher]

J. E. ,
This how the reel I have works :

Absolute Free Spool mode:
1. Move the lever to Free Spool .
2. Loosen the left side Star Drag completely

When in Handle drive mode and you want to change to the Left side winding/Drag system:
1.Move the lever to Free Spool.
2. As you tighten the left side Star drag all the mechanicals engage and come into operation. You can here the dogs clicking and the drag works and is adjustable from the left hand side only .

To go back to Right hand side use just move the Free Spool lever.

The drag star only makes a difference to the drag tension from the side that is in use. The opposite side adjustment does not alter the drag . Meaning you have only one side drag causing drag at any time. At no time are both drags causing braking at the same time.

Ray

[m3040c]

This how the reel I have works :

Absolute Free Spool mode:
1. Move the lever to Free Spool .
2. Loosen the left side Star Drag completely

When in Handle drive mode and you want to change to the Left side winding/Drag system:
1.Move the lever to Free Spool.
2. As you tighten the left side Star drag all the mechanicals engage and come into operation. You can here the dogs clicking and the drag works and is adjustable from the left hand side only .

To go back to Right hand side use just move the Free Spool lever.

The drag star only makes a difference to the drag tension from the side that is in use. The opposite side adjustment does not alter the drag . Meaning you have only one side drag causing drag at any time. At no time are both drags causing braking at the same time.

Ray

Thank you Ray

[john elder]

I'll get deepfins to give this a read while holding the reel. I suppose that it could be it's locked up because things have to be done in a sequence, but the problem is that the left side is absolutely frozen...i.e., if you try to take apart, the left side drag star will not budge! It's as if it has been physically immobilized on the inside. Nothing obvious at all to look at it, but it just won't come apart. the left side drag must be frozen in the off position...otherwise, one could not release the drag at all. Maybe John can jump in with comment.

[kingfisher]

J.E. I bought mine from a trustworthy guy. Don't know about the other guys.

Seriously... They may have been used in competition so they were disabled on purpose ....to be legal .

[wrong99]

J.E. I bought mine from a trustworthy guy. Don't know about the other guys.

Seriously... They may have been used in competition so they were disabled on purpose ....to be legal .

You mean, like the Tuna Club putting restrictions on these reels, requiring one side to be disabled?
Mark

[john elder]

I believe both the tuna club and igfa ruled that two cranks disqualified any caught fish from being a record

[Deepfins791]

My "good" Coxe cradle functions exactly as Ray describes. My "disabled" one is built a little different than other Coxe cradles I have seen, with both drags in line, versus offset. That shouldn't make any difference, though.

It seems to make sense some of these may have been disabled. Even if a record fish was caught without the second handle on the reel, someone could always challenge one may have been used. If the left side of the reel is disabled, there would be no question regarding the legitimacy of the catch. I guess the questions are how they disabled the left side, was it done at the factory, and is it even possible to enable it without risking damage to the reel?

John

[Jay White]

Wow! Great photo!!