Levelwind reel for bottom fishing??

[bulletbob]

Anyone use one??.. I walked into a Salvation Army store up here in Ithaca, and they had a 7 ft, heavy duty spinning rod in nice shape with a Penn Peer 309 heavy duty levelwind conventional reel fully spooled w/what looks like 30 lb mono.. At $10, I couldn't resist.. the reel was balky, jerky and crappy feeling, but its a USA Penn, and they are bulletproof.. In half an hour of cleaning, oiling, and tweaking it was running like a Swiss watch.. I guess someone up here used it for deep trolling in the Finger Lakes, or maybe for trolling Ontario Salmon.. Its a 3-1 ratio, so its not a high speed, but its really beefy and good sized, and looks like it would be a killer reel for deep bottom fishing. I don't see many level winds used in salt water, but it looks like this would be good bottom fishing reel, where a hi speed retrieve is not desirable. Anyone use a big level wind reel for bottom fishing?.. I could take the level wind off in about 2 seconds if I wanted to , but its so smooth and free wheeling I am not sure if there would be any advantage.. I don't have anything this size [350 yards of 30 lb capacity] so it was a no brainer for $10, and the rod looks like a nice stout spinner for use with a 20 lb class spin reel.
Anyone have problems with the level wind mechanism crapping out in salt water? Backlashes?.. Too slow when dropping rigs in deep water etc??... bob