Bennets or K-Planes
 

Question my 28' SleekCraft with a 22 degree deadrise. It has Bennet tabs now just basic they are 18" wide by 8 1/2 long. One plastic cylinder each. I frequent the ocean alot and was wondering how much I would benefit in ride quality in 3-4 foot seas with a set of Eddie Marine Billet tabs they are 12" wide by 16" long about $700 for the kit. Or they have a set of K-plane style billet tabs for approx $1400. Would I be improving by switching to one of these and if so would the 700 dollar pair be fine? I'm not interested in a 1 second gain in to plane speed. More concerned with going faster and smoother in ocean.
Thanks

I doubt you would ever feel the difference at the helm. Save the money for more gas. Or spend the money on indicators if you don't have them now.

i know i bent the **** out of my bennets. Hence converting to k-planes. keep your eyes open you can find a used pair every now and again. I found mine here. But i've sen them on ebay o pretty cheap. like $400 with pumps. They will need to be repainted or coated and prolly rebiult but it will still be cheaper than $1400 for eddie marine planes or $2000 for merc planes

I agree with Puder. The Bennetts are not as heavily-built. If you're out in the ocean a lot, I think you'd appreciate having tabs with a more substantial construction. I never bent the ones on my Donzi, but I've seen a few boats around my marina with bent Bennetts.

I would save the money and spend on your wife or girl, Worry about if they break, good luck:D

Almost 2 years ago I had Marine Performance in Port Orange Fl. re-rig my 280 Velocity with an HP500/ Eickert Exhaust/Shotgun III Mufflers, added KE Full Hydraulic steering and 280s K-planes w/ Gaffrig Indicators and bunch of other items.
Needless to say our boat was a whole new animal, went for 64-65 MPH to 78-80 MPH, BUT the BIGGEST difference I noticed, beside the speed increase was the K-planes!! Of course I went from No Tabs to 280s BUT man what a difference! I can trim the attitude of my boat now for ALL kinds of different water conditions/loads
It made our boat alot more sea-worthy!
Just my experince.:cool:
MD

If you do end up with k-planes. Be careful the first few times you use them. Besides being bigger, they are much more sensitive (i.e., they go up and down a whole lot quicker than the Bennetts).

One boat I had (Sonic) with Bennetts keep blowing seals. Switched to 280s and it was quite an improvement.

It's my understanding that k-planes surfaces really are only 100% effective if you're running approx. 75mph or above for hydrodynamic effect. Otherwise, a good sport bennett package (12x12 with dual cylinders or equivalent to prevent bending under stress) are more appropriate. The fact that you only have 8.5" of length from hull is probably affecting you're rough water stability, but the 18" width is probably providing good lateral stability i.e. chining. At a minimum, I'd go with the sport 12x12's and depending on your engine/ speeds, maybe step up to the 280's...

I disagree
 

If money is the object than you have to go with the bennets.

If you want tabs that perform really well, don't flex, and don't break to often you have to go with K-planes.

A long time ago I use to run a fork-lift, and you have no idea how may bennet tab's we broke. We were putting in new pistons all the time.

I have seen only two K-planes break from a forklift, and that was because they left the tabs down and all the weight was on the tab.

I personally would never buy the Bennet Tabs for a performance boat. Those tabs are great for if there is a cross wind, but I have not had good experiences using them for offshore abuse.

I left a set of 280 plates at Smitty's a few years back when I put the 300s on my boat. I wonder if they are still in Eddie's shop or they finally wound up on someone's boat.
I guess I should consider it a donation......