Smart Tabs

[jfine]

Just picked up a pair of Smart Tab SX's, will report back with results. Seems like people have nothing but good things to say about them. After getting beat up by the big boats in the bay here and not being able to maintain a plane below 20mph, at which point I was nearly catching air off the wakes, I figured they were worth trying. Has anyone else tried them on their boats?

[jfine]

Did some baselines over the weekend. With a full tank, the wife and myself in the rear, 12.5 seconds to plane and 35mph @ WOT (into a head wind). GPS verified and 3 test average. Oh the boat is a 2003 150CC with Yamaha 50HP 4 stroke and starts to porpoise and come off of a plane just shy of 18mph. Not sure on the prop stats.

I hope to get the tabs in by the weekend so I can take her out the first day it's sunny, need to figure out a couple of questions before I do the install though.

[jfine]

Trimmed down my outer bunks to accommodate the tabs. Was a pretty painless processes. Though was pretty scary when I was running the sawsall so close to the boat. Just waiting for the RULE sealant to arrive then I'll be drilling some holes.

[ReelDive]

Had a set on my old Logic 170. Hole shot < 1 sec I swear, able to stay on plane down to about 12 mph indicated. Nice and stable in a turn when trimed right. top end suffered a little (-3mph) but the improved handleing made up for it and then some. FOLLOW the instructions exactly when installing them.! I had the dealer install mine and he didn't think that they should be set at such an acute angle. Had to fight with him about it and finally just re did them myself according to the instructions.

Didn't put them on my 190bay due to space on the transome with two swim ladders for diveing and my bottom machine. Highly recomend them. Please post results.

PS my 170 was powered by a Merc 90 Salt with 19" pitch prop. WOT trimed = 47 mph with the smart tabs.

[jfine]

Smart tabs are in. Took longer than expected because I had to trim the bunks then get the boat in the water to move it back a few inches. Drilling holes was scarry, but I just took my time, measured about 100 times and then it all went smoothly. Now I'm hoping the Rule sealant will dry in this rainy weather so I can take her out and report back on Sat!

FYI: Had three ~200lb guys on the boat fishing last Sat. Room wise it worked out fairly well. However with only one guy up front, the boat would not plane at all in the chop, and when it did we were flying. I can't wait to see the results from the tabs.

[jfine]

Crap, measured out the tabs and I was off by ~1/4 - 1/2" on one side. Hopefully won't matter too much, or else I'll be learning how to weld Roplene. :-/ Talked to the smart tab folks, they said even if it was perfect I may need to do adjustments and that each boat is different. I guess the proof will be in the pudding so to say this Saturday. Which hopefully will be enough time for the sealant to dry. They say 1 to 7 days, quite a range, looks like I'll fall right in the middle of that.

[jfine]

So I finally managed to get the boat in the water after a couple of weeks of downtime. Took it in the bay so I didn't get a chance to see top speed nor do any real testing of the hole shot etc, but there is a definite difference. It planed out at a much slower speed, well under 20mph now, and was able to get up on a plane much quicker, felt like only 2-3 seconds. It did roll a bit to the left a couple times though it wasn't consistent so I'm not sure if that was due to the smart tabs or the water conditions, will have to retest on flat water. Also seemed to slip a little in the turns, but once again, it's hard to say because I was a bit nervous of going to hard on them the first day out. The boat also seemed to track better, but that could be due to the fact that we were on plane at a much lower speed. Also you can feel the resistance from the tabs so I'm curious how much they will impact fuel economy. Overall, initial impressions are very positive.

[Steve762us]

Any new info, J? I'm a new used-2007 150 owner, and have noticed mine tends to list port, when running on plane. Looking at the wake, the diagonal crossover (is there a proper name for it?) from the port corner is more pronounced and crosses further past the center line, than the wash coming from the starboard corner...if that makes any sense, heh! I'm still pretty new to boats and very new to outboards...wonder if tabs would be a good solution to what I'm seeing on my 150.

[jebsr50]

trim tabs are always a good solution. I've owned many boats and a number of different brand tabs. I had the smart tabs on my 15 I now have a 170 with lenco tabs. Whatever brand or type you put on your boat you greatly improve it...Just an opinion...JEB

[jfine]

I'm not sure how much the tabs would help with your listing issue Steve. It did certainly help my boat track better at lower speeds, planes much faster, is much more stable in the chop, and I have experienced no issues with reverse as some said I might.

I have however yet had the chance to get the exact stats so we can do the before and after comparisons. But just a gut feeling, speed to plane has reduced by easily 50%, can plane out at a much lower speed, 12-15mph vs 20mph before and top speed seems to have not been affected one way or the other.

I must note that I have not yet adjusted the tabs they are still set to factory / default settings which is the middle bolt hole.