I did it M120 ordered

[sibnai1]

so I did it ............................................I purchased the Bennett trim tab M120 for my baby. I hope its solves what I believe is an issue with my 195 BR (20' 2"), when running at less than cruising speed I have pretty bad bow up attitude so much that I find myself constantly trying to trim the motor to get the bow down. The only time the boat behaved well what I consider well (except for when running WOT or cruising at approx 30mph) was when I had 5 people in the boat and was towing a skier (approx. 200lbs) I had 3 people in the bow (approx. 410lbs) 3 people in the mid-area (approx. 500lbs) and the boat popped up on plane quickly and was level all the way and the skier had no issues being towed. I'm putting my money down crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!!

 

[sibnai1]

so the M120 came in, very nicely packaged but now I just have to drum up the courage to drill through the transom, the gas tank is mounted in the rear port side of the 195BR just under the convertible jump seat/sun-platform, I can get (squeeze) my hand between the transom and the gas tank where the transom meets the bottom of the boat but I also have to worry about the holes for the strut (which mount on the transom approx. 8" higher up) and the hydraulic line that goes to he pump ........................... I know is been done before but its my baby ..............................

 

[Lazy Daze]

so I did it ............................................I purchased the Bennett trim tab M120 for my baby. I hope its solves what I believe is an issue with my 195 BR (20' 2"), when running at less than cruising speed I have pretty bad bow up attitude so much that I find myself constantly trying to trim the motor to get the bow down.

Well, the tabs are surely a good addition, but... what you describe is absolutely, positively, 100% normal for pretty much any boat of this style on the planet. That's exactly what that little up/down button is for on the stick.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you go with the automatic setup? No holes through the transom are required. Sure, a controllable setup is nice, but it's overkill for this size boat - especially when the automatic ones work so well.

 

[sibnai1]

oh great now you tell me lol .............. I guess I could have gone with the automatic setup but didn't want to spend the money and sill not be satisfied or just get me 1/2 way there ..................... I think I like the idea of being able to adjust it to my liking ................ I think , lol

 

[Lazy Daze]

Can I make a suggestion/observation? And this is based purely on your first post and how you worded things. It seems as though you were unhappy to have to mess something as simply as drive trim. Now, you're still going to have to play with the drive trim, but you also have two more buttons to be playing with on a regular basis. Are you sure you want to be doing that?

 

[Tabman]

Adjustable Trim Tabs are by no means overkill on this size boat. If you think about it, smaller boats are more affected by weight distribution, speed and sea conditions than larger ones. Sure the SLT self adjusting Trim Tabs are a lot easier to install and less expensive. But being able to adjust them will give more control over a much broader range of conditions.

The SLTs are great, but the M120s will be fantastic!

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

 

[Lazy Daze]

Adjustable Trim Tabs are by no means overkill on this size boat. If you think about it, smaller boats are more affected by weight distribution, speed and sea conditions than larger ones. Sure the SLT self adjusting Trim Tabs are a lot easier to install and less expensive. But being able to adjust them will give more control over a much broader range of conditions.

The SLTs are great, but the M120s will be fantastic!

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

'Overkill' - meant more as an generalization. As in, the SLT's (I've used/installed Smart Tabs more times than I can remember, but never SLT's - but assume they would work just as well) work so well on a small boat, there really isn't the need to spend more money or more labor installing hydraulics. True, small boats are more affected by conditions, but they also "usually" don't venture out in anything more than a little chop and typically have a greater power-to-weight ratio than larger boats do, as well.

Believe me, Tom, you don't have to sell me on the merits of Hydraulic tabs. I'm 100% a fan and have used/installed those many times, too. Yes, hydraulic gives more finite control - but for 'most' sporty-type boat owners, the SLT's would work so well, that it's just not necessary to spend the extra initial cost/time/labor to install them.

That being said, everyone needs to do what's best for them. I only wanted to add some advice that Sibnai can use to make a more informed decision. But my main point was really centered around the notion of having to not only control the drive trim, but also the tab trim buttons (unless he also added the ATC, that is).

 

[sibnai1]

So I didn't install the M120 yet but I'm no longer confused, the SeaRay works beautifully! We went out on Lake Hopatcong yesterday; there was really very little traffic on the lake, she came up on plane very nicely the boat leveled out once on plane and she handled like a dream. As it turns out the throttle (at least on my boat) is somewhat of an "on/off" switch kinda, maybe, lol. Originally I was trying to gradually throttle my way through the bow up attitude while trying to use the "trim" to level out the old gal, well that was clearly the wrong approach!!!! So here is what everyone already knows (maybe) that I just learned. "trim" the leg down, throttle up to get on plane, once on plane then "trim" the leg up 1/2 sec at a time for optimal performance. Ah the old learning curve .............

PS The RPMs held 4800 as designed and the new prop also worked well (Michigan Wheel Twister 14.25 X 21P with a pressed in hub with spacer part #12-31211a2 to fit the Alpha I Gen II) the original battered prop was 13.75 X 21P with Flo Torq II hub kit.

I just figured I'd update this thread, I'll update again when I install the M120

 

[Banagy]

Trim tabs made my boat completely different. It is one of the best investment that I had made for the boat. The auto switch for the trim tabs is worth the money.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Good, glad to hear you're learning how to trim the boat properly. Yup - ALWAYS start out with the drive ALL the way down. Smoothly and quickly advance the throttle, when the boat starts to plane off you can smoothly back off the throttle and start trimming up. The more you practice, the more second nature it will get.