Are trim tabs really worth it if you're mostly on lakes and only occasionally a river?

[Daren and Heather]

Just want some feedback from those who have them, but aren't boating on the ocean and mostly on lakes. I actually bought the Lectrotab trim tabs a couple years ago for my 2020 AR210, and I've never installed them. I bought them as a knee jerk reaction after being on the Mississippi river, and our boat was porpoising pretty good. But 95% of the time I'm on a lake. And now I'm feeling lazy and not like drilling holes in the boat and spending 10 hours trying to perfectly install the trim tabs, nor have I seen any good YouTube videos (yet) to help me install it.

So just wondering your thoughts... is it still worth it? Pros/Cons? I've heard it makes turning harder, even with the tabs all the way up. I do like to do sharp turns a lot with my boat, trying to create wakes, and splash my kid. (I kind of drive my boat like a jet ski) So I would probably be annoyed after all this, if I couldn't turn as sharp or quickly because of the tabs.

I also pull wakeboarders, the kids tubing, and pull others water skiing, so if they help a lot with tubing or water skiing reducing wake or spray (without hurting the ability to still create a wake for wakeboarders), I guess that would be a plus, if anyone has experience with that let me know.

Thanks for the tips in advance!

 

[WiskyDan]

I had the LectroTab's on my previous boat but have not bought them for my new (to me) boat yet. My hang-up on getting them for my current boat is that I didn't use them a ton on the previous boat -but- when I did need to use them they made a huge difference. I do remember the steering being tighter when the tabs were deployed but if it's that rough are you really pulling tubes/skis?

 

[Babin Farms]

When I lived in Illinois, boated on rivers, small and large lakes I never had a need for them but now that I’m near the gulf and in big water with big boats it’s a must. Looking back I still don’t think that I ever needed them on rivers and lakes.

 

[Beachbummer]

Do you find yourself fighting a side wind a bit? Slight unbalance after moving the weight around?

How much is the money worth to you? If you wish 3X or more times per season you had it, might be worth it to you?


Best of luck.

 

[CastawayRK]

Yes absolutely, positively worth it, IMO. My lake is churned like a washing machine on weekends by heavy traffic including wake boats and 40' cruisers. Plus it's wide enough (3 miles or so) at the south end that wind can create chop, mixed with the traffic churn. The trim tabs make a huge difference in cruising comfort.

 

[Neutron]

I got tired of telling my passengers to move around when the boat was unbalanced. Tabs fix that problem right at the helm

 

[Joatmon]

I have learned something new. I have not heard of a modern fixed nozzle trim jet drive boat having porpoising issues. Nothing like the jet boats in the '70's with the angle adjustable nozzle trim. Every time I saw one it was porpoising. Remember the V8 engine mounted on a piece of plywood? Adjust the nozzle up 15 degrees and shoot a jet stream of water 100 feet back. Cool dudes.

Every outboard I have every owned has had an issue with porpoising due to the overhanging motor being trimmed too high. My outboard skiff fishing boat came with spring loaded trim tabs with no controls. Since I fish in very shallow water the tabs would dig into the bottom and literally plow through sand when I was drifting backwards. I believe the tabs were installed by the manufacturer because the short outboard boat is prone to porpoising. I removed them right after I bought the boat and just trim the motor to stop porpoising. I would have kept them if they were powered so I could adjust above the bottom running surface of the boat.

With my jet boat I assumed since my jet drives do not have nozzle trim adjustment it was the reason I have never experienced porpoising no matter where the occupants were seated. Same reason the jet boat doesn't go bow up when accelerating from idle. I never had a need or thought about getting trim tab (even powered ones) for my jet boat. It has never been an issue in the Gulf even with large boat traffic. I bounce through the waves, but I can't see how trim tabs would prevent this. My belief is trim tabs are for keeping the bow down which stops porpoising. Maybe I am missing something I don't know I am missing.

 

[TommyMcK]

I have learned something new. I have not heard of a modern fixed nozzle trim jet drive boat having porpoising issues. Nothing like the jet boats in the '70's with the angle adjustable nozzle trim. Every time I saw one it was porpoising. Remember the V8 engine mounted on a piece of plywood? Adjust the nozzle up 15 degrees and shoot a jet stream of water 100 feet back. Cool dudes.

Every outboard I have every owned has had an issue with porpoising due to the overhanging motor being trimmed too high. My outboard skiff fishing boat came with spring loaded trim tabs with no controls. Since I fish in very shallow water the tabs would dig into the bottom and literally plow through sand when I was drifting backwards. I believe the tabs were installed by the manufacturer because the short outboard boat is prone to porpoising. I removed them right after I bought the boat and just trim the motor to stop porpoising. I would have kept them if they were powered so I could adjust above the bottom running surface of the boat.

