I installed my new Smart Tabs and started with the #3 hole. When I first left the dock the motor wasn?t running well, and it became very apparent that they were too strong. I also have steering issues that exacerbated the problem. It bow steered very bad and with the sloppy steering it was very evident that they were set too strong. I moved them to the #1 hole (least pressure) and after fixing numerous motor problems I finally got the boat running well enough to actually try them out.
All I can say it WOW! With 400 lbs of passengers in the front seats I would get on plane in 1 1/2 seconds with HALF throttle! The bow barely moved up. Top speed appeared at least as good as before, but I have no actual measurements to go by. Giving it full throttle it just seemed to start out on plane. I couldn?t determine when it actually got on plane as it truly seemed to just start there.
My buddy with the expensive HP bass boat (Ranger with a 225 hp Mercury) who wasn?t convinced that these tabs would work was watching from shore. His first comments were that I wouldn?t need them at this lake (Berryessa) as this boat performed well there (I bought it from his Mom). Even he said it looked like I just jumped on plane (this was when I was trying it at half throttle). And he thought I looked fast at top speed compared to the other boats (it was a very busy day).
When I added 400 lbs (or more) of people and gear, and put 300 lbs of it in the seats right at the transom, it did quite jump up on plane, but it still wasn?t bad (3-4 seconds) and I could still see over the bow. Obviously, moving the people forward made it better.
Overall, my first impressions are that these things are great. Now, if only John would make parts guaranteed to fix the steering.
And, no thread is complete without pictures, so:
All I can say it WOW! With 400 lbs of passengers in the front seats I would get on plane in 1 1/2 seconds with HALF throttle! The bow barely moved up. Top speed appeared at least as good as before, but I have no actual measurements to go by. Giving it full throttle it just seemed to start out on plane. I couldn?t determine when it actually got on plane as it truly seemed to just start there.
My buddy with the expensive HP bass boat (Ranger with a 225 hp Mercury) who wasn?t convinced that these tabs would work was watching from shore. His first comments were that I wouldn?t need them at this lake (Berryessa) as this boat performed well there (I bought it from his Mom). Even he said it looked like I just jumped on plane (this was when I was trying it at half throttle). And he thought I looked fast at top speed compared to the other boats (it was a very busy day).
When I added 400 lbs (or more) of people and gear, and put 300 lbs of it in the seats right at the transom, it did quite jump up on plane, but it still wasn?t bad (3-4 seconds) and I could still see over the bow. Obviously, moving the people forward made it better.
Overall, my first impressions are that these things are great. Now, if only John would make parts guaranteed to fix the steering.
And, no thread is complete without pictures, so:
