NOOB: Quick trim question on 240 sundeck

S

skibumdc

New Member
May 21, 2008
5
Northern Virginia
NOOB: Quick trim tab question on 240 sundeck

Background: 2003? 240 Sundeck docked in a boatel, so it is lifted out of water after each use.

Father-in-law can't remember each time we go out, the two trim buttons (EDIT: I now know these are trim tabs) left of the steering wheel, which direction to push for heading out to water, or two prepare to be lifted out of water.

He currently pushes up on the two buttons when heading out and down when in no wake zone to dock.

He never touches the (EDIT: I now know this is the Power Trim)adjustment toggle on the throttle when cruising either.

Not sure if he is right or wrong and want to learn correctly for myself.

Thanks.
 
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the trim toggles on the port side (left) of the steering wheel are for the trim tabs. these help balance the boat. they work as follows. if you push the left one up it lowers the left front of the boat into the water (it does this by extending the left side trimtab into the water deeper). if you push the right one up, it pushes the right front side into the water (agian by pushing the right side trim tab into the water). Normally on a 240SD you should push them both back (not up) and retract the trimtabs all the way unless you need to balance the boat do to uneven weight or rough sea conditions.

Now lets discuss the trim button on the gear shift. this trims the drive in and out. when coming up on plane the drive should be trimed all the way down (press the button to the down position and wait to heard the noise change ( you will actually hear a different pitch when it hits bottom). Once on plane trim the drive up until you find the best angle which offeres the best speed and ride. on a 240SD it should be somewhere from 1/4 up to 1/2 on your trim gauge.

when you go to dock at the boatel. you absolutely need to retract the trim tabs (hold in the back or down position for about 3-5 seconds) and place the drive (button on the throttel) in the full down position; to avoid any damage by the fork lifts when they hual you out.
 
tphinney said:
the trim toggles on the port side (left) of the steering wheel are for the trim tabs. these help balance the boat. they work as follows. if you push the left one up it lowers the left front of the boat into the water (it does this by extending the left side trimtab into the water deeper). if you push the right one up, it pushes the right front side into the water (agian by pushing the right side trim tab into the water). Normally on a 240SD you should push them both back (not up) and retract the trimtabs all the way unless you need to balance the boat do to uneven weight or rough sea conditions.

Now lets discuss the trim button on the gear shift. this trims the drive in and out. when coming up on plane the drive should be trimed all the way down (press the button to the down position and wait to heard the noise change ( you will actually hear a different pitch when it hits bottom). Once on plane trim the drive up until you find the best angle which offeres the best speed and ride. on a 240SD it should be somewhere from 1/4 up to 1/2 on your trim gauge.

when you go to dock at the boatel. you absolutely need to retract the trim tabs (hold in the back or down position for about 3-5 seconds) and place the drive (button on the throttel) in the full down position; to avoid any damage by the fork lifts when they hual you out.
Click to expand...

Tom is on the money with his reply. I'll add a little since I have a 240 Sundeck.

Like he said the trim tabs you only really need for weight/wind/sea balancing the boat. A way the sales guy told me is think of the rocker buttons as looking down on the top of the boat so that when you push up your pushing the front down and vice versa.

The trim on the outdrive is more of a 1/8 to 1/4 I think the best thing to do is watch your speedometer when you trim up a little you will see a slight increase in speed without an increase in throttle, that's the sweet spot.

Also as Tom said when you come back in make sure your tabs are all the way up before you have them pull the boat because if they are down their lift could damage them.

Your trim tabs are probably bennet and they make what they call an Auto Trim Tab Retractor unit that basically retracts the tabs all the way back up when you turn the boat off.

I'm considering adding this to my boat.
 
Like he said the trim tabs you only really need for weight/wind/sea balancing the boat.
The trim on the outdrive is more of a 1/8 to 1/4 I think the best thing to do is watch your speedometer when you trim up a little you will see a slight increase in speed without an increase in throttle, that's the sweet spot.
Very good answers, I'll just add a little. The trim tabs will help the boat hold plane at lower speeds, which is useful when pulling knee boards and younger kids on the tube.

I found I could get the most rpms out of my motor with the out drive at 3/8's to 1/2. On the Smart Craft gauge, if you have it, that was 4 or 5 on the on the digital guage. FWIW.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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Re: NOOB: Quick trim tab question on 240 sundeck

skibumdc said:
.... He currently pushes up on the two buttons when heading out and down when in no wake zone to dock.
.....
Click to expand...

You already got some great advice, only point I would make is that very rarely will you push both buttons the same. Most of the time one side needs more or less trim than the other. Short burst see how the boat adjust then trim again if needed.
 
Wow,
Thanks for all the responses guys & gals.

Nice to find a friendly web community of boaters, and Sea Ray boaters at that.

I passed ALL of the info along to him and I know he'll appreciate it as much as I did....even though he might be a little unnerved to learn he's been doing it wrong for 5 years.
 
Just a little clarifciation. If the LH side of the boat is riding high due to a strong crosswind or heavy load on the starboard side, you would hit the LH trim tab button with the down arrow. By doing so, you will deploy/extend the starboard trim tab thereby bring the boat back on even keel. The tab buttons are intuitive assuming you start with the tabs in the neutral position. Starboard side high......hit the right down arrow button, deploying the port trim tab, to push the starboard side down.

FYI, it's not a good idea to try and raise one side and lower the other simultaneously. You can move them together in unison or one side at a time.
 
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Hi all.

I agree with all of the comments above. I think it is important to add that the trim button on the throttle should be adjusted by feel.

