280 vs 380 Mercury K-Planes
 

I'm planning to upgrade my regular electric Lenco trim tabs to either 280 or 380 K-Planes. It's not much more, cost wise, to buy the 380 K-Planes over the 280 K-Planes. I was planning to buy the 280's, but after discovering the small price difference I'm not sure what to do. What do you guys recommend?

Thanks

I'm sure you'll get some educated answers from members but if I was to have a guess, I'd say bigger tabs are not always better and 380's sound big on a 28 foot boat, especially if you're replacing standard lenco tabs. Please wait for a few answers before jumping.

If you decide on the 380's, you may want to take a look here....
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...0-kplanes.html

RR

I believe that going from Lenco to 280's is a pretty big upgrade alone. Also not sure if drives would clear the 380's

I had a 28 foot boat and did the swap from 280's to 380's. I took them off after a few test rides in different conditions. They boat reacted way to fast, and tossed the it around. In this case bigger was not better.

I believe the Dana HP 1000 is between the 280 and 380 K tabs in length (24 inches) You may want to consider them. I have them on my Velocity VR 1 and am very pleased with them.

http://www.marineindustrieswest.com/...6-0d99f1b30c8b

Padraig

When I was buying tabs for my 28 Velocity I spoke with the factory about what size to get. I was told the 380's were a lot of tab on a 28 so I went with the 280's. I have wondered since if I should have got the 380's lol. The 280's do work well on my boat though.

Like you said the 380's aren't that much of a price difference. You could always trade the 380 plates for a set of 280's if you don't like them. There are plenty of people looking to trade. Heck I might be one of them. :)

Here you go some 280s in the swap section. And a reliable seller.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...lines-ect.html

Padraig

If I were you and its between buying 280 and 380 I would buy the 380, since cost is nearly the same, and then trade out the 380 plates + cash for 280 plates. It would be easy to find someone on OSO to do the deal.

underpsi68, did you have regular trim tabs before you upgraded? Is there a certain reason why you are wondering if you should of went with the 380's? So the plates are interchangeable? Sorry for all the questions, just want to be sure before I buy them.

Thanks

I upgraded from 280's to 380's on my 34' CC & I was able to swap my 15hr 280's EVEN for a BRAND NEW pr of 380's (we just swapped the bottom plane plates). The original owner of the 380's was planning an upgrade to his renovated Vee when he ultimately realized that the 380's would interfere w/ his outdrives. So that's the 1st thing to consider.

Personally I think that the 380's are both more efficient & effective. A short 280 has to has to be lowered further in order to provided the same lift a 380 can. The 280 ends up dug into the water & scrubs off more speed. Yes you have to pay more attn as to how much tab you apply w/ the 380's b/c they'll respond quicker but I don't think they are dangerous. After my swap / install I set them at what I measured to be 0 or level w/ the hull bottom. I had someone else run my boat up to 50mph & another hold my ankles while I looked over the transom. As suspected the planes were gliding right on the waters surface w/ no angle ultimately providing additional stability as if my boats hull surface was another 30" longer.

Obviously the the conditions you boat in, the boat size, style, weight & how you boat all play into this decision.

Just my $02.

They are interchangeable but there are several versions. Std planes, racing planes & you must know whether you require the bosses in order to mount the digital trim indicators (for use w/ Mercury Vessel View)

My boat did not have trim tabs when I bought it. The reason I wonder if I should have went with the 380's because isn't bigger always better? Lol

This is very true. Was just curious if you thought the 280's were not doing that well of a job. Thanks for the info

Thanks for the input, NASCAT. I'm starting to lean towards the 380's after everyones input. Worst case scenario I can swap the bottom plate out with a 280's. I just need to take some measurements to ensure my outdrives will clear, but I believe that is the route I will be taking. Thanks again

I put a set of 380's on my old 24 outlaw to replace a set of lencos. I loved the 380's. They absolutely made the boat ride better in rough water, and made it much more stable when running fast. The boat ran into the 90's on GPS and just dropping a little tab settled it right down. I would wothout question go to 380's. I never found any downsides at all to them even on a little 24' boat.

I think you may have a clearance issue unless your drives are set closer together like a lot of the faster offshore boats. I've seen some have a notch cut out for those who wanted to stick with them who did have that problem. I don't think your gaining anything with the 380's in your application.

Size matters!

http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...psqnzfnon8.jpg

If bigger is better, why don't we all have 6 foot of trim tabs hanging out back? What is the largest tab you can reasonably fit and why? I understand the basic principles of tabs but at what point does size become impractical or not feasible with the dynamics of running a boat.

@ NASCAT, I'd love to see a photo of you hanging over the back at 50 with someone holding you by your ankles. lol.....

RR

Unfortunately only 3 on board at the time, driver, anchor man & me the daredevil which left us w/o a photographer. A color would have yielded us the view we sought but we didn't have one handy so we impovised.

I have always heard the same advice if all possible put the biggest tab on as possible and bigger is always better. I would have to agree with Pez Man about not in all cases as too big is not always better. Some boats, shorter hulls with extremely large tabs, the hull can get pulled downward when or if one of the tabs goes underwater at speed. IMO depending on the hull and placement of the tabs is very important more so and not to go too small with tab size or in some cases not to go with way oversized tabs. .FWIW