Trim Tabs for 165 ID Supercharged???

[dshscarab]

Hello everyone. I have a 2018 Scarab 165 ID with Wake Tower 250 HO Supercharged. I attempted to fit limited space Lenco Trim tabs but couldn't. Was there ever a resolution to the trim tab dilemma on the Scarabs?

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

I've been considering this as well to help with porpoising... but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Are you trying to solve the same problem? Besides drilling holes, I'm a little "worried" that the tabs will increase my draft when going very slowly. I have some very shallow spots to navigate through often, so I'm not sure how many inches it would add to my 12" draft. Regardless, would love to know if somebody has done this.

 

[dshscarab]

Yes. the porpoising is my main concern. I have actually attempted this weekend but not able to fit everything. The problem comes down to the room for the actuators. It appears that if a company made 8" actuators, then it could be done like on the Yamaha's. I was using the short actuators from Lenco but still couldn't get it to work. Thank goodness, I didn't drill any holes before trying to fit everything. I have reached out to several companies. Lectro Tabs and Bennett Marine. I will keep you posted on their response

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Yeah, definitely want info on this. Please let me know. If you could install them, did you notice how much it would increase your draft? Also, I assume you're looking for tabs that you can control? i.e. NOT "Smart Tabs"? (adjusted via simple water pressure)

 

[dshscarab]

Like I said, I was not able to install due to the lack of room the way they designed the boat so I can't answer on the draft question. I will keep you posted on what I find or discover. If anyone else has any insight, that would be great. I know it was discussed back in 2015 / 2016 but never really answered.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Gotcha. Sorry, thought you had eyeballed it in dry fitting stuff. Thanks.

 

[swatski]

If porpoising is the main concer, those Nauticus smart tabs work great. Very inexpensive and easy to install. Maintenace free, albeit may need to replace the actuator part every few years but that’s cheap.

—

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

I've been considering them a lot, but my worry is that they will protrude too much when moving slowly. I'm worried they would drag on the bottom in some really shallow spots I go over but especially when backing up. I'm worried they'll rip out if it hits bottom.

The electric/hydraulic ones can presumably be lifted out of the way for those occasions. But albeit much more expensive solution.

Correct me if I'm wrong of course. Also, now that the other tabs didn't fit his boat, not sure if the Smart Tabs would fit...

 

[dshscarab]

Here is the latest conversation from Russ who works at Lectrotab. I asked him about the possibility of 8" actuators as I think we have room on our boats for those. His reply is the following; " Derek,

Yes, I have run into this problem before with other Scarab owners. The boats look awesome but unfortunately the contours and limited space doesn’t lend itself to tab kits.
Even if we were to machine down our short body actuators, I doubt we could get them down to 8” (pin to pin). I can check with the power that be and see if we ever did some shorter actuators and let you know. It could be that we did something in the past and have parts available?

I’ll be back in touch…"

I guess so far at this point, it is not looking too good. As far as the Nauticus brand, I am not sure how long the actuators are. Like also stated above, I like the idea of being able to retract them when backing up or not needed.

 

[dshscarab]

Just so nobody is left hanging on. Still nothing as of now. I e-mailed Bennett with some pictures and measurements. Being that I am in South Florida, not too far from their office, I even suggested using my boat as a guinea pig if they wanted to. I will post an update as soon as I hear back. Hopefully, something turns out of this.

 

[dshscarab]

Hello everyone,
Just an update so that I don't leave anyone hanging. I never heard any more about the tabs. I attempted many things but it never worked out. I gave up and the wife wanted a larger boat anyway. So, as a result, I sold the Scarab and purchased a new 2019 Yamaha AR-195. I will be on that side of the forums. Good luck to everyone and be safe!!

 

[Dean P]

Congrats on the upgrade and a new boat!!! You're gonna love it. BIG difference between the 2. Get ready for some mods (hopefully you got some $$ left over) We all do them. Welcome to the forum. Tons of great info and people here. Please take and share lot of photos when you can. We all love them. Good luck!

 

[Djstylamix]

It appears that 7.5” actuators are now on the market.

Low Profile Smart Tabs - Nauticus Incorporated

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

If the purpose is to stop the porpoising on the 165, I can confirm that these tabs won't work. Now mind you I didn't have these new, shorter actuators. But I installed 9x8" Nauticus tabs on my 165. I used it for about two years that way. The behavior of the boat definitely changed, but the porpoising didn't. It changed the frequency maybe, but still very much present. I tried all kinds of things with these tabs. I adjusted angles, pressure from the actuators, etc. Nothing stopped it.

Furthermore, trim tabs prevent your reverse from working well. In fact, I'd estimate you lose about 90% of your reverse thrust. It's pretty significant.

Also, don't do any hard spins, you'll bend them and possibly break them.

My summary, although it can add stability to the 165 in some ways, I decided it wasn't worth it. I removed them. Too many compromises and too little gain.

 

[Colorado Ron]

Drive with throttle to stop porposing, best is to add a variable trim system so you can rise/lower jet outlet like all the PWC's have, crazy they didnt put on the boats. have a 2009 Seadoo speedster with lots of mods and very quick. you can add length to the ride plate like they did on Mercurys or add some washers to the rear of ride plate to lower bow, but can hurt top end.

 

[84rzv500r]

FWIW possibly nada...

A guy with twin yamaha 220 exciter MR-1/110 conversion (I think it was him anyway) did the ski nozzle trim and said it didn't help and another guy here has an XR1800/MR-1 HO conversion with all the trim parts off the donor skis however i haven't heard from him in a few months... i'm not sure the trim nozzles are effective enough to push the nose down/stern up (assuming the boat would move somewhere around the centroid of mass) on a boat that much... jet ski yes, boat not so much...

my 4-tec 155 sportster will only do 45-46 on a good day so its not fast enough to have a problem... the LS2000/AR210 was and it would often start passin through 50MPH or so... OEM impellers would only do 52 or so... when I switched to Solas Concord 12/18's I picked up 2 mph, and extending the keel and teh tab picked up another 2-3 as I could hold WOT... before I put my trim tab on i found the only way to stop the porpoise action was to back off on the throttle till it stopped and then give it more if it would take it... I armored the keel between the jets, extended the keel delta pad 2.5 inches and added a bennett 3000 and 12x14 tab... cured everything with the two strokes... its a very fine balance and even 50 more ponys is not a slam dunk

The MR-1 HO conversion 4 stroke (mostly Fuel tank QTY and relocation to the ski locker moving the CG further forward improved the ride dramatically in chop however I've lost some top speed (too much hull in the water) but slowly getting it back fine tuning everything... 12/20 OE to 15/22 Solas impellers are next.... the big tab lets the boat jump on plane with NO stern drop and bleed it off like flaps as the speed comes up... and is great for getting on and off plane in skinny water. When at cruise speeds in moderate chop 1-2' sometimes a slight bit of down tab improves the ride dramatically