2006 Sundancer 260

Now I can't wait to try this. I pulled a document off of the internet. It appears that SeaRay followed the installation manual on the Bravo III and placed the celery stick in the Aft position but didn't read the note listed as "IMPORTANT": The position of the Trim-In Limit Insert on the Bravo Three sterndrive unit should only be changed after the boat has been properly tested. Thanks for all the info guys...
 
Dave S said:
It really makes me kind of mad that many dealers don't take the time to explain to customers some of the quirks that the 2005-2008 260DA's have if you don't do some of the basics with regard to trimming the outdrive and using the tabs. quote]

Nobody would buy them if they really knew what they were getting into. No way would I have bought a 260 had I known my 90lb son could make such a difference by moving from one side to the other. Would you have bought yours if you knew before hand that you have to constantly adjust the tabs or skip straight to the 280 even if it meant a slightly older model? Not trying to start a debate or anything but the 260 really is a poor handling boat with all things considered.
I went back on a 280 this past weekend and really wish we would have bought a 280 in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love my 340 we now have but probably wouldn't have it if we started with the 280. IMO, the 2 best Sundancers Sea Ray makes are the 280 and 340 at least sub 44' SB
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This is the smallest boat Sea Ray put a full fiberglass radar arch on correct? Do you all think that the added weight well above the center line adds to the instability given the narrower beam?
 
At Ease said:
Now I can't wait to try this. I pulled a document off of the internet. It appears that SeaRay followed the installation manual on the Bravo III and placed the celery stick in the Aft position but didn't read the note listed as "IMPORTANT": The position of the Trim-In Limit Insert on the Bravo Three sterndrive unit should only be changed after the boat has been properly tested. Thanks for all the info guys...
Click to expand...

If you are doing this yourself, all you need is 20 minutes, some marine grease , a 16mm wrench, and a 16mm deep socket. Here are the steps:
  • Remove the 4 plastic caps from the trim cylinders.
  • Loosen both of the front trim cylinder nuts (so the rear of the cylinders can swing outwards and off of the rear anchor pin). They do NOT need to come all the way off.
  • Remove the 2 rear trim cylinder nuts (you'll need to hold one nut with the wrench and turn the other with the socket).
  • Remove the 2 large outer washers.
  • Lift up on the drive and swing the rear of the trim cylinders outwards and off of the ends of the anchor pin. A large washer will fall off of each side after you remove the cylinders and anchor pin. Gently lower the drive after removing the anchor pin.
  • Push the celery stick out from either side using your finger.
  • Lube the celery stick, and slide it back through the anchor pin hole, putting the convex curve towards the front of the hole.
  • Lube the anchor pin, and slide it back into position (behind the celery stick, of course).
  • Lube and re-install the large washers.
  • Lift up on the drive slightly, and put the ends of the trim cylinders back on the ends of the anchor pin.
  • Lube and reinstall the 2 outer washers.
  • Install rear nuts and tighten.
  • Tighten the front nuts.
  • Reinstall plastic caps.
  • Go boating!
Report back on your findings,
Michael
 
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Newbie said:
BTW, auto tabs on the 260 are worthless. They were on my 06 when I bought it and did not help. Actually made things worse. I have heard they are great on wider boats but the 260 shifts too quickly for the auto brains to keep up with. SB
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I guess I'm in the other camp. Ran my '01 260DA last year without the auto tabs, and did learn how to handle them and compensate for shifting passangers. Open ocean, flat calm, 4-5 foot wind driven waves, the boat handled them all without issue. to be sure I had to get used to the narrow beam on the long waterline, and hieght above the water. But no regrets. And the motion doesn't bother me - maybe because I learned some of my boating from a sailor?

This spring I installed the Bennet Auto trim tabs, and they are great. No more having to glare at my guest with that "don't move 'till we get there" face.

The auto tabs slowly bring the boat back to level if someone goes forward or if one of the four kids (adult kids) decides to get closer to the girlfriend. And if I need to controll the tabs, a simply manual adjustment gives control to the switches. On long sweeping turns they do take the lean out of the boat, which calls for a bit more steering finesse, but it not that much an issue. So, for me it is money well spent.

And on the next haul-out I am going to adjust the celery stick to get a more level planing response.

Great chunks of good info in this thread. Hopefully Sundancer 260 is still working on his expectations and comfort level. By the time you get through the learning curve you will wonder what al the fuss was about. Happy boating in NJ!

Cheers,
 
You guys got me thinking on this celery stick thing. I am not mechanically inclined, and would screw it up worse if I did it myself.

Since I have the boat in a slip, and either don't want to pay to have it hauled out just for this or wait till the end of boating season, is this something I can pay someone to go in the water to do?
 
It could easily be done in 3 or 4 feet of water with 2 people, but I'd make sure to have a dive mask with you just in case you drop one of the washers or nuts.

Doug, you'd really have to work hard to screw this one up. It is so simple, even a caveman could do it.:smt043
 
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Dougbb said:
You guys got me thinking on this celery stick thing. I am not mechanically inclined, and would screw it up worse if I did it myself.

Since I have the boat in a slip, and either don't want to pay to have it hauled out just for this or wait till the end of boating season, is this something I can pay someone to go in the water to do?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend doing it in the water Doug and it's not necessary to do it at all unless getting on plane is an issue for you. It was for me when I had a lot of people on board and that's why I moved mine.

