# Shimano Toriums



## cowboyup_iii (Mar 6, 2011)

So I went looking at new reels yesterday at J&M and told the guy what kind of fishing I plan on doing and he started telling me about the Toriums. Apparently they are the greatest reel for general purpose fishing (i.e. jigging, bottom fishing, and light trolling for kings and the such). I was thinking about getting a 750ssm spinning setup, couple of Penn 4/0 setups, and maybe a TLD25 setup until he started telling me about the Toriums. Now it seems the setup to have is a couple of Toriums on Trevela rods......Do any of ya'll have experience with the Toriums??? I am getting ready to start buying some of my gear but don't really want to spend stupid amounts of money. But if they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, maybe I should go with them.....


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Yes I only blew up my Torium three times in five trips. They are notorius for antireverse bearings going out on them regularly. They are a good reel if you send it to be rebuilt with double dawg backup.


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## Hired Hand (Nov 25, 2008)

I use Shimano Tyrnos 30 wides. Very good reels. Caught many big fish on them and they are good as new. Had a big mako spool me on a straight down dive and the drag is as smooth as it was new.


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## bombtosser (Oct 5, 2007)

the guys that posted before are right. buy a lever drag setup like a tyrnos and think about a two speed setup also. i hate the trevela rods. They're too soft for me and lack backbone. on a budget the tld 25's are great reels, they make good drag, have a ton of capacity, and will give you a good shot at 99% of the fish within 40 miles.


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## cowboyup_iii (Mar 6, 2011)

Is there any real difference between the 16, 20, and 30??? I know line capacity, but they have the same ratio, weight is basically the same. I was looking at a 16 at the store, but after looking at them online, I can't find a reason to go up a size to a 20 or 30?


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

It will depend on the application you are wanting them for. Line capacity is the basic difference.


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

Ive had em and used them deep 350+' of water dropping with recess and caught plenty of grouper and aj's on them with no problems. Instead of the shimano rod i would go to HotSpots and get the star steller light jigging rod, like the shimano but better.


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

cowboyup_iii said:


> So I went looking at new reels yesterday at J&M and told the guy what kind of fishing I plan on doing and he started telling me about the Toriums. Apparently they are the greatest reel for general purpose fishing (i.e. jigging, bottom fishing, and light trolling for kings and the such). I was thinking about getting a 750ssm spinning setup, couple of Penn 4/0 setups, and maybe a TLD25 setup until he started telling me about the Toriums. Now it seems the setup to have is a couple of Toriums on Trevela rods......Do any of ya'll have experience with the Toriums??? I am getting ready to start buying some of my gear but don't really want to spend stupid amounts of money. But if they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, maybe I should go with them.....



I would not go with the torium for bottom fishing.....

http://alantani.com/


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Nat said:


> I would not go with the torium for bottom fishing.....
> 
> http://alantani.com/


Hey look at the bright side , if he blows it up Alantani can rebuild it and make it like the bionic man. Stronger and better. he can make it almost blowup proof. They are a good reel they just can not handle max drag.


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

Nat said:


> I would not go with the torium for bottom fishing.....
> 
> http://alantani.com/


anyone that said they are the best reel since sliced bread.....was either a rookie or a liar or a salesperson trying to nail down a sale....

educate yourself before you spend your money


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

Hey lobsterman !

what would you choose ?

I still love my little shimano 20-40 stars......like an old stubborn mule


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

Nat said:


> I would not go with the torium for bottom fishing.....
> 
> http://alantani.com/


He also said that the Saltiga's and Saltist were no better with there passive A/R dogs, but there highly regarded too.

Oh and i have Toriums, saltist, trinidad's and saltiga's. None have blown up on me and i use them for speed jiggin all the time including AJ's and Tuna. I even have a cals drag plate and carbontex in all of the toriums and trinidads and with the extra drag capacity none have broke.

Oh and by the way you should tell us what you reels meet your aproval.:notworthy:

d-a


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## ADRENALINE (May 6, 2008)

Stay away from the Toriums, I have four of them and they are CONSTANTLY tearing up. They will not last, trust me!!


