[jimshabbah]

I have a 97 Shabah with 7.4l and would like to be able to plane a little slower for wakeboarding. I have read some posts were smart tabs were used, but it seemed to me that most success was on slightly smaller boats.

Has anyone had good success with any add-ons for wakeboarding on this size boat?

[WetWilly]

Hi jimshabbah,

Smart Tabs are great but I agree with you, seeing as your Shabah 222 is larger and close to 3800lbs with the 7.4L, I recommend you go with hydraulic or electrical trim tabs. They will allow you to make adjustments for planing at lower speeds and creating different stern wakes from inside your Shabah while underway.

We have hydraulic tabs on our Z240 (about a foot longer and about 500lbs heavier than your Shabah) and they work great!

Just be aware that between the tabs and outdrive trim, it takes a little patience finding the best settings for your various water sports.

WetWilly

[jimshabbah]

Thanks WetWilly.

Did you install hydraulics yourself? Would you recommend the brand you currently have?
I looked into hydraulics and was a little concerned I would not have enough room with the thru hull exhaust. Does your Z240 have thru hull exhaust?

[WetWilly]

Hi Jim,

No, the tabs were already installed when I bought our Talari and again, no, I don't have thru hull exhaust either. I've attached a picture of our tab setup.

I have seen the installation documentation and it's pretty straight forward. It's something a mechanically inclined person could do in a day or two depending on how long you want to work on it.

I have the InstaTrim tabs from "Boat Leveler Co." and for another good hydraulic tab I recommend "Bennet" and lastly, for electric tabs, check out "Lenco"
(click on their names to go to the web sites)

I would contact them and explain your situation and see if they have a solution for your Shabah, I'm sure they will.

Good luck,
WetWilly

[Vacation Dave]

If you are willing to spend the money and want a better ride, I would recommend the hydraulic trim tabs. I selected Bennett after reading a lot of blogs Electric VS hydraulic. I learned Bennett has a great customer service department, customer support, and warranty track record!

These are suppose to be do it yourself in 45 minutes, but that never happens and I didn't want to make a mistake and have any extra holes in my gel coat.

I had them installed by an experienced marine mechanic that really knows what he's doing. It took until this year because another marina told me he couldn't do it because there wasn't enough room due to my swim platform design.

I got A GREAT PRICE at Anchor Express and purchased the Bennett sport trim tabs in 2008 after several years of research. After taking with Bennett customer service I purchased the sport dual ram tabs because I do about 60 MPH. You really need the the extra cylinders with the 7.4 L.

SKU Name Qty Each Sub total Total
ST12 BENNETT ST12 12 X 12 Sport Tab System 1 $584.99 $584.99 $584.99
Order Summary
Product cost $584.99
$584.99
Product Tax $0.00
Shipping $9.99
Handling $0.00
Total Charge $594.98

Anchor Express
Customer Service
customerservice@anchorexpress.com
(866)888-2624


I didn't want always be working the adjust so I also purchased the Bennett Auto controller. See Bennett for full product details. Again, GREAT PRICE this time from BoatFix.com.

Once the auto controller is programmed and set you never have to make any adjustments to the trim tabs. What's nice is you can always take the auto controller off and use manual adjustment when needed.

Keep in mind you need to remember to retract the tabs before pulling into the shorestation lift or trailer so you don't break them off when in the down position.



Order

Qty Part No Name Options Price Total
1 BENAC3000 AUTO TAB CONTROL BENNETT MARINE, INC.: $258.10 $258.10
Sub Total: $258.10
Shipping Type: UPS Ground (Continental US Only)
Shipping: $11.26
Tax (NJ Only): $0.00
Total: $269.36

from BoatFix.com

I have yet to use them since I had this done recently. I can't wait !

Dave

[jimshabbah]

A lot of great info. Thanks Dave.

Do you or anyone else do any wakeboarding from your boat?

I am just wondering how the tabs will affect the wake. I don't want to wash it out.
People like boarding behind my boat because it naturally throws a good wake and I don't want to flatten it out just so I can go 3-5 mph slower on plane. That would defeat the purpose.

[Vacation Dave]

Yes I do.

I haven't used the new trim tabs yet. Can't answer your question, but know that you can manually set them to retract and not use them at all. That's the beauty of it!

One other tid bit. Make sure you follow the Bennett installation direction. I saw an article in the July 2008 Boating Magazine where there was question on installing the go fast 280-S K-planer tabs. They recommended the tabs be installed 3/4 inch above the bottom of the boat's surface rather than flush so water doesn't roll up off the running surface and into the bottom of the tab and cause a drag/brake. I don't know what Bennett recommends for installation since I didn't install them myself.

Hope that helps!

Have fun

[97 Z222]

I am using a 3 blade 21pitch stainless prop, I can maintain 15 mph with me + 1adult + 1 teenager in the boat, towing the second teenager on the wake board, without falling off plane. Just a note about my boat, I have never had any porpusing at any speed or trim level that would require trim tabs, even at 60 mph.