Heddon Heritage III casting reel??

[john elder]

This reel has been donated by Ron Lewis and i’m trying to sort out how it works and what is up with this particular reel. The manual indicates that this model is the Divine answer to troubles with using a casting reel. This one has plexy side plates , so was apparently intended as a model to show the inner workings (Illustrations in the manual do not have plexy side plates).

So, this reel is not working. It won’t crank until the lever on left front is pushed down, which drops the line guide down, apparently as a prelude to casting. The workings imply that once the cast is made, the lever is brought back up and you can then retrieve the line. However, this one won’t crank once the lever is raised. The “star” drag is also not working and what really throws me is that the bearings on both sides are just sitting loose in the side plates. So, if it was cranking properly and you fished it, it seems likely those bearings would soon be in the pond.

It may be that this reel was never meant to be used and that’s why it is what it is. However, it would have to behave better than it is if one hoped to ever use this as a marketing tool! I will break it down completely and see what i might learn, but thought i would put this out there to see if anyone has experience with it.

[Paul Roberts]

Wow. Backlashes must really bother folks.

Your...bewilderment...that it might have been made for observation only, may be correct? I can see a salesman pointing to various doo-hickey's (sp?) inside the clear covers. I can also imagine the bewilderment on the faces of the onlookers.

Sorry, not terribly helpful. I've not seen such a critter. Will be curious what others have to say.

[Rick H]

John...There is a video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_F-SX-qkQs) showing the tear-down / cleaning / and re-assembly of the standard Model 30. Not sure it'll help (there's no audio), but it covers "every part". And the results were very good for "function". It's a 2 part video. Let me know what the plan for that reel is, after you do surgery. Rick H.

[john elder]

Thanks, Rick! … and it’s another reel donated by Ronel Lewis, so will end up on oldreelcollectors on ebay, most likely!

[Midway Tommy D]

John,
I found this online. You probably already know it but maybe it will help figure it out.

"In 1962, Heddon and Victory marketed a technologically advanced baitcaster called "Heritage" that had the potential to give Ambassadeur a run for its money. Besides being a high quality reel of sound construction, the Heritage offered advanced, if not superior features, Its "Monitor Cast Control" is an ingenious system that solves the primary problem with centrigfugal brakes. That is, in order to compensate for different lure sizes, most reels, (such as the Ambassadeur) require disassembly in order to change out the brake blocks or clutches. Monitor Cast Control allows the fisherman to choose among four different settings, no control or three different brake weights simply by flipping a switch! The loop at the top of the level winder, and the fact that the level winder leans forward when the spool is disengaged results in less line drag during the cast. Unlike the Ambassadeur and most other baitacasters, the Heritage is a true free spool reel (called the "Total Free Spool" by Heddon). That is, the spool fully disengages from all mechanics during the cast, including the level wind mechanism. The results is longer cast difference and less wear of moving parts."

[Steve]

I'm still trying to figure what a totally-free spool is. On the tail side of the reel, the spool journal can touch nothing but the bearing in which it spins. But the cranking side? Isn't there a pinion on the spool shaft? Even if the gears are separated, the pinion would till spin with the spool.

And as far as novelty goes, Jaspar Knudsen patented a lever-operated clutch in 1891. In freespool mode, the "spool is supported only by the cone pivots." So what's new?

[Paul Roberts]

Very nice find, Tom. Another attempt at a nail in the backlash coffin.

Steve, I knew you could set the record straight. Backlashes have gotten on people's nerves from day one. The total FS concept may not be new, but the outcomes likely would be. After all, these cool little machines were made to function.

How the Heddon Heritage stacks up against the Ambassadeurs of the day is an open question. Someone may just have to tackle that question when the Heritage goes up on oldreelcollectors. Unless that one's just a salesman's dummy. I'm guessing it was meant to be functional.

[john elder]

Well, i just got around to looking at the youtube video of the breakdown of a heddon 30. Holy moly! There are more little parts in that reel than in 10 Meek #4’s! I’m not sure i have the stomach for this! What really complicates things is that it’s not working properly, so careful deconstruction does not assure that i can put it back together correctly. Given that someone must have had it apart before, i’m wondering how many of those little parts might be missing!

It’s funny how the fellow in that video carefully took the reel apart, keeping all the parts separated. Then, he proceeded to dump them back together when he cleaned them in parts cleaner!

[Paul Roberts]

Ouch! Yes, that is possibly an adventure, into the abyss.

And, I don’t trust my working memory enough to work from a jumble of parts, esp strewn about a bench top as I’ve seen others do on YT. Recipe for trouble for me.

[Rick H]

Didn't mean to scare you off John. I got to admit, there must have been a little voodoo or witchcraft involved in that tear-down and successful reconstruction. It'd take diligence, cameras from all angles and a lot of luck to get 'er back together. But if it can be done....Yer the Wizard to do it.

[john elder]

I’ll take a breath… and maybe a bit of Single malt, and give it a go. However, one thing has me stumped before i even start, which is that the bearing caps are just stuck in the side plates. I don’t see any mechanism to keep those in place short of super glue! But from the looks of it, at least the back bearing cap is intended to turn in order to adjust the tension for casting. I guess we’ll see what we see inside.

