Marine Accessories

Did your boat work the way you wanted it to last season well maybe it was because you do not have Bennett Trim Tabs on your boat.  If your boat did not ride like you think it should or was the bow to high and you used more fuel than you think it should have all of this could be because you do not have trim tabs on your boat and now is a good time to be thinking about putting on trim tabs.  Trim tabs is an easy installation for you to do on your own or have someone else do.  You can make the upcoming season a lot better with Bennett Trim Tabs.

A Bennett Hydraulic Power Unit that creates hydraulic pressure to lower and raise the trim tabs. It employs two solenoid valves to direct the flow of fluid to the actuators. The solenoid valves lock tightly to secure the tabs in place. Strength to lower and hold even the largest tabs in place. Lexan cover protects electrohydraulic unit from occasional wash down and translucent reservoir allows fluid check at a glance. Installs easily with sturdy mounting bracket.

While in the past, trim tabs were most often found on cabin cruisers and sport-fishers over 25 feet, today they have become common equipment on boats 17-25 feet. You see Bennett Trim Tabs on everything from bass boats to bow riders, ski boats to center consoles.

Many still believe that trim tabs are less important on smaller boats, but in fact the opposite is true. Trim tabs improve the ride of even the largest planing hulls, but on a smaller boat you will notice the difference much more. For instance, bigger boats are much less affected by weight distribution than smaller boats.

After decades of use on the water, it’s been proven that all boats, large and small, benefit from trim tabs for the same reasons – they improve planing and fuel efficiency, they correct for uneven weight distribution, and they improve speed, safety and overall boat performance.

The motor for the whole trim tab system, the Hydraulic Power Unit, is installed inside the boat in a dry environment.

Hydraulic actuators do not rely on a seal where the shaft enters the cylinder body. Instead the seal is made on the piston face inside the cylinder where no marine growth can occur. Even if a barnacle grows on the shaft, it will not cause a leak.

If a seal on a hydraulic actuator should break, its replacement cost is about $1.00 compared to the cost of replacing an entire electric actuator.

With all systems, the trim planes, actuators, wiring and control switch have to be installed. With hydraulic trim tabs, a Bennett hydraulic power unit (pump) must be installed inside the boat. A few additional minutes spent installing the pump will give you years of trouble-free operation.

The key to getting the best results from your Bennett trim tabs is to operate them in short half-second “bursts” and let the boat react before making another adjustment. The amount of time between corrections is influenced by the size of the trim tabs and the boat’s speed.

Avoiding Over-trimming
Operating your tabs this way will help avoid over-trimming, which occurs when you’ve deflected the tabs too far. An over-trimmed boat will “plow” or “bow-steer.” If you over-trim the boat, simply press “Bow Up” and the bow of the boat will rise.

Your boat may have been built to avoid this situation. Bennett’s hydraulically-adjustable trim tabs enable a boat to be designed and rigged so it never runs in an over-trimmed condition even at the top end of its speed range. This avoids the hazardous combination of high speed and unpredictable handling.

After spending a week at my favorite lake with lots of other people and some very rough water you could sure see the difference with the boats that had trim tabs and those that did not, the boats with the trim tabs sure were a lot smoother on the water than those that did not and with gas very high out on the lake the trim tab people enjoyed a less expensive week because of the economy they enjoyed because they used Bennett Trim Tabs.

Trim tabs work exactly the same way as the control surfaces on an airplane. As you know, there are three axes affecting the motion of your boat as you travel through the water: Yaw, Pitch and Roll.

Trim tabs have little effect on the yaw axis, because yaw is controlled by the rudder or the side to side movement of the outdrive. Where they are effective is in the roll axis, to eliminate or reduce listing or heeling, especially if your boat has a deep “V” hull, and in the pitch axis, to raise or lower your bow.

The port and starboard Bennett trim tabs act independently. It is a simple thing to adjust them to lift the down side of the boat and compensate for the three or four hundred kilos of weight caused by your passengers all wanting to be on the same side. To do this, lower the down side tab. The water pressing against the tab as you move will lift that side of the boat (around the roll axis) and eliminate your list. As your passengers move about, you can continue to adjust the tabs to compensate for the redistribution of weight. You must understand though, the trim tabs will have less effect at slower speed than at high speed. You can understand this by a simple experiment. Next time you are in your car put your hand out of the window at an angle to the slipstream. Note that when you drive slowly, the wind has little effect on your hand but as you speed up, the wind will eventually drive your hand up and back. Now remember, water is much more dense than air so prudence in applying trim is recommended.

Where most operators initially use trim is in the pitch axis, getting their boats to the plane mode as quickly as possible. It is then easy to maintain the boat’s most economical cruising speed by tab adjustment. This is accomplished using the “Bow Down“ control. This lowers both tabs and the force of the water against them will push the stern up consequently lowering the bow (around the pitch axis).  Again, smooth rather than aggressive application is recommended to prevent pitch down of the bow. Trim may also be used in the pitch axis to keep the bow up to avoid taking seas over the bow if the water is rough. Naturally you would use the “Bow Up” control to do this.

I mentioned that trim tabs have little effect in the yaw axis, but they do have some. I’m sure you can readily understand that if you have only one of the tabs hanging out, besides lifting that side of the boat it will also cause a certain amount of drag. This will have the effect of slowing that side of the boat causing the bow to rotate about the yaw axis and turning the boat to that side. The rudder or out-drive are usually adjusted slightly to compensate.

Using trim tabs is much like riding a bicycle. You learn to do it by feel. Your knot meter will tell you when you have trimmed for best speed at any throttle setting and your common sense will help you adjust trim to sea conditions and weight distribution. I am positive that in gaining experience you will soon amaze your friends with your skills in boat handling and trim.

Capt. Pat

You may not be familiar with them, but you’ve probably experienced the problems that trim tabs solve for boaters all over the world. After using Bennett systems for years – and discovering just how durable and serviceable they can be – our customers can’t imagine boating without them.

Do These Conditions Sound Familiar?
• As your boat slows from maximum speed, it begins to settle at the stern or “squat,” creating an inefficient, untrimmed condition. At this attitude you use more fuel to drive the boat.

• As the boat pushes forward, it creates a “hill of water.” In this bow-high position, visibility is limited and the hull bottom is pounded. Also because of significant hull drag and extreme prop angle, fuel economy is poor.

• Uneven weight distribution makes your boat harder to handle, even harder to get up on plane, and it causes your boat to list to one side. Your passengers complain when you tell them to move from one side to the other.

As a boater you know that no two boating days are ever alike thanks to ever-changing weight, weather and water conditions. Bennett Trim Tabs are designed to adjust for these changing conditions and provide lift in order to give you the best possible running attitude.

Boating season is almost here and are you ready?  Is you prop in good condition, do you have Bennett Trim Tabs which give you better economy.  You also know that you need something to have fun with such as and inflatable or maybe even a wakeboard.  Also while you are boating around make sure you have a good sound system so you can enjoy great sounds.

Now Is The Time To Start Getting Your Boat Ready For The Summer By Giving Your Boat A Good Cleaning, Make Sure Your Prop Is In Good Condition, If  You Want Your Boat To Run Smoother And More Efficient You Might Think About Adding Trim Tabs Also Do Not Forget Things To Have Fun With Such As Inflatables And If You Fish Do Not Forget About Fishfinders.  In Times Like We Are Having You Have To Find Away To Get Away And Boating Is The Answer.