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

ADRENALINE said:


> Stay away from the Toriums, I have four of them and they are CONSTANTLY tearing up. They will not last, trust me!!


 
Whats breaking on them? I have 4, (one is 5 years old) as well and like i mentioned in my earlier post I havent had any problems what so ever. How often do you clean and service them?

d-a


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## ADRENALINE (May 6, 2008)

d-a said:


> Whats breaking on them? I have 4, (one is 5 years old) as well and like i mentioned in my earlier post I havent had any problems what so ever. How often do you clean and service them?
> 
> d-a


Anti-reverse (notoriuos problem with these reels) and the free-spool levers fail or locks up on a regular basis. Open yours up sometime and see how cheap and poorly designed the parts/mechanics are on this reel. I have been inside all of mine SEVERAL times and repaired a couple for a friend with the same problems. I depend on my tackle for my living so it is well taken care of. They do see alot of hard use but they should be able to take it.


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

ADRENALINE said:


> Anti-reverse (notoriuos problem with these reels) and the free-spool levers fail or locks up on a regular basis. Open yours up sometime and see how cheap and poorly designed the parts/mechanics are on this reel. I have been inside all of mine SEVERAL times and repaired a couple for a friend with the same problems. I depend on my tackle for my living so it is well taken care of. They do see alot of hard use but they should be able to take it.


I do open mine up, Yearly i might add. I also know that most of the A/R bearing failures are from over greased A/R bearings(not just in shimano either). The secondary cause of A/R failures is not getting the pincers tight enough on the A/R gear. That could explain why you had failures, over greasing the bearing and not getting the dogs installed correctly.

As for cheap parts, most of the parts in the torium are also used in the Trinidad's and vice versa, Yet you hardly ever hear of Trinidad A/R failures. The A/R bearing and A/R dogs are the same. 

As for poorly design, I can open up my Saltist 30T and my Torium and the design is the same, actually all star drags pretty much use the same basic design, and have been for many years.

What reels do you use? I have a multitude of reels and i can tell you one of my most used reels is a Torium 16. Its seen everything from 60lb YF tuna, 40lb Aj's and even a flag yellow tail or two. Its also my oldest Torium and with the Cal's Drive and greased carbontex it can produce 30+lbs of drag

d-a


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## ADRENALINE (May 6, 2008)

Glad you have had good luck with them. Me and a couple others I know have not. I would not recomend them.


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

ADRENALINE said:


> Glad you have had good luck with them. Me and a couple others I know have not. I would not recomend them.


 
What do you recomend?

d-a


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## Orangebeach28 (Jun 3, 2009)

Damn boys settle down on the Torium debate. To the original starter of this thread, let me say I'm in the same boat. I bought 4 toriums 3 weeks ago, so I was concerned to learn about the weak drag/anti-reverse rumors as well. Do yourself a favor and visit the alan tani website linked earlier in the post. Do a search for dog spring upgrade. There he clearly illustrates how to upgrade the anti-reverse to the exact spring loaded pawl that a trinidad has. I called Shimano - ordered 3 parts for like 3 bucks per reel. I installed the parts on my own, it was easy. So that ends the anti-reverse problem. Next, look up smoothdrag.com and order the carbontex drag washers. The are $18 per set plus $4 for some cal reel grease. Total upgrade cost is $25 dollars. I emailed back and forth with Alan Tani on the matter and asked if my efforts should put my fears to rest. His response was a simple "yes." Coming from a guy that would know....I'll take it. 

Keep this in mind if you're wondering if you can do this. I've never opened up a reel in my life prior to last week. 

Do the install on those washers and the dog upgrade at the same time and you'll save yourself some time. Shoot me a PM if you need some help.


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## bombtosser (Oct 5, 2007)

d-a, what's the deal man? It seems like your taking the negative reviews toward the toriums personally. Are you a shimano rep or something? When i owned a torium,I liked the reel, i just wanted something that made a few more lbs of drag.