Dave
 
dpvandy01 -

I doubt that the arch is causing the problem. The arch was offered on the pre-2005 models and is not a problem on those.

All of the 260 issues that are being discussed are specific to the changes made in 2005. I have a 2004 and it does not have any of these problems. I can run the boat with the drive all the way down and the tabs fully down without any bow steering problems. In fact, that is how I run it when heading into a decent chop - it eliminates most of the pounding and lets me run slower and stay on plane.

I usually do not need to use the tabs at all. Mine does tend to lean into the wind, but this is because it is a narrow boat with a lot of sail area to catch the wind. Tabs fix that easily.

It seems that the deeper vee that the 2005+'s have may be causing the instability problems. At least that makes sense.
 
We had a 260 and found that due to my inexperience, I usually pressed the tab buttons down for too long and ended up blowing fuses...which meant they were worthless. I installed a trim tab indicator switch and became quite good at. I agree with all of the above comments about the tabs and when to use them. Don't give up yet!
 
I just returned from a 3 day "newbie" run of my 2006 260 at our lake in Texas :grin:. Happy to say I am thrilled with the boat and how she handles given the wonderful "training" you guys have provided. :thumbsup:

I have never owned a boat before but have driven other bow riders about 30 times about 30 years ago and most recently driven a rented Ski Nautique on Lake Tahoe a couple of times and 5 weeks ago a rented 2007 Sea Ray 195 in 30 MPH winds (not recommended) :wow:.

Things I tried and results: Winds were variable from 10 to 20 with gusts of 25 MPH out of the South

Power trim to full in - Trim Tabs to full up at start and any time I came off plane. This was always my starting point - otherswise you have no idea where the trim tabs are!

Planing: Power trim full in till she just start to crest then power trim out to about 1/4 to 1/2 in short spurts. The trim gauge is weird as it shows no movement then suddenly shoots up the 1/4 after several taps on the up button even though I heard the power trim pump working. :wow: Then if I trim in again there is a delay then it drops down to "0" suddenly on the gauge (Is this normal or just a gauge response issue?) :huh:Once on plane the engine does not like being trimmed in - she complains by giving you a "growling" noise at the prop. Once trimmed out to her happy place she purrs and speeds up slightly.

Trim Tabs and Listing: I noticed some very strange events here. She always listed high on the port side no matter what direction I was going> If wind was pushing on my starboard side the boat would still list high on the port side! (Shouldn't the wind be pushing the starboard side high????). No problem: Pushed the port bow down trim tab rocker switch and she slowly (in steps) leveled out. And she stayed level driving in almost any direction and in any wind. If she started to list too high to port I would only press the port bow up rocker remembering to only adjust the rocker that I last used! This worked out very cool! :smt038 I only had the wife with me and she didn't move from her favorite spot (holding on for dear life) which made trim tabbing easy! :grin: I also have a genny which weighs about 250 lbs. mounted dead center which may help with stability.

Question: Is it normal for the Smart Gauge Depth indicator (it has a depth transducer) to suddenly flash the trim number intermittently and then go back to the depth indicator? :huh: I almost had a heart attack when going between two small islands with a depth of 15 ft showing then I look back and the number 5 is showing! 5 feet of water!!!! :wow::wow: BAT STOP! Throttle quickly to idle and power trim out!!!!! I think the wife browned her undies! :smt043

All in all a very enjoyable boat! Now if I could do something about the $300 plus fuel fill bill! :wow:
 
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Don

Glad to hear you are enjoying your 260.

My 260 also tends to ride high on the port side in almost all conditions and I do just as you did and just lower the one tab until she levels out. With regard to the trim angle. the guage on our boats is almost totally useless in terms of telling you how your outdrive is trimmed. The so called "trim guage" also seems to take into account the level of the boat as well. With regard to the trim reading "popping up" on your Smartcraft window, if you don't like that feature you can disable it. Looks thru your Smartcraft Manual and it will tell you how to do that. I didn't like that feature myself so I disabled it on mine.

Dave
 
Glad to hear that you're getting the hang of her and enjoying yourself, Don. Are we having fun yet?

Same here... always lists to port. Maybe the rotation of the engine throws her over to that side?

Michael
 
Good deal. Now post some pictures, but not of the Admiral's Browned anything......
 
Speaking of drive trim, let me ask you guys about the actual trim button. On my boat, to get down trim, I press the botton half of the toggle on the throttle and the drive moves down. The switch does not "click" when I press it. Up toggle seems like it has 2 positions. It will move a little before it clicks, and then it will go all the way down and make the click. The drive only moves up when the up side of the toggle is pressed far/hard enough to make the click. Is this normal for that switch? Is there a "trailer" button on the 05 260, or is "full up" the same thing?

Thanks,
Michael
 
Michael,

The power trim rocker switch on the throttle on my '06 is what they call a "momentary" switch meaning that it only makes a connection to the power trim hydraulic pump when the rocker is pushed up or down. Once I take my finger off the rocker from a full up or down position it breaks the connection and the pump stops. No click at all on mine at all. (I used to be an electronics technician if you couldn't tell :grin:!)
 
Hehe. Well, I didn't want to blast the boating community with techie talk.

Sounds like I need (or will be needing) a new trim switch.

Thanks,
Michael
 
About electric stove
can I change my stove with electric stove
my boat 2007 260
 
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