Hello,
Im interested in any info on my Ocean City reel. It is a model 167 , which in itself is nothing special , but this reel has an attatchment on the front and I was wondering what it was as I have never seen another like it. Is it an oil/grease resevoir? Was it made by Ocean City or is it just an add on you could buy and put on any large reel? I think the neat thing is that the star drag is still functional (although its kind of hard to get at , I can imagine when a fish is on how difficult it would be). Any thoughts? Jeff
Jeff: it looks alot like some version of the Reel Deal gearbox, which can change the gear ratio from 2.5:1 to 8 or 10:1...play aroung with it and see if it will change gears...try pulling out on the handle!
That little gadget is the Tee-Pee, an aftermarket 2-speed gear shifting device made for smaller boat or surf reels from various manufacturers. I did an article on a similar add on, the Reel Deal, described by John E. above. You can find it in the May/03 issue, p 4. The article also included a little on the Tee-Pee and the Powerhouse, another add on. The Powerhouse could not be shifted but it multiplied the gears by 9x. These were popular with West Coast jig fishermen that wanted a speedy reel to work their jigs up from the depths but needed a lower gear to fight fish. Some even tried them on surfcasting set ups but I think they were too bulky and heavy. I've seen them on Penns, Pfluegers and now your Ocean City.
To change the gear on the Reel Deal, you pull out the knob where the attachment screw or nut would be. It looks like you would do the same on this or at least turn it?
Not sure who made the Tee-Pee as I never had one to look at in person so I wasn't aware of any markings. Please let me know if you find any info stamped onto it somewhere.
Thank you all again for your input. I dont see any markings at all on the attachment. I will have to get that article Brian , I would like to read more on this. This one works by pulling out that attatchment screw/nut and give it a little twist. It changes the gear ratio from 2.5 to 1 to 6 to 1. It took a little bit to get it to work and Im not so sure its exactly right as sometimes it doesnt work properly. I took it apart and I cant fiqure out what is going on with it yet but its a very neat design. Again thank you for all the help. Jeff
Here's one on a Pflueger Capitol (sorry so blurry, not my photo):
According to some that I've talked to who used them a lot, these things can be pretty finicky and a bear to install right so everything lines up to run nice and smooth.
