Trim tabs getting damaged when forklift lifts boat

[Beyond A Wake]

2019 335 Freedom with Bennett hydraulic tabs. The tabs have on both sides of the flap a down ward 90 degree about 1in bent wing. When tabs are retracted they are in the slot for them but these wings stick out some and are not flush with bottom. This means that when fork lift forks are getting under boat they are moved inward to align with chine but move over trim tab at the same time. Since the tabs wing is standing out some it gets caught by forklift pushing it towards center of boat and ultimately breaking the cylinder as well.
I replaced one cylinder and made sure tab is all the way in when ignition is cut but the wing stays of course out.
I find no other solution than cutting the wings off so tabs are pure flat and sitting in pocket. Have been looking at all boats at the marina and all kinds of solutions for tabs are there. Some are plain flat (maybe a little thicker gauge steel?) some have upward bent wings and stay behind transom. Looked at a 370 CC Great Grady next to me, tabs are bigger but principally same design BUT wings are much smaller. Seem to not get caught by forks.
So questions are
1. Did GG redesign the tabs to have smaller wings not to get caught when boats are hauled?
2. Are the wings there for rigidity?
3. Are the wings there for keeping water flow on tab longitudinally?
4. Ultimately would there be any harm to cutting the tabs down to be plain flat????

I only see solution 4 and since I rarely use them I dont think there is any detriment to the performance.

H

 

[Fishtales]

I noticed on some hulls there is not a recessed area for the tabs and others where the tabs extend out beyond the transom. Both conditions are not optimal in my book and I wonder why GW does it this way. First thing I'd do is talk to the yard that is moving the boat around. Maybe contact Bennett and see what they say. If you cut the flap off, you likely will see some performance reduction but maybe it needs to be done to test it out?

 

[glacierbaze]

Hard to believe grady would have done that at the factory. Are you the original owner, and are they the original tabs?
When fully up, is the flat portion of the tab tight against the hull bottom, or is there a gap between? If so, someone may have put the wrong cylinders, or mounted the top flange too low on the transom.
There is nothing wrong with flat tab planes, they pretty much all used to be. Bennett claims better performance, with less length along the transom, and started calling the winged ones performance tabs, or sport tabs.

 

[DennisG01]

The downward wings give better performance for the size of the tab.

I wonder if something has been messed with at some time because one would "think" (hope?) that Grady would have taken that wing into account when mounting.

Unless there's some issue with the rams not fully retracting....

Cut 'em off and go boating.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

Tabs are flat against bottom of recess when up. I can understand that there could be a performance side to it by keeping the flow in a "channel" and not escaping to the sides, but cannot be a big deal. The 370 next to me in storage barn has of course bigger tabs but wing is a lot smaller. I am 2nd owner but they are original for sure. Will drive down to dealer here and discuss as well but i see no other solution than cutting them off.
I did talk to the marina master who also is the chief truck driver, he said he cannot lift it in any other way.
Sidenote, they have also been faced with issues when lifting stepped hulls, too much pressure on step edge damaging it during lift for some boats.

H

 

[Beyond A Wake]

Talked to local dealer. They have seen this sometimes but rarely, one a year or so. I then looked at a new 345 and it still has same design and same tab. Slightly different hinge design but same wing. They also added some anodes to the tabs which i dont have but I will add as I can see some corrosion on the tabs around screw holes.
So conclusion for now is to cut off the wings on both sides to have just a flat surface, may loose some of the efficiency of tabs but better than having to replace actuators / cylinders and repair gelcoat damage when tabs slide to the sides of pocket.

H