So if Trim Tabs are so great....

[Boatist]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

It a personal preference question?
Some want it and some don't. Some want adjustable and some want Smart tabs.
Inland boaters with adjustable motor trim and enough power do not really need it.
Swimers can cut hands or feet on the tabs.
Fishermen worry about the trophy Sturgeon or Salmon running under the boat and the line getting cut.
Some want a perfectly clean transom with nothing on it.

For me I will never own a boat without helm adjustable tabs again.

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

For me I will never own a boat without helm adjustable tabs again.

I would clarify as V-hull, other than that, I totally agree . . .

 

[ebry710]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

There are so many boats that don't have trim tab and so many operator who don't know what they are for and don't care. If you are in the know you can improve your operation with their use, but I know a lot more people that just get a bigger engine, buy a different prop or another boat. A 30 year old can spend a pile of money to solve problems like "lack of creativity" or skill......something a 11 year cannot not do.

 

[marine4003]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

Yup, what my point is..horsepower alone will not eliminate the need for tab's,even with 1500 hp...if I've 4 on the rear bench,+ 2 up front,she needs the "K" tabs to achieve plane..Oh Yea i can do it with throttle,BUT there goes 10 gallons of fuel at $7.75 gal as opposed to 3 seconds with tabs.

 

[Shawn_floats]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

Wow - I didn't realize this would spark such debate.
That's a good thing I guess...

In my case, I've only recent been into boating, so I don't have many boats and years to draw from in direct experience. That being said, I think from my own recent experience that MOST boats have ample power to get up on plane.
(Some don't, but those are probably the exceptions to the rule).

The next two questions that come to my novice mind then are;

1) How FAST does it come on plane?

2) How SLOW of a speed can it maintain plane?

With the recent heightened interest in watersports, the minimum plane speed probably becomes a big factor.

So for this reason, I/O's sold with the complete watersports package, in my mind, SHOULD also be equipped with Tabs from the factory.
Case in point, when we bought our wakebaords, the guy at the store instructed me to tow my wife (just learning) NO FASTER than 14MPH.

Now see, with my stock I/O, which has plenty of power - just isn't going to hold plane at 14MPH. Especially in some chop.

So perhaps not ALL boats from the factory need them, but maybe the activity target boats (like I/O's / v-hulls for watersports) should have them as standard "watersports package" outfits.

Let's face it, few of us necessarily like drilling holes in the transom of our shiny new boats.

Cheers folks.

 

[ebry710]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

I kinda look at it like this. My wifes Honda comes equipped with 2 handy features:
1) Auto Traction Off
2) Overdrive Off
I doubt if she is going to use them because she doesn't see a use. I do use my "overdrive off" on my Ford when I pull my trailer up a hill, but the system different than the Honda design.
Factory installed trim tabs would be no different. Each manufacture would come up with its own "improved" tab system with a different looks and "scratch your head" features. Unless the tabs were automatic and worked for all applications, the new boater would not use them (or use them wrong) and the experience boater would complain about them not working like the brand x tabs that he used in the past or his buddy has.

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

1) I can plane my 23 footer at 12 MPH with tabs and 18 MPH without.

2) I can hold a plane speed much easier without her speeding up or falling off.

3) I can shift the attitude of the boat no matter what my passengers or the weather does; fore aft and/or side to side.

4) I can use them to adjust for the lean caused by a hard crosswind.

5) I can use them to allow me to trim the drive out in shallow water, but still maintain a decent planing attitude with tabs full down. I may still hit something, but I'd much rather hit with the bullet and skeg than the prop . . .

6) I can get my tabs totally out of the way for any condition that I want.

7) I can put the tabs full down at wakeless speeds to decrease wander.

The question is not why are helm adjustable tabs the best thing you'll ever do for your boat. The question is why wouldn't you if you have half a brain and the cash to install them. Oh, and, uh . . . holes in the transom are not a big deal. Go count how many there are now . . .

