Lost Trim Plane this week

[ROBERTH]

Anyone ever lost their trim plane before? Seems one of mine has come free and sheared the pin from the hydraulic ram.

I called Bennett and they gave me the part number to replace the same one that was made apparently for Grady which has the upfins. They are 18X9 size.

Bennett will not help with getting the replacements, as they say I have to go through a retailer only. The lead time to manuf. is approx. 5 days once they get the order.

I ran down to the West Marine while at the coast and we both were calling Bennett to find out how WM could place the order as a special order since the part numbers did not show up in the special order portal.

So WM manager said he would fax into corporate to handle. We all know what will happen now. I was promised a call by end of day, nothing. Went in the store next day and Mgr would not be back until Monday.

I will be trying to reach him on Monday, but I am now wondering, if maybe I should just get the normal trim planes that are available off the shelf from most all the retailers I researched? They are just flat across with no uplift on the edges. Anyone have any like this? I wonder why Grady had these made with the upfins?

I also wonder if I could benefit from going up a size from 18x9 to 18x12? I am pretty sure I could get more bow down in choppy seas and get a better ride. Even with lead ballast in the anchor locker, it seems I can't get her down like I want. I am close though and it rides much better now that it was when I got it.

The 18x9 size is rated for 22-24' boats. The 18x12 is rated for 22-27' boats. Seems this is more in alignment with my model being a 25' and with bracket she has less lift in the rear anyhow.

Anyone have some experience here? I will also call Bennett on Monday to see if they think I can go for the flat and also if can go larger.

 

[Meanwhile]

I can only speak to the potential of losing a trim tab. When I was cleaning off barnacles I scraped two screw heads off. It was an obvious sign of corrosion. I did not have any anodes on the trim tabs, but I do now!

Bennetts advice was to put screws in between the missing heads.

Good luck. If you don't have anodes, get some.

 

[ROBERTH]

Update. I contacted WM and they were waiting on me to approve the order. I went ahead and approved and order is submitted. Hope to get new trim plane's and new shear pins in about a week or two. Fingers crossed. The shear pins seem/look like they are now SS and not the Plastic. Maybe will have less opportunity to lose them this way.
One thing I forgot to mention is I trailer the boat. Originally it was bottom painted and I stripped that all of when I bought it and re-gelcoated the entire bottom. The SS planes had some damage from the electrolyisis so being that they are not in the water all the time, not so sure I really need the anodes right?

I have not found any signs of further corrosion on the planes since I had stripped/sanded/polished them back to a shiny surface. For sure would add an anode if kept in the water. :mrgreen:

 

[glacierbaze]

You don't call Bennett, you go to THT and say "I need the Tabman", and your problems will be solved.

 

[ROBERTH]

I know tabman and have an old post with him on the replacements back when I first found these with electrolysis damage. However, I don't think he is around anymore on THT. His section for Bennett is gone and I recall something happened with his health, but could not find anything on it lately. I did try that though first. :mrgreen:

 

[glacierbaze]

That was 2013, and thankfully, Tom recovered and is still around. Just do a THT search for tabman, and his posts will show up, and you can PM or email him. Saw him helping someone a couple of days ago.
Check your PM.

 

[Parthery]

Tabman is on GG as well....send him a PM and he will respond.

 

[Tabman]

I'm still around!

Sounds like you are going to get the Trim Planes you need.

Anodes are really important! My rule of thumb is if the boat is in the water long enough to need bottom paint, the tabs need anodes! Plus they are cheap insurance if you happen to run across a "hot" dock in a marina.

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

 

[Jonah]

Hi all,

I am reading this post and realizing that I should probably have anodes on my tabs. But I don’t know what I’m looking for. Does anyone have any images or a description?

 

[DennisG01]

Hi all,

I am reading this post and realizing that I should probably have anodes on my tabs. But I don’t know what I’m looking for. Does anyone have any images or a description?

This should help: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=trim+tab+anodes

 

[Jonah]

Ha, thanks Dennis, fair enough ...

 

[ROBERTH]

Jonah, looks like Bennett has some anodes just for their tabs. Not sure which part for which tab, but makes best sense in how these mount:

http://www.boatzincs.com/bennett-trim-t ... e-kit.html

 

[Jonah]

Thanks Roberth,

My boat is in the water, so I’ll be looking via goggles. This description helps.

 

[DennisG01]

Ha, thanks Dennis, fair enough ...

I'm glad it was received in the manner it was sent - just a bit of humor for a little laugh

 

[ROBERTH]

Update, well I have to say that WM and Bennett came through once the confusion was settled in how to order the tabs.

WM picked up the 1 day shipping (Very Gracious if you ask me! They didn't have to do that) and called me yesterday as soon as they came in.

I was very skeptical if the order actually went over to Bennett, but all is good now. They are installed and ready to go fishing again!

The only difference in these vs the originals was the bracket plates were much larger. The originals were maybe about 1" high and these I am guessing were about 2" high. Sames screw holes though, so install was easy.

Interestingly, I did find the screws bent on the other side when removing that tab. That tells me that when I was on the sandbar a couple years back, that side also took some stress without shearing the pin. Glad I went ahead and replaced it with the new one, and now don't have holes in it. :mrgreen:

 

[ROBERTH]

Update, well I have to say that WM and Bennett came through once the confusion was settled in how to order the tabs.

WM picked up the 1 day shipping (Very Gracious if you ask me! They didn't have to do that) and called me yesterday as soon as they came in.

I was very skeptical if the order actually went over to Bennett, but all is good now. They are installed and ready to go fishing again!

The only difference in these vs the originals was the bracket plates were much larger. The originals were maybe about 1" high and these I am guessing were about 2" high. Sames screw holes though, so install was easy.

Interestingly, I did find the screws bent on the other side when removing that tab. That tells me that when I was on the sandbar a couple years back, that side also took some stress without shearing the pin. Glad I went ahead and replaced it with the new one, and now don't have holes in it. :mrgreen: