Trim tab gauges

[Bdsp1234]

Looking to install trim tab gauge. Currently no gauge for trim tabs or motor. What are the recommendations?

 

[seasick]

Looking to install trim tab gauge. Currently no gauge for trim tabs or motor. What are the recommendations?

I don't know what you are referring to when you say 'motor'.
For the tabs you have options if you have Bennett hydraulic tabs
If you have Bennetts and have NEMA compatible displays, there is a kit that uses your displays for trim indication.

Boat Trim Tabs | Wholesale Marine

Upgrade your boat's performance with top-quality boat trim tabs from Wholesale Marine. Explore our selection for improved stability and control on the water.

www.wholesalemarine.com

If you want a dedicated display, Bennett also has a kit.

EIC Electronic Indicator Control Kit (HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS ONLY) - Bennett Marine

bennetttrimtabs.com

It runs about $300
In both cases, there is a decent amount of work to upgrade.

 

[Blaugrana]

I like the idea of knowing exactly where the tabs are AND there is a version that lets you save a favorite position. I normally reset mine after every ride thinking there is less pressure in the system if they are back in the up position.

With that being said, I am not sure I would want to introduce another potential failure point with the tabs in case there would be an issue in the future. Still something to consider

 

[Blaugrana]

Also, are you sure you don’t have a gauge for your motor? What gauges do you have? Mine is combined with the RPMs and Oil(which I think is not really doing anything on an OX66)

 

[luckydude]

I don't know what you are referring to when you say 'motor'.
For the tabs you have options if you have Bennett hydraulic tabs
If you have Bennetts and have NEMA compatible displays, there is a kit that uses your displays for trim indication.

Boat Trim Tabs | Wholesale Marine

Upgrade your boat's performance with top-quality boat trim tabs from Wholesale Marine. Explore our selection for improved stability and control on the water.

www.wholesalemarine.com

If you want a dedicated display, Bennett also has a kit.

EIC Electronic Indicator Control Kit (HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS ONLY) - Bennett Marine

bennetttrimtabs.com

It runs about $300
In both cases, there is a decent amount of work to upgrade.

I have Bennetts and just a warning, the indicators are useless for me, they are tiny and red. Guess who is red color blind? Me, that's who.

I'm new to tabs so I've been on a learning curve. My tabs put themselves all the way up when you turn the key off, so you know where you are.
I've learned to trim the bow more with the engine than the tabs (my home fishing grounds is the Monterey bay, that bay is very rarely flat, I drive my 228 with the engine trimmed all the way forward, shoving the bow down as much as possible, almost all the time). I use the tabs lightly to level the boat.

I just checked, OP is 63, he/she probably knows all this...

 

[Blaugrana]

I have Bennetts and just a warning, the indicators are useless for me, they are tiny and red. Guess who is red color blind? Me, that's who.

I'm new to tabs so I've been on a learning curve. My tabs put themselves all the way up when you turn the key off, so you know where you are.
I've learned to trim the bow more with the engine than the tabs (my home fishing grounds is the Monterey bay, that bay is very rarely flat, I drive my 228 with the engine trimmed all the way forward, shoving the bow down as much as possible, almost all the time). I use the tabs lightly to level the boat.

I just checked, OP is 63, he/she probably knows all this...

Do you hear the engine revving when you hit a wave or in choppy water? I tried trimming my engine all the way up, but it would make a different sound when I believe the intake would not be deep enough.

So I target around 3-3.5 on the trim.

 

[luckydude]

Do you hear the engine revving when you hit a wave or in choppy water? I tried trimming my engine all the way up, but it would make a different sound when I believe the intake would not be deep enough.

So I target around 3-3.5 on the trim.

So we might be talking about different things. I'm new, I'm learning, I got lots of wrong advice. Here is what I have learned.

If you are on really calm flat water, then you trim the engine back aka up. The point of doing that is to push the bow out of the water, with the right engine you can get only the back 1/3rd of the hull in the water (that's a big engine). You will go faster and use less gas doing that. But that sort of trim is where you might hear the engine sounding different.

For me, I'm always on rough water. A good day is 3 foot swells at 9 seconds, that is pretty much as calm as it gets. And that is rare, 5@8 is typical. For that kind of water, I push the engine down/forward as much as possible because that pushes the bow down, which is what I need, I want the bow to be cutting through the chop, not banging into it.

With my trim there is zero chance I'm going to hear what you are. I'm guessing you are on a lake or some place really flat.

 

[Blaugrana]

So we might be talking about different things. I'm new, I'm learning, I got lots of wrong advice. Here is what I have learned.

If you are on really calm flat water, then you trim the engine back aka up. The point of doing that is to push the bow out of the water, with the right engine you can get only the back 1/3rd of the hull in the water (that's a big engine). You will go faster and use less gas doing that. But that sort of trim is where you might hear the engine sounding different.

For me, I'm always on rough water. A good day is 3 foot swells at 9 seconds, that is pretty much as calm as it gets. And that is rare, 5@8 is typical. For that kind of water, I push the engine down/forward as much as possible because that pushes the bow down, which is what I need, I want the bow to be cutting through the chop, not banging into it.

With my trim there is zero chance I'm going to hear what you are. I'm guessing you are on a lake or some place really flat.

Thanks! It makes sense now. No clue why I thought you had written “up” with the engine rather than forward/ down.

Right now, I am mostly in the bay and inlet dealing with decent chops. I’ll give your approach a try next time. I slowed down today as I couldn’t see over a few waves that were really compact.

 

[luckydude]

Thanks! It makes sense now. No clue why I thought you had written “up” with the engine rather than forward/ down.

Right now, I am mostly in the bay and inlet dealing with decent chops. I’ll give your approach a try next time. I slowed down today as I couldn’t see over a few waves that were really compact.

You'll get there and soon. That boat needs to be trimmed where it is happy. It makes a huge difference ask Mr Idiot here how he knows (first outing not trimmed smashing into every swell).

There are people here and elsewhere that say you have to pick your days. That boat is happy in 2-3 foot swells, it can cut through that fine. You get into bigger stuff and seavee hull or no seavee hull, it's gonna pound. People say slow down, and that's why I got a different prop so I can slow down but still stay on plane (untested so far), but I've played around and depending on the swell, sometimes around 35mph is the sweet spot for me. It pounds less somehow. If anyone has an explanation for that I'm all ears. It still pounds it just seems less so.

 

[Blaugrana]

You'll get there and soon. That boat needs to be trimmed where it is happy. It makes a huge difference ask Mr Idiot here how he knows (first outing not trimmed smashing into every swell).

There are people here and elsewhere that say you have to pick your days. That boat is happy in 2-3 foot swells, it can cut through that fine. You get into bigger stuff and seavee hull or no seavee hull, it's gonna pound. People say slow down, and that's why I got a different prop so I can slow down but still stay on plane (untested so far), but I've played around and depending on the swell, sometimes around 35mph is the sweet spot for me. It pounds less somehow. If anyone has an explanation for that I'm all ears. It still pounds it just seems less so.

Curious how the 4 blade treats you. I agree with planing at lower speeds.. Getting on plane to then slow down to take on a bigger wave seems counterintuitive if your stern just sinks and bow rises.