trim tabs

[kevgle]

just read on a different thread someone suggesting to never use trim tabs.Please explain why and do most of you not use them.Thanks

 

[Halfhitch]

Reading on the internet is like separating the wheat from the chaff......what you read is chaff.

 

[Finest Kind]

Yeah saw that, puzzled me too...might have something to do with the 265 hull I guess....seems like that heavy girl has her own peculiarities.

But I ALWAYS use the tabs on my 259G Trophy Pro....Can't imagine not using them, they are indispensable!

For example, even if the weight in your boat is perfectly balanced, when running on plane into a stiff breeze hitting your port side, the wind will lift your boat on the windward side, causing your bow to dig in a bit on the stbd side and ride unevenly... a little touch of "bow down" on the port tab will counteract the wind and level out your boat.

Or, when running into a heavy chop, using "bow down" on both tabs will bring the hull down so the V cuts into the chop instead of slamming on top of the waves....your back and crew will thank you for using your trim tabs.

Or, as happened to me a couple years ago when the rubber hose split where it joins the connector on the Seastar steering ram, and I lost most of the steering, you can actually steer the boat (to a limited extent) using the tabs... full down on the stbd and full up on the port will steer the boat to the right, and vice versa.
Try it when you DON'T have an emergency to get the feel of it.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I'm not saying all boats don't need tabs. I can imagine inboards and I/Os need them. Maybe single OBs benefit more than twins.
Underpowered boats probably benefit for coming out of the hole. idk if bracket boats benefit more or less.

If you have tabs that indicate where they are, that would make them more useful.
I think many people over-use tabs. Tabs are like dragging your foot (or feet) in the water behind you.

In a river or bay they aren't as touchy. In ocean swells with added wind chop and boat wakes from various directions, they are just waiting to yank you over.

On the 265, if you have the tabs (one or both) slightly deployed and you are running along nicely in a swell. then you make a 10 deg turn..all of a sudden you are on your gunnel. Then you frantically try to fix it with tabs but you never really know where they are. Or, you have one set to level the boat and two guys walk over to the wrong side and you're on your gunnel...Since pulling the fuse, I NEVER miss them.

 

[luckydude]

Here's a point of view from a guy who didn't want to use trim tabs. If you look on youtube, you can find the video where Eric is talking about using your engine to trim the boat. I did that. 99% of the time, my engine is all the way forward so it is pushing the bow down somewhat.

I played with the tabs, didn't like them because I didn't have a feel for them and I'm red color blind and can't see the indicator lights.

A fishing buddy came on my boat and thought it ran like shit, he said put the tabs down. I did, it didn't help much. When we got the boat out of the water, he took a look and said "those tabs are for a much smaller boat". Sure enough, I went to website and the 9x12 tabs I had they said were for a 17 foot boat.

I upgraded to 12x18 tabs and I love them. Absolutely love them.

Here's the difference. Without tabs I had my hand on the throttle at all times. Pretty much every swell, I'm easing back on the throttle so I don't launch and pound. With the tabs, in most (but not all) conditions, I don't touch the throttle. The tabs make me roll over the top of the swell instead of launching.

It is night and day difference. And Magic Bill was right when he told me to use them and after a while you just feel them. You do. I don't need the indicator lights at all, I can feel when they are not down enough or down too much.

All I can say is (a) make them bigger and (b) use them.

 

[FREEDOM!!!]

Haven't had to use my tabs much on the Grady because its such a heavy boat. Used them a lot on my old SeaFox which would get beat up in the lightest chop. One place where tabs are awesome (and I just learned this) is when getting on plane. I used to keep the tabs up and engine tucked when getting on plane. That caused the bow to rise dramatically for a bit then settle down after trimming the engine. Put the tabs all the way down, then launch....wow! The boat just pops out of the water without any bow rise and gets on plane in about half the time. Once on plane just hit "all up" on the tabs and you are good to go.

 

[seasick]

Haven't had to use my tabs much on the Grady because its such a heavy boat. Used them a lot on my old SeaFox which would get beat up in the lightest chop. One place where tabs are awesome (and I just learned this) is when getting on plane. I used to keep the tabs up and engine tucked when getting on plane. That caused the bow to rise dramatically for a bit then settle down after trimming the engine. Put the tabs all the way down, then launch....wow! The boat just pops out of the water without any bow rise and gets on plane in about half the time. Once on plane just hit "all up" on the tabs and you are good to go.

When you say that the motor was tucked, does that mean the motor was trimmed all the way 'down'? Did you try trimming the motor up a bit with no tabs?

 

[SkunkBoat]

. 99% of the time, my engine is all the way forward so it is pushing the bow down somewhat.

