Trim Tabs

[bigD1031]

Hey all, I have a question about automatic trim tabs......

What does everyone think about them when it comes to using them on a 18 foot bow rider used a great deal for wakeboarding and skiing? Heard they help get up to plane faster and plane at lower speeds but have also heard that they can affect the wake in negative ways for both wakeboarding and skiing...

What does everyone else think?

 

[JUSTINTIME]

Re: Trim Tabs

get Bennett tabs, not the smart tabs

 

[chaparral442]

Re: Trim Tabs

I own the smart tabs on a 190 SSI CHAP they do the job, best money I have spent- THe company warranties them and if you need anything they have the best Customer service I have ever seen

Trim Tabs are only needed for larger boats-- don't spend the money

 

[RC]

Re: Trim Tabs

You can't have tabs and have a good wake. I've got the smart tabs on my boat and then got into wakeboarding. They destroyed my wake. I then purchased levers that allow me to raise the tabs. In the raised position they have no affect and my boat makes a decent wake for an I/O. For general cruising the tabs are great. On plane in a second and the boat handles so much better.

 

[dcg9381]

Re: Trim Tabs

I like the tabs, even with small boats. I wouldn't use automatic tabs though - they're too general for use. Get the Bennett tabs or the less expensive electric version.

 

[QC]

Re: Trim Tabs

What he said ^^^^^ I can do anything with my tabs at any speed, I can use them to make a big wake and I can adjust my wake while I watch. I can even spray innocent tubers by driving my tabs down and causing a nasty little rooster shower type deal I can also get them 100% out of the equation. Anyone who says that adjustable tabs screw up a wake simply has not used them or does not know how . . .

 

[RC]

Re: Trim Tabs

QC, I've got the smart tabs on my boat and when down get nothing but white wash. Of course you can wakeboard behind it but it's no fun and trying to get any pop off the whitewash is near impossible. I installed the levers (advice from Nauticus) that allow me to angle them up and completely out of the equation and now get a very nice wake from an I/O. I guess the electric ones are a bit different?

 

[QC]

Re: Trim Tabs

I guess the electric ones are a bit different?

Yup . . . I can put them anywhere, anytime, for any affect I do or don't want . . . This is why I always chime in when someone says "go with SmartTabs". I like them, they are a ton better than no tabs at all, but it is so obvious to me, that if a situation like digging a big wake wants my tabs out of the picture that I would want to be able to adjust them while moving. Or a better example is, when I want to pop a big skier up with a full boat of people, I run my tabs down, but as soon as I get him up, I want to give him a cleaner wake, so I start bringing them up. I can see the little wash rooster slowly disappear. Right when that happens, I know I am at a decent trim for a flat wake . . . Again, very simple, who would want fixed anything if you need to adjust it for certain situations?