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## wirebiter (Jun 4, 2008)

I have 3 Toriums (a 30 for jigging, and two 50's for just about anything else) and I have had them about 3 years now. Got a great price from a shop that was closing. I have never had a blow up or any problems with them. I have caught nice AJ's on the 30 and fish of all kinds on the 50's. I oil them every year and clean them after every trip like all my reels. Never had a problem. I guess either I am lucky or got a good batch. I will look into the upgrades though sounds like it is worth while for $30 a reel.


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

Orangebeach28 said:


> Damn boys settle down on the Torium debate. To the original starter of this thread, let me say I'm in the same boat. I bought 4 toriums 3 weeks ago, so I was concerned to learn about the weak drag/anti-reverse rumors as well. Do yourself a favor and visit the alan tani website linked earlier in the post. Do a search for dog spring upgrade. There he clearly illustrates how to upgrade the anti-reverse to the exact spring loaded pawl that a trinidad has. I called Shimano - ordered 3 parts for like 3 bucks per reel. I installed the parts on my own, it was easy. So that ends the anti-reverse problem. Next, look up smoothdrag.com and order the carbontex drag washers. The are $18 per set plus $4 for some cal reel grease. Total upgrade cost is $25 dollars. I emailed back and forth with Alan Tani on the matter and asked if my efforts should put my fears to rest. His response was a simple "yes." Coming from a guy that would know....I'll take it.
> 
> Keep this in mind if you're wondering if you can do this. I've never opened up a reel in my life prior to last week.
> 
> Do the install on those washers and the dog upgrade at the same time and you'll save yourself some time. Shoot me a PM if you need some help.


 
Great post OB !

I also have a torium and really enjoy the reel, BUT, for a new purchase, I think they are over priced and there are better choices that don't need upgrading.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Nat said:


> Hey lobsterman !
> 
> what would you choose ?
> 
> I still love my little shimano 20-40 stars......like an old stubborn mule


If I chose a Torium, instead of sending it to shimano, I would send it to Alantani and have him do the upgrade on the entire reel, then it is almost bulletproof. To be honest with you there are few that have an instant antireverse bearing and double dawg pawl backup system. The ones that do are well worth the money for little to no aggrevation. I have a Torque 200 and have had zero problems with it. It is a tad heavier than most reels in its size class but it is a beast. But *for the money* I don't think you could beat a Torium *if you upgraded it*.


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## Orangebeach28 (Jun 3, 2009)

Thanks lobsterman/Nat - wouldn't have found out how it hadn't been for you PM's. 

Good fishing to all


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Orangebeach28 said:


> Thanks lobsterman/Nat - wouldn't have found out how it hadn't been for you PM's.
> 
> Good fishing to all


 
Thats what we're here for, giving out a helping hand. They are decent reels for the money but the have some seriously weak spots in them that just need to be taken care of. After that they are great reels.


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

bombtosser said:


> d-a, what's the deal man? It seems like your taking the negative reviews toward the toriums personally. Are you a shimano rep or something? When i owned a torium,I liked the reel, i just wanted something that made a few more lbs of drag.


No im not a shimano rep, Just giving Two sides to the story. The other guys keep saying there Junk, but have yet given the OP another viable option in small reels.

d-a


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## Orangebeach28 (Jun 3, 2009)

The obvious alternative is the Daiwa Saltist. 

Out of the box, a better reel than the torium with a similar price point. Once upgraded though, the Shimano stands out.


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## local_hooker (Mar 17, 2009)

Nat said:


> anyone that said they are the best reel since sliced bread.....was either a rookie or a liar or a salesperson trying to nail down a sale....
> 
> educate yourself before you spend your money


Agreed. I like to the penn torque series myself... Good over all reel and can be had in spinning or conventional.


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

you can buy these new for $99.00 and used alot cheaper. Why spend twice the money for a reel that needs upgrading ?


http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=17.0


I have a couple of these
a 280 and a 540, they don't make this model anymore.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=253.0


and then the penn Baja special is known for durability and a fantastic drag, nothing like the other Penn 4/0

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=14.0


never owned one , but read that the Diawa Sealine conventional reels are suppose to be really good


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## Orangebeach28 (Jun 3, 2009)

Damn your facts!

