Need help with trim tabs

[tcooley]

Hello fellow boaters I am in need of some advice. I have a tahoe 204 deck boat with a 5.0 220hp a dive ratio of 1:60 I am running a 4 blade 21 pitch prop. The boat rides supper rough in 1 foot chop and wants to porpoise with hardley any trim. I am thinking of putting tads on bot do not know which ones to get. Or if they are worth putting on? Any suggestions? Thanks for your help

 

[Chris1956]

It sounds like adjustable trim tabs would help you a lot. Of course, your current boat behavior is horrible and unexpected. Are you sure the outdrive is all the way down?

 

[kjsAZ]

Chris is right, it shouldn't be that bad in 1ft chop. Do you have by any chance one of these fins installed on your drive? The PO of my boat had a Doel-fin installed on mine and it handled as bad or even worse than yours (I call it "like a drunken sailor"). If you have remove it and try again. Then even automatic tabs like the Bennett Marine SLT-10 or the Nauticus SX would give you an even better hole shot back. None of the boats I ever owned handled better with these fins (O/B and I/O's). They fixed one issue and caused 3 others.

 

[dan02gt]

My Stingray was the same way when I bought it. It's a light boat with a heavy sterndrive in the back so it likes to porpoise and pound in light chop. I went with helm adjustable Bennett Sport tabs and it became a whole different boat.

You could pretty much get away with any type of tabs and they will all fix your problem. The Nauticus Smart Tabs and Bennett Self Leveling Tabs are both good products as are Bennett and Lenco helm adjustable tabs.

 

[redneck joe]

if you do tabs, do Bennett

 

[tcooley]

I was running a fin. But it created more problems like the gentlemen said. The boat has a good hole shoot. I am just looking for a little better ride and handling

 

[kjsAZ]

then it all depends on how much money you want/can spend and how much work you are willing to invest. The cheaper solution are the self levelling tabs (~$140) but adjustable ones have their advantages. However, you have to install the pump in the stern, wires to the helm and drill additional holes into the transom. Plus you go into the $700+ area.
The self-levellers are only installed from the outside to the transom which is done pretty quick. I prefer the SLT-10's in stainless with 5 year warranty over the plastic ones from Nauticus (SX) which are only a few $ cheaper. The Nauticus stainless ones (ST) are more expensive than the Bennett. You can find both on iboats here.

 

[royston22]

if you're porpoising, you need to get your bow down. You can use your engine trim to do this. I generally only use my trim tabs to adjust port/starboard tilt and use the engine trim for bow up/down adjustments.

 

[tcooley]

Thanks for all the help I will look into the slt-10s

 

[Scott Danforth]

bennett 120 sport tabs

 

[tcooley]

Update. I put the slt 10 tads on a few days ago. Took the boat to the lake and what a difrance it's like a new boat no more porpoising and a nice soft ride compared to what it was.

 

[Tabman]

Update. I put the slt 10 tads on a few days ago. Took the boat to the lake and what a difrance it's like a new boat no more porpoising and a nice soft ride compared to what it was.

That's great to hear!

 

[dan02gt]

Update. I put the slt 10 tads on a few days ago. Took the boat to the lake and what a difrance it's like a new boat no more porpoising and a nice soft ride compared to what it was.

It's amazing the difference tabs can make!

 

[Watermann]

It's amazing the difference tabs can make!

Yeah those "tads" are great! :heh: