Uberlord

Hi all. I am getting better at trimming the boat with the out drive. I haven't used the trim tabs yet. How do I use them? I googled them. But I don't understand how the tabs and the out drive work together.

Thank you
Mark

phragle

iTrader: (3)

Different bots like different things. my bot likes the drive neutral and tabs to control. If its rough, a little tab plants the boat better. My boat is narrow too so I use a tab here or there to level it out. Play with it, see what it likes, a little change can make a big difference to, so give it a little bump then give the boat chance to react.

Uberlord

Thank you. I will goof with them tomorrow. Another question. When I am starting to go from a dead stop. I put the drive down or in. The boat does a wheelie for about 15 seconds. Then planes. I try to be easy on the throttle when I get going. Should it do a wheelie for that long?
Sorry for the newb questions.

rak rua

As suggested above, there's a lot of trial and error because all boats are different. Just use gently until you find out what suits your boat best.
Don't forget, when cruising along at modest speeds, tabs are great for balancing the boat side to side. I.E. If you have an uneven load with a big guy sitting on the rear lounge starboard side, the boat will obviously fall to starboard side a little. Touch the starboard tab 'down' a little and it will push down in the water thus lifting that side back up to even her out.
Check your tab switches, if they're not labeled clearly, make sure you know which switch is which. Sounds stupid but I've owned boats where the switches are reversed, stb switch is port tab and port switch is stb tab. In this case, they're probably labeled 'bow down' because the stb switch will move the port tab and throw the stb bow down and vice versa. Sounds confusing but it's actually logical and I've owned boats set up both ways.

Trims tabs can make a good boat better so it is worth learning what settings suits your boat best.

For your "wheelie", you can put both tabs down quite a bit to help you over the hump speed and reduce the wheelie. Make sure you bring your tabs up as the boat planes out or you will bury the nose. Don't let the engine over rev getting going, ease back on the throttle as she climbs over the hump speed.

RR

P.S. Sensible questions, better to ask and hit the water with a bit of knowledge up front if possible.

Griff

It depends on the boat and prop selection.

350scarab

Re your wheelie for 15 seconds, which seems like a lifetime when you cann,t see what is ahead of you, tuck the drive in all the way, give full throttle until the nose goes down, which should happen much sooner, and then ease back on throttle and trim up as required so the boat does,t porpoise at whatever speed you want to go .

Speedracer29

I like to drive with the tabs and drives buried with some some throttle, plowing water as I go, creating the biggest, most annoying wake possible. It helps me fit in with all the numbskulls on the lake this holiday weekend!
Happy 4th of July!

Too Stroked

Trim tabs on a boat can make a huge difference in how a given hull handles and performs. They act by providing adjustable downward pressure just aft of the transom. This does several things including pushing the bow down, pushing one side or the other down and / or “tripping the back of the boat up.” Let’s look at each separately.

If one lowers both tabs at the same time at idle, then pushes the throttle(s) forward to accelerate in forward gear, the tabs will push the bow down and the transom up to allow the boat to get up on plane faster and with less bow lift. For some boats (like 29’ single engine Fountains), this makes a huge difference in both time to plane and wear and tear on the drive. However, one will generally have to raise the tabs somewhat after achieving plane because too much tab will cause a boat to plow and possibly bow steer.

If one pushes one tab or the other down independently after the boat is up on plane, you can correct for a lean to one side or the other caused by uneven loading (too many fat chicks on one side) or a stiff breeze from one side or the other. As has already been mentioned, most recreational boats have the tab control rocker switches set up so that the right hand switch controls the left side tab. This is because pushing the left side of the transom down will cause the right side of the bow to come down. Some racers prefer to have the tab switches wired so that the right switch controls the right tab, but that’s just personal preference.

The last thing I mentioned that tabs can be used for is to “trip” the stern as one comes off the top of a wave. Set correctly, tabs used in this fashion can allow one to select the attitude at which the hull flies from wave to wave. Going fast in rough water, this can be a critical thing. Too much tab however can lead to the dreaded punch a wave, trip, stuff maneuver. As some Youtube videos so clearly show, this can have catastrophic results.

So how would your boat react to the addition of trim tabs? There are so many variables (size of tabs, placement of tabs, height above the planning bottom, horizontal of parallel with the bottom orientation, speed of tab actuation …) that it’s tough to say exactly. I am a big fan of trim tabs though because used correctly (which comes with practice and correct installation) there is almost no down side to them. To learn how to use them for everything mentioned above, practice, practice, practice.

Padraig

Steve Stepp, Velocity founder once told me that most people make too big of change to drive and Tab trim. Make small changes and see what happens.

Padraig

underpsi68

That's a good way to break the drive if your running a big block.