# I'm thinking about Smart Tabs.....opinions?



## TrackerTom (Jul 30, 2009)

My boat is getting better week by week. Raising the motor did help with porpoising and helped it drive much better and it also picked up almost 10% in speed. It does still porpoise when I am trying to trim it for max speed. All the reviews for Smart Tabs have been extremely positive with a lot of people reporting it fixing porpoising while at the same time increasing top end speed. My boat has a 40 HP 4 stroke and will now hit 32.4 mph w/ 1 person. I've played with weight and the more I've put on the front the better she rides. The guys that make the Smart Tabs say that they will cure the porpoising and probably add a couple of mph to it after they are adjusted properly. What do you guys think? $130 seems like a deal to me if they do all of that.

Tom


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## bassboy1 (Jul 30, 2009)

I do highly recommend Smart Tabs in the correct application. However, I am not sure you have too much left to gain out of your rig. You are likely getting porpoising because you are trying to hang with the bass boat guys, and over trim. On hulls with a "pad" like QuackrStackr's Triton, or the higher end Xpress's, or most of the glass bass boats, the boat is designed to run a little nose high on a small piece of the hull less than 2 feet long, and less than a 1 foot wide in some cases. Trimming it up pretty good on those hulls is what gives them speed, and gets them completely on pad. On your hull, which doesn't have a pad, you really shouldn't be trimming it that much. 

Smart Tabs are ideally to do the same sort of thing as hydraulic trim tabs, get the stern up, and the bow down a little bit, on aft heavy boats that won't plane level normally. While they might clear up some porpoising, that isn't their primary function, and I am not convinced they will gain you much in your application.


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## TrackerTom (Jul 30, 2009)

bassboy1 said:


> I do highly recommend Smart Tabs in the correct application. However, I am not sure you have too much left to gain out of your rig. You are likely getting porpoising because you are trying to hang with the bass boat guys, and over trim. On hulls with a "pad" like QuackrStackr's Triton, or the higher end Xpress's, or most of the glass bass boats, the boat is designed to run a little nose high on a small piece of the hull less than 2 feet long, and less than a 1 foot wide in some cases. Trimming it up pretty good on those hulls is what gives them speed, and gets them completely on pad. On your hull, which doesn't have a pad, you really shouldn't be trimming it that much.
> 
> Smart Tabs are ideally to do the same sort of thing as hydraulic trim tabs, get the stern up, and the bow down a little bit, on aft heavy boats that won't plane level normally. While they might clear up some porpoising, that isn't their primary function, and I am not convinced they will gain you much in your application.




You are definitely a wealth of knowledge on these boats. I appreciate your help for sure.

On my application, before it would porpoise right at neutral steering trim or a HAIR over. Now since I raised the motor, it is significantly better. I can trim it a little past neutral trim without water pouring over the transom like it did before and see the speed increase, but as the speed is climbing the porpoising starts and I trim it back down till it stops. It drives a ton better than it did. The reviews are fantastic on the smart tabs so they are very tempting. I'm just a tinkerer and want it to perform at it's best so hopefully it will be as fuel efficient as possible at the same time. I would love to see 35mph out of it and with the way the speed was going up with very little trim it seems possible if I can get past the porpoising. I talked to mercuy and they said they thought I would get very little difference in a stainless prop which is surprising. They suggested moving the motor up another hole and said that the cavitaion plate skimming the water would be ideal. Mine is under the water now but the water is coming off the back of the boat much more smoothly.The cabelas stainless props for the smaller motors like mine get fantastic reviews too for increased performance. I'm pretty sure it would pull a higher pitch prop with just me in it but I need to suck it up and get a tach to see where it really is. It just absolutely jumps on a plane with just me in it. The 13P seems like a great one for 2 people.

Let me know if you want to try the stripers at lanier sometime. You seem like somebody I would get along well with. Actually my wife is out of town for a week so I'm pretty flexible for fishing in the next week.


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## Zum (Jul 31, 2009)

tiny tachs are cheap...you may get the speed out of another prop.


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## Ranchero50 (Jul 31, 2009)

My 2 cents worth would to make a flat pan for the motor to mount just above the prop similiar to the whale tails you can buy. Twice the width of the prop and about 8" past the back end. I did this to my 17' glass ski boat and it made a world of difference. In your case it'll give you a pad or rideplate to move the CG back further effectively making the boat feel longer and it'll keep you from having as much backsplash.







Jamie


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## Fish Taco (Aug 2, 2009)

I'm not a fan of trim tabs or of anti-ventilation plate additions. I'm not saying they can't be useful, but they are unnecessary in most cases. 

When you trim your motor out, you're reducing the drag of the lower unit in the water. When you start to porpoise, you're forcing the bow up and down because of trimming the motor out too much. I agree with merc in that the anti-ventilation plate should be at the surface or out of the water when running WOT on plane. I would try raising the motor first and see what that gets you. If you're still having problems, retrim the ballast in the hull to move more weight forward amidships (past the halfway point from bow to stern) and give her a test run again. I think you will find that by raising your motor, you'll have less drag in the water and will get that bow to run flatter.

