Smart Tab's (Trim Tabs) Anyone Have Them

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

Was wondering if anyone has installed these on their boats...

Here is the Website:

Smart Tabs

Saw these on Ship Shape TV not to long ago and they have been on my list of things to buy so I ordered them tonight...They seem to be an innovative product that were field tested on that episode and they looked so impressive I bought them...It was a product that seemed to be worth the airtime on that show and many of the products they push on that show are winners in my opinion...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

[ 02-01-2004, 10:05 PM: Message edited by: Kentucky Hog Hunter ]

[ANDYCOHO]

They sound good for getting you "out of the hole".

The only draw back that I can see, is that you can't adjust them if you have a heavy load one side of your boat (passengers, fish, camping gear, ect.) Or adjust them in heavy seas, I learned that you don't want your tabs adjusted too far down in heavy seas! As you come over one swell your bow will dive deep into the next, if your not carefull... :shocked:

I have a friend that was looking at them, please report back with results!

[ 02-01-2004, 10:19 PM: Message edited by: ANDYCOHO ]

[glassblower]

I have looked at them and thought of getting some for my boat. I would really like to hear how much of a differance they make on your boat. Let us know the results.

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

Andy,

When I saw the demo, they made a very clear point to say that the pistons would compensate for the weight distribution and level the boat...

I hope they accomplish this because to me, I got enough hole shot it is the stability of the weight distribution I am looking for and this in my opinion is the true advantage of having trim tabs to begin with...right

Here is what it said:

Boat Stabilizers
Even when cruising Smart Tabs continue to work like shock absorbers. The constant adjustment to sea conditions allow Smart Tabs to provide remarkable stability in turns, while crossing waves, while cruising, and while running at maximum speeds. No more sliding, porpoising, or chine walking.

I don't know...I hope they work because I already spent the $$$

[ANDYCOHO]

I'm very curious to see how they do! When I find my next TUNA boat, I want to find a better solution to manual adjustable trim tabs. They can be an incredible pain with a heavy boat, in rough water.

On my old TUNA boat, I almost shelled out the cash on a "Auto Adjusting" hydraulic trim tab system, but the $$$ they wanted

Please keep us informed....

[ 02-01-2004, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: ANDYCOHO ]

[traskriverhouse]

I have used Bennett hydraulic trim tabs on my boat for years. They are remarkably trouble free, effective and give you unlimited finite adjustment that you make as you see fit based on how your boat is performing.
The Smart Tabs appear to be fixed with movement and setting dependent upon the gas flow through the internal orafice, like a shock absorber. YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL. So if you do not like what it is doing, you are stuck with it. Even the mounting and placement on your boat may may a difference. If you like them let us know. I hope they work well for you. Me, I think I will stay in control of my trim. When I don't want them, I power them up in retracted position, like when I want to get it on a trailer.

[Pilar]

A second here on the Bennett hydraulic sporttabs. It was pretty spendy for a boat gadget but they work well and require little or no maintenance.

The sporttabs have allowed me to use the storage area under my bow without the porpoising that comes with weight forward. Also as Traskriverhouse points out you can retract them if you need to. In following seas you want minimum trim to keep from punching the bow into a wave.

[Waterfish]

Terry, I've had Nauticus smart tabs on my boat for over two years. My boat was particulary prone to bow rise. It is a 17.5' fiberglass cuddy cabin with a 70 hp Evinrude and 8 hp Honda kicker (to see photos, do a search on a post "Do you have an old boat?"). Even with much adjusting of the power trim on the Evinrude, the fastest the boat would go was 19 mph. It was almost impossible to keep on plane. The bow would raise so high that I had trouble seeing ahead. The Evinrude had a Doelfin on it, but it did little if any good.

Then I saw an article in Boating World magazine about the Nauticus Smart tabs. It was a glowing article that made claims that were almost too good to be true, especially for trim tabs that were automatic and only cost about $200.00.

My other alternative was to buy hydraulic trim tabs at over $800.00. And depending on the speed you are going, with hydraulic tabs you have to make adjustments as you go with rocker switches. And there is more weight and harder installation with hydraulic tabs.

So I decided to take the chance with the Nauticus Smart tabs. I bought them at West Marine in Portland. The installation was easy, but I went slow and took great care to install them according to the instructions (getting things square and at the correct angles). The installation took about 2 hours. As per the instructions, I removed the Dolfin, because with the trim tabs it is not needed. Also, with trim tabs you just keep your outboard verticle, no need to adjust the power tilt.

My first test on the water was amazing! The boat came up on a plane at about 10 mph, and it topped out at 32 mph, and all the time on a perfect plane. Quite an improvement from 19 mph top speed that I was getting before the trim tabs! After the next few outings, I noticed that my fuel economy had greatly improved as well. Also, the trim tabs made the boat way more stable during fast turns. As for weight distribution, they helped some, but did not totally fix that problem. For example, if I am cruising along at speed and one of my passengers suddenly moves to the opposite side, the boat will lean towards the side with the most weight (and keep leaning). I believe this would be the biggest improvement you would see with hydraulic tabs, because you could just hit the rocker switch and change the position of one tab. But this is really no big deal for me; my passengers know not suddenly all move to one side of the boat.

There has never been a problem with the tabs bringing the bow down too far into waves. They really are automatic. The gas actuated stuts constantly adjust the tabs at any speed because of the water pressure (resistance) on the tabs.

Even though these tabs are automatic, you can fine tune them by adjustments on the brackets; these adjustments control the amount of bow rise. Also, if your boat has a consistent list to one side, you can adjust one of the tabs to compensate for that (however that still would not solve the problem of passengers who move from one side of the boat to the other). After having these Nauticus Smart tabs on the boat for over two years, they are still working like new. I consider them to be the single best improvement I've made to my boat (the second best addition was adding a Big Water Marine anchor roller).

[blacktail519]

KHH, Are you talking about putting them on an alluminium boat? I had a 21' trophy fiberglass boat that had them on it, and they worked great! But i have never seen, nor heard of them on an alluminum type boat. :whazzup:

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

Mike,

That is an awesome review...Thanks...I saw the show that day and anything Ship Shape TV pushes in my opinion has got to be worth a try...

I am glad to hear your summary.

BT519 - They will go on my Duckworth...

Mike - My hull is a 17 degree also...You got me looking forward to installing them when I get back home later this week...

[Stz ll]

I have the Bennett Trim Tabs on my sled and have for 15 years. I will never have an inboard boat without them again. I am not familar with the Smart Tabs but they look very similar.

[Willow Drifter]

I spent a little time in a 20' sled this summer at a lodge that had the tabs. We used to travel through the Togiak Lake system with them and made some really long runs. The tabs helped with everything from gas consumption to stability of the boat. You could even steer the boat using the tabs. I had never ridden in a boat with tabs like that before and I must say that I was really impressed with the overall performance.

[Waterfish]

Terry, One clarification: My boat is 17.5 feet long, I don't know what the angle of the hull is.