Trim Tabs with drop fins-gctid391445

[Davidlyne]

Can I ask what he drop fins are for. Mine has them and I am thinking of cutting the fins off. Reason is that when the forklift lifts the boat out of the water, the forks catch on the trim tabs and bend them even though they are fully "up". I can't see any other boats in the marina that have the fins.

[Guest]

You piqued my interest so I took a look. From the bennett website:

Bennett Trim Tabs carry a flat surface out to the edge of the trim tabs. This maintains the highest pressure across the surface of the trim tab for maximum lift.

Up fins - On some trim tabs, Bennett turns the sides up 90 degrees to increase the stiffness of the tab.

Drop fins - On other trim tabs, Bennett bends the edges down 90 degrees to capture water that would normally escape out of the sides of the tabs and channels it aft.

[Davidlyne]

I wonder why they want to channel the water aft? Does it make them work better? I guess these are things I need to know before cutting them off.

[Tabman]

Brad 3055 wrote:
You piqued my interest so I took a look. From the bennett website:

Bennett Trim Tabs carry a flat surface out to the edge of the trim tabs. This maintains the highest pressure across the surface of the trim tab for maximum lift.

Up fins - On some trim tabs, Bennett turns the sides up 90 degrees to increase the stiffness of the tab.

Drop fins - On other trim tabs, Bennett bends the edges down 90 degrees to capture water that would normally escape out of the sides of the tabs and channels it aft.

Brad is on target with his quotes from our website.

Bayliner has used a lot of Trim Tabs with 3" drop fins to increase the lift on a small Trim Tab when there is limited space on the transom for a larger one. And yes they can be a real pain when it comes to forklifts!

If you do cut them off you will lose some lift and if this turns out to be an issue than you may want to look into fitting larger Trim Tabs such as an 18" x 12". Also since the Trim Tabs angle up slightly when fully retracted I would suggest leaving 1/2" - 1/4" of the fins left to help with the rigidity of them. At that size they will likely clear the forks when they are retracted.

Tom

Bennett Marine

[Davidlyne]

Thank you for your replies. Thanks Tom for your suggestion. I will now proceed to cut them off. I won't cut them off flush as suggested, as this will not get in the way of the fork. As I see it, they will be broken off completely if I don't do something about it, and then I will have to replace more stuff. If it doesn't work I will get the bigger tabs as there is plenty of room for them on my boat.

[Go Aweigh2452]

You don't cut them off. Bend the tab at the end of the transom mount and remove the two bolts holding the cylinder from the tab and slide the plate out. Replace the plate with the one tab man recommends (see my photo). Then you MUST bend the end tab up to prevent the new drop fin plate from sliding out to the side and breaking your cylinders...

[Tabman]

Go Aweigh2452 wrote:
You don't cut them off. Bend the tab at the end of the transom mount and remove the two bolts holding the cylinder from the tab and slide the plate out. Replace the plate with the one tab man recommends (see my photo). Then you MUST bend the end tab up to prevent the new drop fin plate from sliding out to the side and breaking your cylinders...

I think he is just going to cut off the drop fins (with a bit left to keep them strong) so he could do that with a cut off wheel or the like and could probably do that without removing the Trim Tabs. We suggest unscrewing the mounting plates instead of bending the 'keeper tabs" and sliding the Tab out if you are going to remove the Trim Tab from the transom. It is a little more work, but is the best way to insure the best results.

Tom

Bennett Marine

[Davidlyne]

I think he is just going to cut off the drop fins (with a bit left to keep them strong) so he could do that with a cut off wheel or the like and could probably do that without removing the Trim Tabs. We suggest unscrewing the mounting plates instead of bending the 'keeper tabs" and sliding the Tab out if you are going to remove the Trim Tab from the transom. It is a little more work, but is the best way to insure the best results.

Tom

Bennett Marine

This is exactly what I am going to do. I use the tabs all the time and don't want to remove them. Just want to do something before the forklift breaks them off. If it doesn't work I will get the bigger tabs as Tom suggested. I should be able to do it without removing them from the boat.

[Davidlyne]

Thought I would post an update! I cut the fins off the trim tabs, leaving a bit on ech side as suggested. Took the boat on a 4 hour cruise and she performed perfectly. I couldn't tell any difference in the way the tabs operated. Best part, the forklift doesn't catch on them. Thanks to all those who responded.