Most porpoising in a jon boat is cause from too little weight forward. Just my .02 cents.


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## TrackerTom (Aug 2, 2009)

I probably will move it one more hole up. It did definitely help the first time. It started out as low as it would go in the top holes and I moved it 1.5" to the middle holes. It is dead even with the bottom of the boat. It looks like if I move it another hole it may be able to get the plate to skim the water where it is submerged now. I've just been nervous about it because I don't have a water pressure gauge. If the plate is submerged and they say it should skim, I can't imagine that it wouldn't be ok to move it up till it does skim.

I've moved most of my weight forward and luckily I'm upgrading to a 80lb 24v trolling motor that I know weighs more than the 46lb 12V that it is replacing and that weight will be on the very nose so it should help too. Shifting weight has made a huge difference. BugPac and I went out Friday night and the 46lb motor was off because I sold it and the new one won't be here till Tuesday. I could tell it rode rougher that night than normal and more bow high along with being easier to porpoise. We did have a bunch of gear with us, but I think it would have done a bunch better with the extra weight on the nose. 

I appreciate the input guys. I'm all ears if you have any more.


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## CarlF (Aug 2, 2009)

Given that you are already over 30 mph, what are you wanting to gain? 
More speed? Why?
Unless you are tournament fishing or racing, I dont see that gaining another couple of mph is worth spending a couple of hundred bucks.


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## TrackerTom (Aug 2, 2009)

CarlF said:


> Given that you are already over 30 mph, what are you wanting to gain?
> More speed? Why?
> Unless you are tournament fishing or racing, I dont see that gaining another couple of mph is worth spending a couple of hundred bucks.



Overall efficiency and fuel economy. They claim an 11% improvement in fuel economy with the tabs. I think I could ride slower and keep the rpm's down and the bow would be down to ride well and burn less fuel doing it. When the water is rough, it would be nice if it planed slower to not get beat up in the rough water.

Tom


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## Bugpac (Aug 2, 2009)

I was lucky enough to have tom take me to Lanier Friday night, I definitely could see the added advantage of the tabs for the 130.00 bux or so they cost, With my big rear end in back of the boat with him, it took a bit to plane out, ran high in the bow at speed, riding in the front did not look to be an option on Lanier, probbaly would have been extremly sore... Thanks again for the trip Tom, looking forward to the next one...


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## TrackerTom (Aug 2, 2009)

Leonard, I enjoyed it too. We'll do it again. The boat really does ride better with the weight of the trolling motor on there. I noticed it when I went out with my dad with our normal load of gear on Saturday a.m. It wouldn't hurt us to trim down the gear next time though. Let's go again soon. I think we should try it in the morning though next time. I've been more consistent about getting on fish in the a.m.

Tom


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## Bugpac (Aug 2, 2009)

TrackerTom said:


> Leonard, I enjoyed it too. We'll do it again. The boat really does ride better with the weight of the trolling motor on there. I noticed it when I went out with my dad with our normal load of gear on Saturday a.m. It wouldn't hurt us to trim down the gear next time though. Let's go again soon. I think we should try it in the morning though next time. I've been more consistent about getting on fish in the a.m.
> 
> Tom



Whatever morning is good for you, My kids have to be up at 6am everyday now...


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## Macgyver (Aug 2, 2009)

I have smart tabs on my ski boat , worth every dollar spent on them , in that application. I wouldn't put them on my tin boat though, I'd look into pods maybe.?.?.?


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## TrackerTom (Aug 6, 2009)

Well I bit the bullet and got a set. I installed them tonight so the sealer could dry for my Saturday outing. I paid extra for the pro troller verison thinking I would need the upper bracket that moved because they advertise it as a retractor as well for a different application. In the end it would have worked without the extra $30 pieces. Since I didn't need them to retract to clear the trailer bunks I wend ahead and installed them where they can be used for trolling which could be useful for trolling lead core for stripers. We'll see. Well I can't wait to try them out.


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## Waterwings (Aug 6, 2009)

Post some pics if you get a chance and don't mind doing so. For curiositys sake, I'm interested to see what they look like. 8)


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## TrackerTom (Aug 7, 2009)

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, didn't realize it or I would have taken another.


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## Waterwings (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks for posting the pic, as I now know what the tabs look like. 8)


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## Macgyver (Aug 7, 2009)

ta got the SX tabs, I have the stainless ones on my ski boat, I also have the protroller levers for them as I do a bit of trolling in it . 

here's apic of the tabs, one down and one up ..


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## TrackerTom (Aug 8, 2009)

Well the smart tabs are great. I made an adjustment and can't wait to see how they do on the next trip, but they totally changed the ride of the boat for the better. It's much smoother, stays on a plane at lower speeds, has very little bow rise when taking off. I think they are a bargain.


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## ober51 (Aug 8, 2009)

TrackerTom said:


> Well the smart tabs are great. I made an adjustment and can't wait to see how they do on the next trip, but they totally changed the ride of the boat for the better. It's much smoother, stays on a plane at lower speeds, has very little bow rise when taking off. I think they are a bargain.



Glad to hear it - always a good thing when you are pleasantly surprised 8)


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