Marinette Boat Forum

Took my first long ride in the new boat. At slow speeds say trolling I can drive from lower station but once I get some speed on the bow is so far up it is hard to see.

Trim Tabs brought it down a little but not enough. Will be pulling the boat out for the winter this week so no hurry to address but my first step is gong to be checking the trim tabs to make sure they were actually going down.

IF they were in fact working correctly I am thinking maybe the tabs are not either long or wide enough. Will measure once out of the water.

I think part of the issue is the last owner added a gen set in the back of the boat and that extra 500 lbs is making a big difference.

If I remember correctly on my old 37' the trim tabs were not as wide as they could be and were 12" deep.

I was thinking I could either add an aluminum plate to make the tabs wider across the back of the boat or keep the same width but add a plate to make them deeper. Say extend out to 16"

Either change should add some lift I would think and bring the front down.

This is a 32' Express with twin 318 and a flying bridge.

Your thoughts ????????

Very possible your boat is stern heavy. I had a good sized dink boat hanging off the stern of mine and could not get enough down trim. Solved that problem by adding a shim to the tab to push it down further. Used a block of 1 inch aluminum with longer bolts.

Jeff

Jeff,

With your reputation as 'thrify' were those aluminum shims made outta compressed brewsky cans?

Bill

Make sure they're working properly, your getting full RELIABLE travel. One day mine would would work fine the next only one would work, the next day they'd stick one up one down. With the exception of the tabs themselves I gutted out the entire system and replaced with new, good money spent.

I am debating replacing the in boat system as well I have found one of issues over time is they leak hydro fluid and stop working. This may be the issue I am having not sure yet.

Has anyone tried the electric versions Bennett has a version but my 32' may be to big for them

https://bennetttrimtabs.com/product/bol ... b-systems/

Yes, and I don't recommend them! The Lenco cylinders rely on a tiny, single ball bearing about 3/16 in diameter to hold the tabs down. I wrecked two of these on my little dink boat.

The Bennett system is far more reliable (and they are super nice people to deal with). Just my 2 cents.

Jeff

Check out these new tabs.
http://www.zipwake.com/

Interesting looks like $3000 or so for my boat.

I can put a new pump on and extend the tabs for $400 lol

Backing up Jeff..the Bennett people have a reputation for good service and can guide you as to what replacement parts you'll need vs new system. I had, as you may recall, a 32 FBS with a genset aft. The tabs could always get the bow down but I do recall it being high sometimes when I tried to steer from the cabin. Things were always better sitting up top --except in a Ches Bay thunderstorm.

You just may need more tab surface. Call Bennett

Boat was pulled Friday so I will get down there next weekend to test the tabs and decide what to do.

The low cost approach will be make sure everything is working and then extend the tabs out with a piece of SS bolted to the bottom of the current ones.