Terry Hayden: Terry Hayden is a talented Australian reel maker who has been building fly reels on his manual lathe and mill since 1995… the way reels were made in the past before CNC (=Computer Numerically Controlled) lathes and mills appeared and allowed mass production. You can access Terry’s reel factory there: http://www.flyreels.com.au/making_reel.htm.
Being in Australia, Terry tangles the line with big fishes. Being also quite remote, this allows him to stay away from the US reel designs… and as such he did come with some unique products. As an example, the first Hayden reel I had in my hands was the “Barramundi” direct drive. That reel has been discontinued since, but it was really nicely built (overbuilt), with no play at all in the spool and featured a well designed cork drag. All spools had a custom counterweight to balance accurately the custom made exotic wood handle. He was the first one I knew who still actually balanced each spool individually at high speed…. Quite similarly to the way tires are rotated in a garage. There is a succinct review of that reel there: http://www.americananglinggearguide.com/hayden.html
We had some discussions with Terry through Email about him making large arbor reels… I explained to him all the advantages of having a large arbor reel (mainly more consistent drag and higher retrieve rate)…. but he stuck, in that time, to his general design of regular arbor reels. He seems to have changed his mind!
I encourage you to visit his website (http://www.flyreels.com.au/) and to see his new line of reels in both direct and antireverse. They all are still made with his manual lathe and, though I did not have the chance to have one of his new reels in my hands, I am sure they are really good. He is very careful about the quality of his products and he surely can be proud of them.
As such, I was not surprised when Rick Pope at TFO told me they teamed with Terry Hayden for the making of a new reel that would hit the market in 2006. I knew it would be a good product, although these reels would be made in Korea on CNC lathes and mills. Korean factories can really make good products and they use state of the art lathes and mills to produce them. The only thing is to select the right factory and have someone checking the quality over time… as these factories do not produce (at least for most of them) only reels.
The TFO/HAYDEN reel is a reel that really drew my interest. Unlike most reels that hit the market, it is built like a tank and I would compare its ruggedness to an old post wedding cake Fin-Nor reel. However, the reel has the new current innovations such as great sealed ball bearings (not shielded) and large arbor… plus other innovative things found in this review. I think that is typical of Terry who likes overbuilt, tough and simple designs. The reel has indeed very few parts (see exploded view below) and as such is less prone to failure. As a general rule, the less moving parts, the better.
Some numbers:
Hayden I: 41 parts, large arbor spool OD. 33/4”, spool ID 2”, spool width 1 3/8", 11 oz, 200 yards 30lb dacron/WF9F, $349.95
NB: There is now a narrower spool Hayden I (HNS= Hayden Narrow Spool, 200 yards of 20# w/WF8F, $349.95).
Hayden II: 41 parts, large arbor spool OD. 4”, ID 2 1/4”, spool width 1 3/8", 12.6 oz, 250 yards 30lb dacron/WF12F, $364.95
Cork drag surface area (ID= 49 mm, OD= 23.5 mm)= 14.5 cm2
3 sealed ball bearings of Japanese quality (two 699RS: 9mm*20mm*6mm*6mm ; one 989RS= 9mm*17mm*4mm*5mm)
Comes in a box, with exploded view diagram, no reel pouch but it can be bought separately for cheap.
The aluminum used is regular marine T6061 aluminum grade (marine grade) and the reel is Type III anodized or hard anodized so that it cannot be easily scratched and is well protected in the salt. Type III anodizing is the toughest anodizing available. It is not easy to achieve, and the result is often quite unpredictable. Thus, depending on the batch number, slight change in the anodizing color can occur. Also, these reels are offered only in one color (natural grey anodizing) as the process of getting a color with type III anodizing is quite complex.
Most people might be surprised by the reel’s weight, but I actually did not find that it was a problem and it balances very well when mounted on my TFO rods. Actually, though not being in the light category, its weight is still in the acceptable range for its class. It is still lighter than a Charlton after all, and no ones complains about the weight of the Charltons. Weight is good as everything in that reel was thought to make it tough and durable. You will not bend the frame by accidentally dropping it on a hard surface, that is for sure! The reason of the relative excess in weight is linked to the fact that the wall of the reel (x”) is actually thick. This is a good feature, because it means that the torque when the spool is under heavy load will be inexistent. As such, no potential rubbing of the frame with the spool will be possible.
Finally, the bottom of the spool is not ported as well as the back of the frame not ventilated. Less porting in the frame means that less debris and salt will be getting into the drag and drag mechanism. I totally support this choice. The spool has a really nice exposed rim for palming, which is a plus to control the drag. I did not find, during my testing, that the handle would get into my way while palming.
