# Anyone have experience with "Smart Tabs"



## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Yesterday I spent the day with a long time friend (lives in Philly MS.)on the "Tombigbee" at Demopolis (only place that had plenty of water) in his new "Homemade" boat. This has been a 3 year undertaking. I forgot to grab my camera and noticed that fact 30 minutes down the road, but did stop at a CVS to buy a disposable, so pictures will follow when developed. One thing that I noticed that he needs is trim tabs.


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## BudYsr (Oct 1, 2007)

I think the ShipShape T.V. program did an episode on those. You might be able to dig around and find that episode. If I remember correctly, they liked the smart tabs, but the only negative was when in reverse and backing the boat up. Also, I think you have to remember to manually pull the tabs up each time you beach the boat and also load onto the trailer. Otherwise, I think they had good results with the actual ride. There are a few boaters on the FS boating forum that have these tabs.


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

I put some smart tabs on my carolina skiff andit was a waste of money,made the boat plow real bad. Ended up putting a permatrim on it. Not sure what he needs corrected on his boat but the permatrim made mine ride/handle like a different boat. http://www.shipyardisland.com/Permatrims.htm


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## reely blessed (Oct 23, 2007)

I have smart tabs on my 19ft. Bayliner Trophy after watching ship shape T.V.(I was sold).They work well but have had problems with the shocks going out. My boatis on a trailer so the boat isn't subjected to long periods of saltwater. I have had problems with the shocks rusting out. Each new pair that I have received I can tell the manufactureis trying to improve the shocks. I have had them 3 years and I am on my third pair of shocks. If I had to do it over again I would go electric. They didn't charge my for the first two replacements and gave me a discount on the last pair. It's a boat whats an extra fifty bucks.


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## jaw-jacker69 (Oct 3, 2007)

Bennet sport tabs is something you should look into.


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## Serendib (Oct 15, 2007)

I would pretty much expect to have problems with the reliability of the spring assembly and the preset pressure levels. I would recommend Bennet Sport Tabs. Also the hydraulics on the Bennett System are so very reliable.


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## duckhuntinsailor (Sep 28, 2007)

I don't see where those are saving any room.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)




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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

Pop put those on a 50 yr old mahogany penn yan due to simplicity and space. He tore them off after about a month and made room for Bennetts. He had nothing good to say about them.


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## Flounderpounder (Oct 3, 2007)

Maybe it depends on the boat? My Bro-in law put em on his 15' whaler, and they made a huge difference!!!! Sweet lil' boat by the way!


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## sosmarine (Sep 28, 2007)

Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but the motor looks a little low. Looks like the prop is too far below the bottom of the boat.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

> *sosmarine (11/21/2007)*Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but the motor looks a little low. Looks like the prop is too far below the bottom of the boat.


I think because of bottom paint color and shadow, the engine appears low. The horizontal fin is level with the bottom of the boat. Had to kick the motor up one hole and runs fine.


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