Best ride in choppy conditions

[Duke01]

Does anyone have experience with the Bennett SLT10 Self-Leveling Tabs? Certainly inexpensive ($100 at Hodges Marine) and easy to install. Curious about how effective they would be quarterly 2-3 footers or in a beam sea.

I have used hydraulic tabs on other boats, but nothing on my V20 thus far.

[Destroyer]

If they are what I think you mean I had them on my 25' Almand. Basically they are tabs held in the down position by a strong spring. As you go faster the water pressure on the tab forces it up so it's less effective the faster you go. The trick is to match your speed to the wave action so you get enough tab downward force to cause your bow to knife thru the water but not so much as to slow you down. They definitely work, but not as good as electric or hydraulic tabs where you can fine tune the amount of tab needed. Additionally, unlike adjustable tabs, they are only good for fore and aft boat trim. They cannot trim a boat from side to side like what you need when your 200 lb buddies all sit on one side of the boat.

[Dschaffer]

Could someone please share some pictures of trim tabs on your V-20? The ride into 2-3 footers on Lake Michigan makes be feel like the boat is going to fall apart. Thanks

[bobj]

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[Genie Aye]

Originally Posted by Dschaffer

Could someone please share some pictures of trim tabs on your V-20? The ride into 2-3 footers on Lake Michigan makes be feel like the boat is going to fall apart. Thanks

Rear view of boat with Lenco electrics tabs, should have gone up 1 size.

[bgreene]

10” x 10” Bennett tabs

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by Genie Aye

Rear view of boat with Lenco electrics tabs, should have gone up 1 size.

They don't do the trick?

[bgreene]

My experience with the bigger , heavier 200 hp on V21 the larger tabs work better at getting the bow to dig best through chop.

In tight 2-3’ I often run tabs full down , motor full down to hold nice slow plane and plow through without pounding.

[Genie Aye]

BGreene...the g2 200 with a 4 blade brought my planing speed down, instead of 18 to 20 mph to cut the chop, now its 15 to 16mph. Also better mpg now...i am impressed with it. Wish i had a bit bigger tabs though...the lenco's have been awesome..10 yrs on them now!!

[pjbrownva]

Originally Posted by Dschaffer

Could someone please share some pictures of trim tabs on your V-20? The ride into 2-3 footers on Lake Michigan makes be feel like the boat is going to fall apart. Thanks

The picture shared by ____ looks like my trim tabs.

I got the bennet M120 sport tabs.

I've read that those are a good size for the V20, and I'd have to agree. The shape and the "bat wing" design, give you more lift out of a smaller tab when compared to just plain flat tabs.



Hodges marine shows the ones with the electronic indicator for $652.
No indicator is less money, and the so-called "ATP Pro" is a little more money.

I got the auto trim pro, but i don't have an NMEA 2000 network with GPS output on the network on my boat, and I can't get the ATP Pro's automatic trim to work in auto mode without the GPS feed (even when i try the instructions for programming it without the GPS feed)... but I bought the components to put in a network with a GPS sensor and the right "TEE" connectors and taps, so once I have that installed, I believe that I'll be good to go, and I look forward to the automatic features in the ATP Pro control unit such as tabs go to full trim when it senses acelleration to get you plane faster, then they adjust to have the boat run at one of the attitudes that you saved in memory, and trim up, or down as speed, conditions or even weight load changes to keep you running at that attitude. They are supposed to automatically adjust for shifts in weight (like when you're 250 lb friend moves from one side of the boat to the other)... and when you stop or slow down to off-plane slow speed maneuvering, the tabs are automatically brought back to full up position (no trim), since they aren't effective at those speeds, and can interfere with handling in reverse, such as when docking, if the tabs are left down.

I don't want to over-sell the ATP Pro, because I haven't been able to get the auto features working without an N2K network with a GPS feed, but I will report back in the spring once I have the network installed and everything working.... I *do* have high hopes! I think it will be somewhat like a "cruise control", but for the trim tabs, rather than for the throttle. :-)

Also worth noting, Sunday I installed a doel fin on my boat, and WOW!... at least for my setup it was sorely needed.

Previously, I often had to run with my tabs about 50% down. The doel fin lifts the stern of my boat, so that I ride better and faster with the tabs all the way up.

This means that I can use the tabs less for small adjustments to trim out the ride, rather than before where I needed to use them heavily just to to get the right ride.

My top speed went up from 29 to 35 MPH... and my bottom still needs to be sanded, scraped and redone, as the previous owner kept it in the water, but I trailer it, so all of the barnacles, and old paint needs to come off, and then I need to put a smooth finish on the bottom.

Anyway, the point is, if you want more stern lift, like I did, certainly getting the "right prop" is considered preferred. I have a 14" suzuki stainless steel 3 blade with a 17" pitch, but I could only turn about 5400 RPM max. After adding the doel fin, I can turn 6200 with the motor trimmed full down, and no trim tabs and hit the rev-limiter when I trim the motor all the way up (as in a little too high, and I notice the prop starts slipping).

I'd say it's now perfect, and I have no need to look for a prop with less rake and less bow lift now that I added the doel fine.
I was considering trying to find a solas 13.5 x 15 3 blade stainless steel prop with a "hub adapter" system, to try less pitch, and get a prop
designed for less bow lift. but with the Doel fin, I can stick with the Suzuki prop, and I'd rather have the 17P... assuming I can turn it at the right RPMs,
because everything else being equal, I would expect the top end to drop if I went down to at 15" prop.

I'm very pleased with this set up... but didn't mean to diverge too far away from trim tabs.

I guess the message is that trim tabs are *that good* as to make them worth it.

In addition, having the right size and style prop for your boat and/or in my case, adding a doel fin, has helped me really dial in my configuration for a great ride and good performance.

I also wonder if my engine height might be a little too low... but that's for a different thread... Plus my previous were lake boat... for the bay and the ocean, I think I want the motor lowere than an optimal lake boat setup. so that the prop stays in the water and doesn't lose it's bite as I go over swells, waves and different sea conditions.... but I digress again. :-)

-Philip