Sequence once on plane
 

When you guys plane out after take off, what do you trim first, tabs or drives?

I've always followed the Reggie method of bringing up the tabs and then adjusting drive trim according to conditions. I was recently told that on a stepped hull it makes sense to trim up your drives to get the thrust going in the right direction and then bring up the tabs to adjust running attitude.

Does it really matter?

I have dual switches on my throttle so normally bring both up-out as it rolls over.

Tabs first, then drives. On some boats, bringing up (out) your drives while your tabs are still down could possibly result in contact between the drives and tabs, especially in an evasive maneuver. Get the tabs up to neutral, and then play with your drives.

SydWayz, Excellent points, I hadn't considered that. Not a problem on mine, but certainly on others it could be problematic. Triples even more so.

Your tabs should never be able to hit your drives when adjusted. I was told to always adjust the thrust first as your making your drives and motor work harder by adding drag from the boat, Then adjust the tabs.

You guys actually use your tabs??

:lolhit:

Never on the any I've owned getting on plane

I guess it depends on the boat? Fountains with their sky high X-Dims certainly benefit from the extra leverage of the tabs.

To be honest I have never tried taking off without drives tucked and tabs down. I was taught to do that from my first 13 foot runabout to the performance boat now. I have seen some guys use the tabs for getting on plane but as soon as they up and running they haul them up and out and leave them there.

.....

280s down to 7 on old cable indicator every time when planing on my 38ZR. Old indicator is now gone but I still hold
for about 7 seconds. Drives tucked all the way in. Once props break loose and boat begins to come over I begin lifting them up, then start adjusting trim. Don’t have to use them much unless in some pretty nasty water. Trying to plane without could take a mile or more. This is with propshafts 2” above bottom of boat and 17.25” 5 blade cleavers

I've gotten lazy with the tabs. I just set them where I think they will need to be after I plane-out. Definitely have to tuck the drives all the way in.
My sequence is shift into gear and bring RPM's up to 1200 or so to make sure the wheel is straight, adv throttles to 3000 rpm and in abt 3 or 4 secs, it's time to start trimming the drives out a bit and retarding the throttles. This is with a 1000HP (500x2) on a 27/29 Fountain (straight bottom).

My previous boat didn't have tabs, my Formula 292 (stepped hull) does, so I LOVE being able to use them. When I have more than 1/2 tank or if I have 4 people on board, I'll drop the tabs to get on plane. It's fast enough without them otherwise.

But yes, Tabs all the way down, drives all the way in/down. I then raise the tabs all the way up, first because on plane the nose is slammed down from the tabs.

Once the tabs are up, I can get the drives up, but it's usually just a HAIR up. Much less needed than my non-stepped hull. Very odd feeling. Too far and the RPM goes up, but MPH drops.

Once the drives are providing optimum thrust, tabs are then used to level the boat left/right port/starboard.

When the water gets rough I tuck the drives in/down. When it gets stupid rough I drop the tabs!

An electronic system that raises the tabs when ignition off would be ideal. Then full drop them when RPM over 1500, then slowly raise them when MPH > 35 (in my case anyway). I think Mercury has auto trim now too that knows throttle position, RPM, load, and GPS MPH, so using some fancyness you throw those in a blender and the computer runs the trim.

Guess it depends on the purpose. If you need them down to help you get on plane or not. My boat is 23ft CC for the kids. I use tabs only once on plane to counter balance weight f one side of the hot is heavier than the other….. totally varies depending on how many people I have with me.

My old tub with TRS drives gets on plane with no effort. Doesn’t really care where the drives unless way up. Tabs up. Old boat, deep drives.

I hardly ever use any extra tab to get on plane unless I have a lot people on board and/or a full load of fuel. In that case, I lift tabs a bit and then the drives.

I never use tabs to get on plane. When I have... it was during prop testing or just bad props. My Panther had issues planing so I added cup to resolve that. My AT won't plane with 3 blades or my 4 blade Spinelli's so I added drive spacers to solve that for testing. Bravo 1's run the best on my AT so I removed the drive spacers.

Every boat is going to be different. IMO witchever way your boat gets on plane most efficiently is the best way for you.
Take the time to try all the different ways and see what works best for you and your boat.

On my 33 AT it's tabs and drives down to get on plane. Once on plane it's tabs up and then drives up. I tried ours one time with no tabs and it came on plane but it took forever. Tabs down and it jumps right up.

The most stressful time on your drives is when you are stress loading the gears when getting on plane. Lowering tabs typically reduces the time it takes to plane, therefore reducing the stress on the drives, and makes your gears last longer.