Newbie freaking out

jeffruby

jeffruby

New Member
Aug 6, 2010
58
new york
Boat Info
2007 sea ray sundeck 260
Engines
6.2liter merc b3
New, used sundeck 260.
Kept high and dry

Taken out with forklift each time.

I left both trims down full.

Will lift break them?marina closed
 
No, from the stern. I'm sure its fine, because if not, the forks would damage even the up flaps. I think they actually don't come down that far.
 
YES. If the tabs are down they will sit on top of the forks and will be supporting the entire weight of the boat. The tabs are thin sheet metal. There is no way that they can support that kind of weight. Just a little bit down is ok. All the way down, they can get pretty bent up.

The lift operator should be able to tell that something is wrong before he gets the boat out of the water. The stern will start coming up before the rest of the boat, and they can just tell that something is wrong. They put the boat back down and raise the tabs before continuing. If they don't notice it before they lift the boat out of the water, all bets are off.

You need the checklist for high & dry:

Tabs UP.
Drive DOWN
Drive CENTERED.
Antenna DOWN.
Anchor light DOWN.
AC seacock CLOSED. (Optional: I found that if they tilt the boat too far back while moving it with the lift, the AC lines will empty themselves and the AC won't prime until I put it on plane once. Annoying when you show up Friday night with no intention of leaving the dock until Saturday AM and need AC. Doesn't happen with the seacock closed.)
 
Last edited:
Jeff,

You may want to have Bennett's auto tab retractors installed - each time the key is switched off, the tabs are retracted.
 
skibum said:
YES. If the tabs are down they will sit on top of the forks and will be supporting the entire weight of the boat. The tabs arre thin sheet metal. There is no way that they can support that kind of weight. Just a little bit down is ok. All the way down, they can get pretty bent up.

The lift operator should be able to tell that something is wrong before he gets the boat out of the water. The stern will start coming up before the rest of the boat, and they can just tell that something is wrong. They put the boat back down and raise the tabs before continuing. If they don't notice it before they lift the boat out of the water, all bets are off.

You need the checklist for high & dry:

Tabs UP.
Drive DOWN
Drive CENTERED.
Antenna DOWN.
Anchor light DOWN.
AC seacock CLOSED. (Optional: I found that if they tilt the boat too far back while moving it with the lift, the AC lines will empty themselves and the AC won't prime until I put it on plane once. Annoying when you show up Friday night with no intention of leaving the dock until Saturday AM and need AC. Doesn't happen with the seacock closed.)
Click to expand...

Man, you ruined my night..... Lol.
Hoping tabs on my sundeck don't go as low as that.
 
I have the two buttons for the two tabs. As new owner is pushed them both up, thinking tabs up. But just read manual, says push down to make tabs go up. How backward is that
 
Jeff,

Just to be clear, pressing the bottom of the rocker switches (up arrows) will raise the tabs. Do not try raising one side while simultaneously lowering the other as you will blow a fuse.
 
SeaRide said:
Jeff,

Just to be clear, pressing the bottom of the rocker switches (up arrows) will raise the tabs. Do not try raising one side while simultaneously lowlow ering the other as you will blow a fuse.
Click to expand...

Did that too! Ha. Newbie. Maybe I blew rise and now tabs up. Ha
 
Pushing the Button up showing the arrow up on the bow raises the tabs up. Therefore bow up = tabs up.

I always put my tabs up going into dock incase I have to put it in reverse quickly I have no chance of ripping a tab off. It is a good habit to get into. As I go out of the marina I lower tabs and confirm my drives are down before applying power .
 
I doubt they'll bend but the pressure may shoot the load of pump fluid out back into the pump.
 
jeffruby said:
Did that too! Ha. Newbie. Maybe I blew rise and now tabs up. Ha
Click to expand...

Maybe, but who knows, you could be lucky on all counts. One way to see the tabs in operation is to place the boat on the wash rack and have some in the boat run the tabs up and down at your direction to actually see them in operation. FYI, the lefthand switch operates the starboard tab and vice versa, which makes sense. For example, say everyone is sitting on the starboard side of the boat causing a list. You would then want to push the port side of the boat down by pressing the top of the lefthand rocker switch. This action will extend the starboard tab thereby leveling the boat.
 
Whew! And the rookie got saved. Just called marina nervously. The lazy guy's left my trim tabbed down boat in the water! Yes! Saved by laziness. Ha ha. Thanks to all. Lesson learned. Push both tab buttons DOWN after each use to make the tabs go up! Seems arse backwards, but whew.
 
Hehe... Good news!

Now, memorize that checklist !!! (I should do so as well. I realized that I forgot to lower the antenna and anchor light when I left Monday evening). I hope the guys saw it before they put me on the rack.
 
The way to remember is that the rockers move the way you want the boat to move. So if the port side of the bow is running high and you want to lower it, you push the port side rocker switch top side.

Now the really goofy thing is that when you do that, it is actually operating the starboard side tab. That is because the boats pivot off a centre point and Sea Ray (and most other builders) want to make it easy for you.

So to recap tonight's lesson, up is down and port is starboard.:huh::grin:
 
Don't try to remember.........do as Charlie suggested. Order an automatic tab retractor (ATR) and install it. Its a sealed box that mounts under the panel and wires into existing terminals......takes about 30 minutes to install one. I wouldn't own a boat with tabs without an ATR.

The ATR senses the absence of 12V when you turn off the control circuit and runs the trim pump in the up position for 2 minutes. I wired mine to the electronics master, but you could just as easily use the ignition circuit.
 
Creekwood said:
The way to remember is that the rockers move the way you want the boat to move. So if the port side of the bow is running high and you want to lower it, you push the port side rocker switch top side.

Now the really goofy thing is that when you do that, it is actually operating the starboard side tab. That is because the boats pivot off a centre point...
Click to expand...

Jeff, The above post is how I trained myself when adjusting the tabs. If the switches and the tabs actions are confusing, just think of the 4 switch positions representing the 4 "corners" of the boat.
 
This is a small hijack but as I was reading this I wondered if trailer boats(like mine) should retract the tabs to store? Like putting the drives down to save the bellows once you're parked...

Anyone think it matters on a trailer?:huh:
 
fwebster said:
Don't try to remember.........do as Charlie suggested. Order an automatic tab retractor (ATR) and install it. Its a sealed box that mounts under the panel and wires into existing terminals......takes about 30 minutes to install one. I wouldn't own a boat with tabs without an ATR.

The ATR senses the absence of 12V when you turn off the control circuit and runs the trim pump in the up position for 2 minutes. I wired mine to the electronics master, but you could just as easily use the ignition circuit.
Click to expand...


I must admit I didn't know this was available? Do you get them from Bennett?
 
So I started this thread, and luckily the guy left my boat in water. But......the last laugh is on me. My trim tabs don't seem to work anyway ! Now someone mentioned a blown fuse. I see it takes 20 fuses, I will try to replace and see if that is the issue. I did push both buttons at once.....how reliably does that blow fuse? Hope its not a big issue. Grin......
 
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