Yes, when you are starting out with lots of throttle (the "hole shot"), the throttle trim button should be all the way down. Once you get on plane, it is then that you start to push the top of the throttle-trim button in small increments until you feel the slight pulsation or vibration through the throttle handle start to disappear. That is what I think of as the "feel" sweet-spot. Yes, it usually falls in the 4-6 range (on the Smartcraft gauge) but the exact spot in that range is best found, in my opinion, by using the "feel method." Variable wind, current, tide conditions will modulate the sweet spot so the feel method gets it right every time.

If you are perfectly trimmed, you will hold a steady speed and not gain or lose MPH on the GPS as you are underway.

Try it next time. It's pretty cool.

You will feel this sweet spot even when the trim tabs are deployed.

Good luck all.
 
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Hey all.

My 2007 240 Sundeck is being delivered today!

Someone told me you can put the trim tabs down to get up on plane quicker. Is that a good idea?

Thanks,
Bill
 
on a 240SD you shouldn't need to even touch the trim tabs unless your trying to balance the load left to right; especially with the 350 Mag. on my 240DA (5.0 MPI) I only need them to come out of the hole when I am overload and I'm 1,000lb's heaveir than you to start with.
 
I think I understand -- so to have the tabs all the way "in", meaning not extended, do I press both switches "up"? The button has a bow up arrow on it. The boat is already in the water and I don't have a trailer so I can't see the tabs myself.

The boat was delivered so late (the delivery trailer blew a flat tire) that I didn't get more than 10 minutes on the water before my previous engagement. Hopefully I'll get back out today to play some more. I was impressed with the power of the 350MAG however I was disappointed that the level of engine noise at cruising speed was as loud as my older 20foot with a 4.3L V6 220HP.

Thanks,
Bill
 
Per my 2006 240 SD Manual.
Page 2.10

E. TRIM TABS
The trim tabs (Figure 2.10.1) are DIFFERENT from the stern drive unit trim control. The trim tabs are
two flat plates, hinged below the water line on the transom at the rear and are raised and lowered
hydraulically by using the rocker switches located at the helm. (Figure 2.10.1). The trim tabs are used to adjust the sideways listing
of the boat due to uneven loading, a strong cross wind or propeller torque. The twisting effect of propeller torque is especially pronounced when running the engine at high horsepower output. To correct the listing, adjust the trim tabs to level the
boat. When the boat is level, right to left, the steering effort will be the same for right and left turns. Lower the trim tabs on the listing (lower) side by pushing the top half of the rocker switch in one-half second bursts until the boat is righted.
Using both switches to lower both tabs on a side to- side balanced boat will lower the bow, when on plane, if the rear of the boat is highly loaded. Again, use only short bursts of the rocker switches to adjust the trim. When running at cruising speed, the trim tabs
should be fully up, unless the rear is heavily loaded. In heavy following seas or when running in an inlet, best maneuverability is obtained with a bow high attitude. To be sure the tabs are full up, push the bottom halves of the rockers for several seconds.​




RUNNING ATTITUDE, LIST, PUSH

BOW UP, ......, TOP OF BOTH ROCKERS
BOW UP, PORT, TOP OF STARBOARD ROCKER
BOW UP, STARBOARD, TOP OF PORT ROCKER
BOW DOWN, PORT, BOTTOM OF STARBOARD ROCKER
BOW DOWN, STARBOARD, BOTTOM OF PORT ROCKER​

​
​

​
​

​
 
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boatingfor5 said:
I think I understand -- so to have the tabs all the way "in", meaning not extended, do I press both switches "up"? The button has a bow up arrow on it. The boat is already in the water and I don't have a trailer so I can't see the tabs myself.

The boat was delivered so late (the delivery trailer blew a flat tire) that I didn't get more than 10 minutes on the water before my previous engagement. Hopefully I'll get back out today to play some more. I was impressed with the power of the 350MAG however I was disappointed that the level of engine noise at cruising speed was as loud as my older 20foot with a 4.3L V6 220HP.

Thanks,
Bill
Click to expand...

That's backwards.

Like I said before looking at the two buttons think of it as your looking down at the boat, Pushing up on either lowers the port or starboard bow and when that happesn the tab is going down on which ever side you put down on and then pushing down makes the stern of the boat sit down in the water thus raising the tabs up.
 
I'm not dense - I promise. It sounds like you are saying that the left switch operates the left trim tab. This made sense to me. HOWEVER testing the new boat out of water actually showed the left switch controlled the right tab and vice-versa. I pointed this out to the salesperson and she called her (MarineMax) service department. They confirmed that it was working in the expected way - left switch controls right tab and vice-versa. This matches what SeaRide indicated in an earlier post but seems to contradict Morpheus.
Can someone clear this up? :smt021
 
Sounds like I'm only half right.

So the switch and tabs are opposit but still if you want the forward port side of the boat to go down you push the left trim tab switch up and if you want the forward starboard side to go down you push the right trim tab switch up and if you want the port stren to go down you push the left trim tab switch down and if you want the starboard stern to go down you pusth the right trim tab switch down. Up on the switches make the tabs extend (down) and down on the switchs make the tabs retract (up).
 
Skibum,

The tabs operate as I described previously. At least this is the case with every SR I have every operated when so equipped. So the MM individual it correct as well. It's always important to start from the neutral tab/retracted position. If you have access to a trailer or if your boat is on a lift, press the switches and see what happens. Just make sure the tab will clear the tralier or lift bunk.
 
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