With my jet boat I assumed since my jet drives do not have nozzle trim adjustment it was the reason I have never experienced porpoising no matter where the occupants were seated. Same reason the jet boat doesn't go bow up when accelerating from idle. I never had a need or thought about getting trim tab (even powered ones) for my jet boat. It has never been an issue in the Gulf even with large boat traffic. I bounce through the waves, but I can't see how trim tabs would prevent this. My belief is trim tabs are for keeping the bow down which stops porpoising. Maybe I am missing something I don't know I am missing.

I generally agree that I don't find myself needing trim adjustment much for either the Chesapeake or in SW FLA..... but depending on how the boat is loaded and the speed you are running, you can find yourself being more bow-high at slower speeds or bow-low at higher speeds than ideal. I'd probably use it on occasion if I had it, but certainly not enough to justify adding it. Some here are talking about the use of trim to compensate for uneven lateral loading. For whatever reason, I've never found this to be an issue at all, but that's separate I think from the OPs question. Generally I find that in rougher seas I'm going slower and the boat naturally assumes a bow-high stance, which is what I want.

 

[Shack]

I absolutely love my trim tabs on my ar240. My wife says they are the best thing I’ve done to the boat. We boat on lake Pepin in pool 4 of the Mississippi River. When it’s busy I have them down 1 or 2. Never needed more but I can run comfortably at 35 mph or more through wakes and waves. Cuts right through them. Really has made cruising around that much more enjoyable!

 

[Daren and Heather]

I absolutely love my trim tabs on my ar240. My wife says they are the best thing I’ve done to the boat. We boat on lake Pepin in pool 4 of the Mississippi River. When it’s busy I have them down 1 or 2. Never needed more but I can run comfortably at 35 mph or more through wakes and waves. Cuts right through them. Really has made cruising around that much more enjoyable!

lol! That’s exactly (Pepin) where I was boating and realized maybe I need trimtabs. When cruising between RedWing and Wabasha.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Just want some feedback from those who have them, but aren't boating on the ocean and mostly on lakes. I actually bought the Lectrotab trim tabs a couple years ago for my 2020 AR210, and I've never installed them. I bought them as a knee jerk reaction after being on the Mississippi river, and our boat was porpoising pretty good. But 95% of the time I'm on a lake. And now I'm feeling lazy and not like drilling holes in the boat and spending 10 hours trying to perfectly install the trim tabs, nor have I seen any good YouTube videos (yet) to help me install it.

So just wondering your thoughts... is it still worth it? Pros/Cons? I've heard it makes turning harder, even with the tabs all the way up. I do like to do sharp turns a lot with my boat, trying to create wakes, and splash my kid. (I kind of drive my boat like a jet ski) So I would probably be annoyed after all this, if I couldn't turn as sharp or quickly because of the tabs.

I also pull wakeboarders, the kids tubing, and pull others water skiing, so if they help a lot with tubing or water skiing reducing wake or spray (without hurting the ability to still create a wake for wakeboarders), I guess that would be a plus, if anyone has experience with that let me know.

Thanks for the tips in advance!

I think it was @MilesPrower who recently talked about how steering response was affected negatively by trim tab deployment as well as when the tabs are fully retracted. I think he was also saying he wished he had gone with the smaller trim tabs, and that he was thinking of re positioning the actuators so the tabs would retract higher to lessen their negative affect on steering when not deployed. That was the first time I’d ever seen someone mention how trim tabs had affected steering on these jet boats.

The other thing I wonder about is how much wetter the boat would be when using trim tabs. Our boats have zero bow flare and it would seem to me that when the hull spray is pushed forward when using trim tabs this would allow more spray to be thrown back into the boat.

The only time I’ve ever wanted them is to level the boat out when another person or persons are with me while underway. Once the waves starting getting bigger I just slow down to smooth out the ride.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I have them and use them on big water. Ocean, Great Lakes, Lakes St. Clair, big rivers (st. clair and detroit). All the other lakes around here are max 1-2 miles across. Even in rough water on inland lakes I haven't been using them.

 

[MilesPrower]

I think it was @MilesPrower who recently talked about how steering response was affected negatively by trim tab deployment as well as when the tabs are fully retracted. I think he was also saying he wished he had gone with the smaller trim tabs, and that he was thinking of re positioning the actuators so the tabs would retract higher to lessen their negative affect on steering when not deployed. That was the first time I’d ever seen someone mention how trim tabs had affected steering on these jet boats.

Thanks for tagging me, @FSH 210 Sport — yes, that was me.

Up until recently, I never used more than 2 LEDs worth of trim (out of 5 LEDs) on the heavy-duty stainless-steel 9×12 Lectrotabs I installed on my 255 FSH. Therefore, I think the 9×9 tabs would have been sufficient for the kind of boating I do.

The tabs, whether deployed or not, definitely increase turning radius, as well as the effort required to turn the wheel while on plane. Note that I have Cobra fins, so the interaction of the fins and tabs could very well be the cause of the increased effort.