Thanks for the links Nat, those do look easy to service...if my toriums take a dump I'll check em' out.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

They are too akward to jig with for the most part. Stick with the little reels.


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

lobsterman said:


> They are too akward to jig with for the most part. Stick with the little reels.


I agree, and the TLD star drag doesnt put out enough drag for most guys that jig.

d-a


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

d-a said:


> I agree, and the TLD star drag doesnt put out enough drag for most guys that jig.
> 
> d-a



just in case there is still some confusion, let's beat this dead horse to a pulp ! :thumbup:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=509.0


The torium with upgraded drag washers and the dawg spring upgrade will pull about 20lbs of drag according to alan tanni.


The star 15-30 and star 20-40 have much heavier gears and shaft and also put out about 20lb of max drag. 

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=17.0


I own both and have had to repair the Torium


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## d-a (Mar 13, 2010)

Nat said:


> just in case there is still some confusion, let's beat this dead horse to a pulp ! :thumbup:
> 
> http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=509.0
> 
> ...


I guess you still have some confusion so here goes again. YOU CAN PUT A CAL'S DRAG PLATE IN THE TRINIDAD AND TORIUMS AND GET OVER 30LBS OF DRAG. You cant do that in the OUT of PRODUCTION TLD STAR DRAG's

d-a


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## fishingcanada (Oct 21, 2010)

Shimano Torium (non-levelwind) reels are durable, high-speed reels that cast well and have been designed for years of comfort and ease of use.


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## Nat (Oct 10, 2007)

here's an old thread about the torium for anyone interested

http://www.pensacolafishingforum.com/f33/shimano-torium-30-a-59365/


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## bombtosser (Oct 5, 2007)

You guys are forgettting the titan of tiny two speeds.. The tyrnos 10 and 12!, i've seen a few two speeds for less than 200 bucks. have you ever seen a broken one..


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## Remy (Dec 28, 2010)

I just bought a torium 30 and went jigging this weekend, it was great and i caught AJ's all day long with no problems in about 325ft. I had prob a big grouper on and had to apply alittle pressure with my thumb to the drag but you would have had to do this with any reel as big as it was. All in all, great deal at bass pro with heavy jig rod for $269.00


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## Stink Bait (Jun 13, 2008)

I agree, probably look into upgrading the drag system if it only cost $30 but all in all I'm happy with my Torium. Three years old, countless snapper and AJ's and no issues.


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## flyguyII (Aug 30, 2008)

Hey guys I too don't love toriums ( mostly better available for same price) I use Qkuma golds ( I Know but mine have been solid) accurates and a few Avets. My buddy has a torium on his jigging rod. Loves it. Anyway right now ( til they are gone) Charkbait.com has the 20 for 119. At that price I grabbed one. I have used Alan Tani for repairs and upgrades for years. He is honest, skilled and he shares his expertise. His upgrade rocks!


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## cowboyup_iii (Mar 6, 2011)

flyguyII, i owe you one.....i just bought two of the 20s they had on charkbait. I had never heard of that website. guess i can give my own opinion of the toriums after a couple of months of using them. again, thanks for website deal info.


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## dailysaw (Jan 22, 2008)

its nice to see threads like this..i fished the torium 20 and 30 pretty hard and have the upgrades if any one wants them. i sold the reels before i got the upgrade parts in the mail. the parts were ordered from Alan. Pm if u want,,, trinidad up grade for torium.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

llampochka said:


> Подскажите где можно нормольно заказать курсовую без кидалово.За ранее спасибо


 
Well blow me down, could you please write that in english?


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## Capt David (Nov 2, 2010)

I do reel repair work here in Orange Beach and work on many Torium/Trinidads. All of them have the same flaws. Anti reverse pawl needs to be upgraded to spring type, anti reverse bearings do go out, drags need to be changed to greased carbon fiber, and the freespool lever will go out. All these things as easily upgraded except the freespool lever. All in all, an ok reel same as a trinidad, just needs a decent lube job and upgrading of a few cheap parts.


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## Downtime2 (Sep 27, 2007)

You take a look at the Diawa Saltiga and Saltists?


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