Trim gauge Necessary?

[jmcgill]

I am installing a power tilt/trim motor on my boat, replacing an older manual tilt model. Do I need to install a trim gauge, or is there another way to "eyeball" the correct trim angle?

Thanks,

Joe

 

[JB]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Necessary? No. But it sure helps you to quickly move to optimum trim.

I have had PT&T with and without a guage, and I think the guage is a good investment.

Like having a tachometer. It helps you know what is going on.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

And the more radical the boat is the more important it is. The one on my 22' Hydrasports didn't work when we bought it. That boat you just set the trim once and forget it.

The Hydrostream is different. You get over zelous on that button and things can get interesting in a hurry.

When we had the Marige (tunnel boat) it was critical. Lose focus on that gauge and you're probably goona get wet.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Joe, A lot of non-high performance boats are not greatly affected by trim, and therefore a guage is optional. My speedboat benefits the most from power trim. I do not have a gauge, but have become accoustomed to the feel of the boat at various trim settings. The steering will pull to the right when the trim is down. When I trim the motor, the steering becomes light without any pull. This is optimum for a safe, reasonably fast ride. Trim the motor more, and you max speed, but steering and control is much more critical if you want to stay "open side up". To summerize, a guage is not mandatory, and feel is more than adequate. In addition the guages are not (IMHO) quick enough to respond, and since they do not have 'tick' marks, it is hard to tell exactly what the setting is.

 

[jmcgill]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Well, I have a 17 foot semi-v Glastron....but my problem is that I won't have enough space for the gauges...I'm wanting to install a Temperature gauge, oil gauge, and trim gauge. Currently, I have a fuel gauge and a battery gauge. I may just replace the battery gauge with the trim gauge, and install the other two gauges in the free holes.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

You can get combo gauges, that have up to four seperate gauge functions. In addtion, some Johnson motors have the "System Check" Gauge where the lights for "low Oil", "Overheat", "no oil" and "Gas restriction" are combined with a tachometer.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Just so you know, If I had to choose between Trim, batt, Oil, temp, Trim would be my lowest need.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Oh, you mean that`s what that guage is that says (TRIM).:^

I guess I`m a seat of the pants kind of a guy. I never look at it!

 

[Jquest]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

I think Ideally you have to know your sweet spot. I have a T&T gauge, but never use it. I just bury the engine and accelerate. At Wot I then start to trim up 'til I hit the spot I know my engine likes. Obviously your not going to be lugging(under 5500 rpm) it. Give it a tweak with the trim tabs here and there and you're done. Also... the balance on your boat changes as the day progresses. You start off with a full fuel tank and then it starts going down. People on your boat aren't going to stay in the same spot all day. It's just knowing your girlfriend and how she likes you to handle her.:devil

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trim gauge Necessary?

Unless you have a very high performance boat I see no need for a trim gauge. With the one exception being an I/O where you can't see the outdrive. The gauge will tell you whether you are trimmed up a little, quite a bit, or full down. Loading on recreational boats varies from light to medium to heavy and therefore there is no one perfect trim setting for all loads. Seat of the pants works just fine. There is no mistaking when you hit the sweet spot on my boat.