I mounted each tab so that the hinge is about 1/4'' above the bottom plane of the hull, and the trailing edge is about 1/2'' above the hull plane, when the tabs are in "full up" position — exactly as recommended in the installation manual.

The next time I put the boat on its trailer (which I do about once a year), I'll cut new holes into each tab where the actuator attaches, so that I can increase the "up" angle of the tab to tuck it higher up (toward the bottom surface of the swim deck).

With all that said — I recently found a use for "full down" mode on my tabs. This past summer, we had a bunch of family and friends in town who had never wakeboarded but wanted to learn. With the tabs deployed fully, I was able to accelerate onto plane much more smoothly, and maintain plane as slow as 9 kt — which made my job as the captain and instructor way easier. Furthermore, once the kids became comfortable crossing the wake, I could lean the boat with a single tab fully deployed to create a bigger wake on one side — not wake-shaper or ballast-bag sized, but big enough for the kids to have fun.

The other thing I wonder about is how much wetter the boat would be when using trim tabs. Our boats have zero bow flare and it would seem to me that when the hull spray is pushed forward when using trim tabs this would allow more spray to be thrown back into the boat.

Deploying the tabs while in head seas keeps the boat dryer because the boat isn't pitching and heaving as much, and therefore, the amount of sea spray is greatly reduced. In other words, the tabs reduce porpoising, which means the bow isn't slamming into the water as much.

The only time I’ve ever wanted them is to level the boat out when another person or persons are with me while underway. Once the waves starting getting bigger I just slow down to smooth out the ride.

I use the "auto" function on my Lectrotabs in smooth seas to keep the boat level while folks are moving around on the boat. The boat tracks much straighter when its kept level, and I don't have to manage the wheel as much. Also, when there's a crosswind, I can manually adjust the tabs to maintain heading without having to maintain pressure on the wheel. Even if all of your boating is on flat water, I would recommend trim tabs for these two use cases alone!!!

When the seas are too rough to get on plane, I use the tabs to trim the bow down to reduce porpoising, in the same manner as going through waves while the hull is up on plane.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Thanks for tagging me, @FSH 210 Sport — yes, that was me.

Up until recently, I never used more than 2 LEDs worth of trim (out of 5 LEDs) on the heavy-duty stainless-steel 9×12 Lectrotabs I installed on my 255 FSH. Therefore, I think the 9×9 tabs would have been sufficient for the kind of boating I do.

The tabs, whether deployed or not, definitely increase turning radius, as well as the effort required to turn the wheel while on plane. Note that I have Cobra fins, so the interaction of the fins and tabs could very well be the cause of the increased effort.

I mounted each tab so that the hinge is about 1/4'' above the bottom plane of the hull, and the trailing edge is about 1/2'' above that, when the tabs are in "full up" position — exactly as recommended in the installation manual.

The next time I put the boat on its trailer (which I do about once a year), I'll cut new holes into each tab where the actuator attaches, so that I can increase the "up" angle of the tab to tuck it higher up (toward the bottom surface of the swim deck).

With all that said — I recently found a use for "full down" mode on my tabs. This past summer, we had a bunch of family and friends in town who had never wakeboarded but wanted to learn. With the tabs deployed fully, I was able to accelerate onto plane much more smoothly, and maintain plane as slow as 9 kt — which made my job as the captain and instructor way easier. Furthermore, once the kids became comfortable crossing the wake, I could lean the boat with a single tab fully deployed to create a bigger wake on one side — not wake-shaper or ballast-bag sized, but big enough for the kids to have fun.




Deploying the tabs while in head seas keeps the boat dryer because the boat isn't pitching and heaving as much, and therefore, the amount of sea spray is greatly reduced. In other words, the tabs reduce porpoising, which means the bow isn't slamming into the water as much.




I use the "auto" function on my Lectrotabs in smooth seas to keep the boat level while folks are moving around on the boat. The boat tracks much straighter when its kept level, and I don't have to manage the wheel as much. Also, when there's a crosswind, I can manually adjust the tabs to maintain heading without having to maintain pressure on the wheel. Even if all of your boating is on flat water, I would recommend trim tabs for these two use cases alone!!!

When the seas are too rough to get on plane, I use the tabs to trim the bow down to reduce porpoising, in the same manner as going through waves while the hull is up on plane.

Awesome reply ! Thanks!

 

[CastawayRK]

So we went on a fairly long cruise today (looking for a house and we start by checking the dock) and I experimented with tabs off. Especially into the wind a random wake would set off porpoising that would seem to just go without end. My sort of normal cruise speed is 35. Mostly bumping throttle up or down a bit would calm things down. When it wouldn’t tho a couple clicks down on the tabs would do it. Downwind I really didn’t have issues with or without the tabs. It was mostly a very untrafficy day with beautiful smooth water.
At speed I am still not 100% comfortable with tight turns compared to previous outboards or I/Os so I don’t have opinion on the “MilesPrower effect” of the tabs on maneuvering. I can see how it could come into play tho.
Cheers