[Rick H]

My guess is....they were bonded originally to the plexi-caps with a plexi-glass glue. Superglue would have just fogged those plates up. The only other possibility, would have been a threaded collet from the back-side of the plate into the caps themselves. If there's no threads inside those caps, that option is nullified. Good Luck Pal !!

[Paul Roberts]

Go John!

[Bill Sonnett]

I was a freshman in college in 62 when this reel came out. The Hype seemed to indicate it was going to give the popular 5000 some real competition. Its popularity fizzled from day one. I can't recall the specifics of the complaints then, but I know I never heard a good word about it and it seemed to disappear fairly quickly. I don't ever recall seeing someone actually baitcasting with one. The last one I saw was being used as an ice fishing reel. That should tell you something.

[Rick H]

Bill...I was able to get concurrence from the powers that be, to relieve John of this next surgery. After observing this critter from many different angles (intact), removing screws, doing a micro-focused analysis and noting how "cheezy" this thing is... I have an overwhelming desire to agree with your observations (OMG!). No bias on my part, since I do have 3 of the four models already in my small collection. I was thinking about picking up a 45 (which I don't have), but your "financial investment" hint, has belayed those crazy thoughts.

I will attempt to gets some photos of the surgery posted here....as soon as the glue dries!

[john elder]

Great news, Rick! And thanks for saving me! I look forward to your pictorial rebirth of this thing!

[Steve]

I will attempt to gets some photos of the surgery posted here

And please show us what TOTAL FREE SPOOL means in this case.

[Rick H]

I'll try Steve. This is an interesting piece. Please bear with me guys, I'm a little limited on equipment.
I'll see what I can do by tomorrow.

[Paul Roberts]

Go Rick!

[Rick H]

Okay all you Heddon Heritage maniacs (especially you "Freespool" guys), here we go.

This is a salesman's version with the clear sideplates. John offered up some nice pictures above.
A little background first... 1) the spool would not crank at all, 2) the bearing caps on both side-plates were not attached to the side plates at all, 3) the reel was useless in the state it was in. Linked below is a lousy, unclear video of what I found, and a little explanation of what I did. I forgot to mention that the bearing caps were ultimately found to be two-piece each. A small set of needle-nose and a light twist broke the dried threads loose, with no damage. The base piece, I just glued back onto the side plates, and once dried the caps could be threaded back on which allowed for normal tensioning, as needed.

There was one small dog-bone piece that had somehow worked it's way into the wrong position. Once that was corrected, the crank worked just fine. After studying the guts and the working of the "Freespool" mechanism, I would tend to agree that the spool (in that mode) is in fact "free of everything", except the shaft that it sits on. When engaged, that spool just freely rotates on the shaft itself. No bearings, no gears, no pads. Just the bare shaft and the spool hub.

I would also add, that I don't believe this to be the Mark III Model of the 30 that I display at the front-end of the video. That Model has "Automatic Cast Control". I'm guessing this one to be the earlier version that had "Cast Control" only.

I apologize for the quality of the video, but I think you'll be able to see enough to understand what was done and how it works. John would have had this done in 5 minutes. https://youtu.be/XdrWq0t8j6s

[Paul Roberts]

Video and explanation were clear enough. Kudos for figuring it out. Thanks sharing it with us. Neat reel.

The series of cams are interesting to see. I wonder if they would hold up with use over time? Reminds me of the AB mech in the Ocean City 2000. (Mine needed realignment of the cams to get it working again).

Looks like the idea behind the LW repositioning is to not only disengage it but to inc distance to spool and dec line angle? Something Lew Childre touted. I think Steve has shown that this was not a new idea?

Again, thanks Rick, for taking the time to settle our curiosity.

[john elder]

Great job, Rick! The movie is perfectly clear in explaining how that spindle gear gets pulled away from the spool, allowing it to go into free spool. That’s a mechanism that Vom Hofe used on all his free spool reels and many other makers used a similar free spool approach. The one thing that confuses me is that Heddon seemed to think it was the answer for any and all problems in using a casting reel. I don’t see how making that spool so free would keep it from backlashing like crazy when some rhubarb like me tried to make a long cast. If the spool is totally free, the only control on the spool speed would be the caster’s finger, so i don’t see any advantage over other reels.

There is an internal dial with numbers on the back plate side that might somehow provide some level of control on that spool. Rick, did you play around with that at all?

[Steve]

Terrific job, Rick, and noble effort! The power train engages the spool from within the arbor, right? It's going to take a lot of reading to see how novel the mechanism was. BTW, that's a different approach from the VH clutches.

And regarding Dr. E's concern:
"Free-spool reels...are excellent reels, but considerable practice is necessary to cast without backlashing,
as the spool-action is very rapid." - Perry D. Fraser, 1914

[Rick H]

Guys there are still some open questions. See attached Pic.

[Rick H]

Steve, there's a female cog attached to the spool and a male cog attached to the arbor. When that gear on the arbor is lifted it pulls the male cog out of the slots on the female cog, which simply allows the spool to rotate freely on the arbor. Kinda works like a "hard lock" clutch-plate. Pretty ingenious. I'd have to agree with Dr. E. In free spool mode there is "NOTHING" keeping that spool from backlashing.