The spool rotation on the shaft is eased by a set of two sealed bearings of Japanese quality. So, Terry did not spare on the quality of the bearings, which is, here again, a judicious choice. The spool is well balanced (as per my testing), the balance weight being a shiny polished stainless steel which counterbalances a plastic (looks like molded, not machined) handle (not Delrin). There is no play in the handle. Both handle and balance weight are secured on the spool with a stainless steel screw which is sealed from the elements: the head of the screw being coated with a drop of silicone glue (or similar). I found this smart, as this prevents corrosion problems with the spool: the spool and the screws being two dissimilar metals, you do not want saltwater to get in between. The two screws on the reel seat are also sealed the same way. The screws are moreover well recessed in the spool’s wall (easy because of the thickness of the wall) so that they will not fray the backing. I only regret that there are no other holes at the vertical of the handle and counterweight screws on the inner part of the spool to easily fit a screw driver in them and unscrew these screws.
The drag mechanism is very simple and is similar to the one found on the Fin-Nor wedding cake reels. Double dogs (pawls) are used and the dogs are hold in place by an oversized screw with a bushing around its shaft. Each dog is maintained in position on the drag plate gear assembly with one stainless steel spring. There are two springs that hold each dog so that the conversion from left to right hand retrieve (or conversely) is done with great ease. This system of springs to apply pressure on the dogs is genuine and very well thought. It is better than using metal blades, which pressure is not constant over time and which can corrode and get stuck.
Conversely to the Fin-Nor reels, the dogs do not operate synchronously but asynchronously. In other words, when one dog is locked, the other one is not. As such, there is no backlash and, with two dogs, one can be sure that there is always one locked onto the drag plate gearing (see the picture and the locking position of each dog).
The drag gear assembly is made of aluminum with a thick wall. All three reels (I, II & III) share the same drag plate (14.5 cm2 of breaking power). The plate rotation is eased with a sealed ball bearing. Here again a bushing could have been used, with a thrust bearing between the bushing and the frame.
The bearing is not only held in place on the shaft, but it also fits into a recessed hole in the frame, so that the drag plate that fits onto it has no play at all. This is a smart improvement compared to other reels. I regret Terry did not think of anything to hold the drag plate in place onto the shaft so that it would stay locked, when, the spool is removed. A small groove onto the shaft above the drag plate with a piece of metal (e.g. Magla reel) or an O ring (e.g. Islander LX reel) fitting in it, would have easily secured the plate onto the shaft and prevented it to slide upward when the spool is removed… thus disengaging the drag from its original position in the dogs. Fortunately, it is a easy to reposition the drag plate: just press it down, rotate it and it will lock right.
The cork pad fits into a slight groove recessed in the inner part of the spool. I do not really understand this design, but some other reel manufacturer use that design too. A flat surface area of drag contact works too though (e.g. Old Florida reels).
The draw bar is pretty simple. It is made of stainless steel. Under the cap, which prevents debris from getting in, there is a strong stainless steel spring with a washer on top of it. That washer rubs with the inner metal ring of the outer bearing of the spool. So the washer does not rub with the whole surface of the bearing, thus preventing the rotation of the spool, a fortiori when the drag is strong. The washer/spring is maintained in place with a cross bar that runs throughout the draw bar. That cross bar is the part that fits into the lateral groove on top of the shaft/spindle, thus preventing it from rotating when the drag knob is turned. This is the common draw bar system found on most big game reels.
The drag knob is well designed and has a ball plunger located in the inside that allows for a slight click each time it is rotated (ball plunger getting into the circular groves made in the outer base of the shaft (picture not shown). One and a 1/4 turns (1.25 revolutions) are needed to change the drag from free spool to maximum drag: this is neat because most reels require more turns to set the drag to the desired drag setting.
The drag knob is a little bit more elevated than the back of the frame (see picture on top of this review) for an easy access and the knob is secured with a stainless steel screw (reversely threaded!= great feature, but be careful!). All you need to remove that screw is a coin. So, it is to unscrew the drag knob, but it is a bit delicate to change spool, especially if on a rocking boat. Not a quick change spool reel, but at least, the spool is locked and remains that way.
The drag is very strong and smooth. Its lubrication should be done as following: apply a small amount of grease on it, and force the grease to penetrate the cork, then wipe off the excess of grease. If properly lubricated, the drag should normally test 10-12 pounds depending on the radius from where the line is pulled out. This is more than you need in most applications. The lubricant TFO (and I) use is Cal’s 2 Speed (www.cals2speed.com), but other lubricants such as neat’s foot oil, or super lube greasy or liquid formula will work as well. Just lightly lubricate the drag.
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Bottom line, the Hayden/TFO reel is a solid, well designed product that will outlive his owner. Its simplicity and the use of proven designs to build it are his strengths. I have no doubt that this reel will give you flawless years of service. It can be perfected, but the problems I found were very minors. It is a solid product at a great price for this quality. I highly recommend it.