I think I've said this before but Thats just not right. You should not be running on plane with the motor tucked in. THAT will cause the boat to list. You are compensating for that with your tabs.. You are wasting power with all that drag.

 

[luckydude]

I think I've said this before but Thats just not right. You should not be running on plane with the motor tucked in. THAT will cause the boat to list. You are compensating for that with your tabs.. You are wasting power with all that drag.

Well engine trimmed forward does cause a little drag and it burns .1mpg more. But if I didn't trim it forward, I'd just use more tab.
For whatever it is worth, I learned the engine trimming thing from Eric S, the guy that does the videos for Grady-White. He says that's what you should do. I'm not trying to argue with you, just saying I'm not the only guy to trim like that.

I've got about 2500 miles on that engine, trimming has become fairly instinctive. In a following sea, I'll see the bow getting too low and I'll reach over and trim the engine back without even thinking about it.

My 228 doesn't have any weight in the front and the bow likes to ride too high for my taste. I use both the engine and tabs to shove it down and make the boat not pound the crap out of you.

 

[FREEDOM!!!]

When you say that the motor was tucked, does that mean the motor was trimmed all the way 'down'? Did you try trimming the motor up a bit with no tabs?

When launching I always trim the engine in all the way or within a couple of blips. Once I get on plane I start trimming the engine out. If you haven't tried launching with tabs all the way down you are missing out. The boat just lifts out of the water. No plowing the aft.

 

[luckydude]

Seasick et al, now that I'm using tabs, I'll try the motor back a bit.

Here is Eric saying to do what I've been doing:

 

[SkunkBoat]

Seasick et al, now that I'm using tabs, I'll try the motor back a bit.

Here is Eric saying to do what I've been doing:

HEHEHE... I know I've said this before...The first minute of that video says exactly what I've been saying.
Use motor trim. Tabs not so much.
Tabs are drag
Tuck in motor to get out of hole. That lifts stern
Then trim up until you just about ventilate. That brings bow up so you don't bow steer.

 

[DennisG01]

I have found, in every boat that I've owned and/or run, the following... If the bow is bouncing around and I want to calm it down...

When I use the engines, alone, to do this my speed will drop off moreso than with tabs (and keeping the engines in a neutral state). In other words, using the engines to keep the bow calm is less efficient than using tabs.

I have never found an exception to this. Using engine(s) always causes a larger loss of speed.

 

[SeanC]

Coming from owning boats without trim tabs. I use the motor most of the time for bow up down. I Use trim tabs mainly to correct lean caused by wind. If heading into short chop I may use the tabs to get the bow down. Tabs usually all the way up in a following sea.

 

[seasick]

Its obvious that there are a lot of opinions based on experience so..
That tells me that there is no one perfect solution to trimming a boat
I do not have brackets on my boats so I can't comment on whether that may make one approach ( trim or tabbing) better than the other. There are probably several variables including motor mounting, bracket or not, prop selection, weight and weight distribution etc. I think that experimenting with each approach in calm and ugly waters is the best approach.

On Myotherboat, when trimming up I will get to a point where purposing starts. There are times when it starts due to sea conditions. In those cases, I trim down the engines , a little bit at a time until the bow stabilizes. I do not use the tabs except to correct for list and even then, only a small amount.
On my 208, there are no tabs I use the motor trim to adjust the hull angle. To adjust for listing I just ask my 'crew' to move to a different spot on the deck!

 

[glacierbaze]

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone say, “I wish that my boat didn’t have trim tabs”.

 

[dogdoc]

Knowing where the tabs are during use would make them more useful. In my limited experience once used on the water I am not sure where they are until the boat is back on the lift. On my boat the penalty for touching the tabs is keel hauling!

 

[glacierbaze]

I’ve never had a position indicator, but I always know where my tabs are, after I hold the “Bow up“ buttons down for three or four seconds.
My general practice is, before adding tab on one side, I try removing a little on the other.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

Interesting reading. If you have the power just use it to get out of the hole, then adjust for seas, uneven load with tabs. The trim works to optimize the running level for speed, consumption and comfort when boat is balanced .

You can never rely on just tab level indicators, you have to gauge the feel of it being right and verify with rpm, speed and gph change when trimming.

H

 

[luckydude]

I used to not know where my tabs were but that was because I had no experience with them. Magic Bill and others encouraged me to play with them. Great advice. Now I know where they are just by the way the boat feels. If you put too much down on one side, it will turn the boat around pretty fast. If the boat is launching off swells, more tab. Didn't help? You should pick your days better

Once I upgraded the tabs to 12x18 and felt how the boat behaves, yeah, I use the tabs all the time. Not in a following sea, as I have just learned.