 

[Hitech]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

QC, helm adjustable tabs are great, for some people. If that were my only choice, I wouldn't have tabs. It's not just the cost, but one more thing to think about and do, at the right time, constantly, while pulling kids on a tube would be to distracting. And it would take a LONG time for it to become second nature. I just don't go out that much. It would be nice if my Smart Tabs had a separate "trim" feature that could increase/decrease the pressure individually from the helm. But, if they did, I probably wouldn?t have been able to afford them.

 

[dingbat]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

QC, helm adjustable tabs are great, for some people. If that were my only choice, I wouldn't have tabs. It's not just the cost, but one more thing to think about and do, at the right time, constantly, while pulling kids on a tube would be to distracting.

There seems to be this misconception that you are continually keep adjusting the tabs. I have no idea where this idea came from but it?s just not true. On an average day I might "click" mine 2-3 times a day. That's it. There is no need to adjust them unless there have been drastic changes in the water conditions or in your loading.

I can't think of any reason why you would need to continually adjust your tabs while tubing. I just don?t see it.

It would be nice if my Smart Tabs had a separate "trim" feature that could increase/decrease the pressure individually from the helm.

Funny.....you just descrbied a helm adjustable tab.

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

First, I love Smart Tabs for the guy that doesn't want to mess with stuff, smaller boats, and budget concerns. They automatically take care of the tube stuff. But not a wakeboard, as you can't pull them up incrementally to build a bigger wake.

There seems to be this misconception that you are continually keep adjusting the tabs.

I can't think of any reason why you would need to continually adjust your tabs while tubing. I just don?t see it.

Yes when tubing, I leave them be. I do however make micro adjustments all day long for two reasons:

1) I can

2) I like to . . .

 

[Hitech]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

There seems to be this misconception that you are continually keep adjusting the tabs. I have no idea where this idea came from but it?s just not true.

Maybe I don't understand helm adjustable tabs. I thought the only time the moved at all is when you adjust them ?manually? from the helm. You put them down, then retract them partially once on plane and adjust the attitude of the boat. IF that is true, then I'd be ?adjusting? them constantly. Water sports is a start/stop/repeat type of activity. Now, if you adjust the pressure and the angle adjusts without operator input, then it's a whole different story. Then I just couldn't afford them.

Also, I don't wake board. If I did, and still wanted tabs for when not wake boarding I would get the retracters. Not as easy as helm adjustable, but within my budget.

 

[Nandy]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

That's exactly what he's saying, and he's correct.

How else would you explain the person who for instance sets their cruise control on their Winneago and goes into the kitchen to make a sandwich while cruising down the interstate????
The stupid thing about this storey is the driver sued Winebago and won!!! Because the manufacturer failed to disclose the fact that cruise control doesn't control the steering.

That is not entirely true, but I like your thinking.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

Hitech, I believe you adjust them once. You set them one time perhaps when just cruising and you never have to change them again for the entire day unless you change your load dramatically or the weather change from a nice practically waveless day to a choppy day or you decide you are going to haul a skier. Or like if you are tubing, you adjust them until they give you the best ride then you keep tubing without much changes. Probably if you do all your activities with the similar load you will know what is the "sweet spot" is for each activity having to make minimal adjustments from use to use.

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

I adjust my tabs all day long. All the time, mini clicks on the switch every 30 seconds or so. Again, I do this because I can . . . Smart Tabs are basically fixed. Leave 'em and go. Why would anyone not adjust their tabs if they could? Trim too? Be careful, you might break a fingernail . . .

 

[Boatist]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

How fast does it come on plane? Well in my 21 foot V hull Aluminum Runabout boat I can bring the stern up before the bow.

IT will stay on plane down to 9 miles per hour, slower than that and the bow and stern go down together. Only time I run with that much trim is in the ocean with 8 foot or larger steep swells.

 

[Hitech]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

Okay, back to how helm tabs work. When stopped in the water don't you put them in the down position and then take off. Once on plane you change the angle they are deployed, or do you leave them where they are and they change their angle of deployment themselves?

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

Helm adjustable tabs stay where you put them unless they also have an optional leveling system. Don't worry much about that, but they can be equipped with some auto features, even auto retract.

Generally, yes, you put them down to take off. Depending on how much power you have you may never need them full down to get going. However, there may be times you would put them full down for ride and/or safety as Boatist describes. When it is rough, or the wife is making sandwiches yet we still want to cruise, I put them almost full down and put along at 13 - 15 MPH. It is extremely smooth and eats up almost all wakes and chop. If there are people riding in the bow, and I am cruising at say 35 MPH I may use no tab, and pull them all of they way up as their weight decreases any tendency to porpoise. If there is no tendency to porpoise under any particular situation then again, I pull them up. If she starts to porpoise even slightly, I will bump the switch to put them down a tiny bit and you can almost immediately feel and see a difference even though the bow doesn't visually go down any. I may at that same speed see a little set of wakes, and I'll hold the switches longer to start jamming the bow down more than I can with the drive trim. It'll eat up the wakes, and then I hit the switches to bring the tabs (and hence the bow) up, and motor right back up to speed. If I am making a WOT speed run, I play with the switches and trim constantly to get the most out of her for that load, speed, weather etc. When things are very good, I may get the tabs almost all of the way up and the drive trim all of the way out. The drive trim gets the bow up, and the tabs control any porpoising that might occur. If I have a passenger get up and shift sides, I put the tab down slightly on the side they moved to, and lift the tab slightly from the side they moved from. All very basic stuff once you get the hang of it.

The point is they are completely and almost infinitely adjustable for a variety of conditions. If they move on their own, they are broked . . .

 

[Hitech]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

Thanks, that is what I thought. They are a great system for the boating you do. For what I do, they wouldn't work so well. Pulling kids on tubes in small lakes. Constant start, stop, speed up, slow down, all within five minutes (I'm sure you know how it works ). If I had a larger boat, boated on larger bodies of water and had a larger bank account I'd want helm adjustables also.

Smart Tabs have made my boat a different boat. But, you probably already knew that.

 

[MikDee]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

I had to put them on my 24' SeaRay Cuddy, Bennet adjustable, because that boat was so deep in the middle, it would lean one way or the other constantly on plane! Using them in the Great South Bay Long Island was a Trip! , to say the least, along with a few second delay in operation. Also needless to say, everytime you speed up or slow down, you're adjusting them, that is, Besides the wind, waves, & current. Once I cleared the canal, I went on plane, and turned right, or left, then had to adjust the tabs to level out depending on the wind, and always rough water. Without a trim tab indicator, sometimes it was too much, or too little, so I had to keep bumping the toggle. Next when I had to turn to follow the bouys in the channel, I was adjusting them again, then riding along, once the current or wind, changed, or the waves got calmer, I was adjusting them again. Boats passing, wakes meeting, slowing down for this, adjust them again, back to speed adjust them again. Moving to WOT, & adding trim for best ride, & speed, adjust them again. Making a U-turn, Wait they're setup wrong for this! Quick, raise them up! raise them up! the boat is listing way too much! and the wind, & waves, are making it worse!,,, Oh, Ok, it finally settled in, we're Ok now Ok, back trying to get on plane,, lets adjust them again,,, No wait! oops! I forgot to take the lower unit trim in No working gauge!,,, Ok, now we can get back on plane, and adjust them again,,, No Wait! There's a 40' Chris Craft heading our way at 1/2 throttle Tabs up!, down to a slow plane to ride out the wake.

See if you can figure out how many times I said "adjust them again!" meaning the tabs? This is all while trying to control the boat, choose a speed, work the lower unit trim, dealing with rough water, wind, & current, varying size wakes, varying tides, and shallow area's (There are a lot out there) and finally, jerks at the wheel!

I finally gave up using them unless it was an absolute necessity!

 

[QC]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

This is like saying that setting flaps on a plane for takeoff and landing is too much of a pain so forget it . . . They are designed to help operators solve changes in conditions and loads etc. They do that, but like I said earlier you might break a fingernail on the big ol' heavy toggle switches. Be careful

 

[Hitech]

Re: So if Trim Tabs are so great....

This is like saying that setting flaps on a plane for takeoff and landing is too much of a pain so forget it . . .

Not at all. Planes are typically "destination" vehicles. You can't even use one like you do when pulling a tube, well, except for maybe an RC plane, but most of those don't have flaps.