trim tabs

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joesmo86

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Want to put trim tabs on my 209 escape, just started looking into it, whats better hydraulic or electric, an what brand and size? any input will be appreciated thanks
 
I had Lenco tabs on my 21ft Striper and I was happy with them. They have an auto retract feature that retracts the tabs every time you shut the engine off. I called them directly to help size the tabs on my boat.
 
My personal opinion is that hydraulic have better reliability. The factory tabs are hydraulic. Of course, installing hydraulics is more work since the the pump has to be installed somewhere, wired and connected by tubing to the actuators. There may not be room in the rear lockers . You can ask Grady tech support where they mount the pump. On 208s the pump is in the cabin, either the front locker or the right locker, depending on model year. I don't know where it is on 209s
 
I've had Lencos on several boats and my current Grady came with Bennett hydraulics. The only problem I've had with either (actually both) systems has been the dash rocker switches.

The Lencos are easier to install and they retract faster when you shut down. The Bennett pump runs for a fixed period of time when you turn off the key. It doesn't really matter, but it is a little annoying if you are used to Lencos.

Both companies have excellent customer service.
 
The only tabs I will ever install/use are Bennett hydraulic. EVER.

Any increased difficulty in installing the system is far outweighed by their top notch customer service.
 
joesmo86 said:
Want to put trim tabs on my 209 escape, just started looking into it, whats better hydraulic or electric, an what brand and size? any input will be appreciated thanks
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Joesmo86.

Size wise I would suggest either the Bennett 10" x 12" M120 or the 12 x 12 from Lenco. I had a set of M120s on my 20 ft Aquasport walkaround and they were a perfect size. The M120s have short actuators (rams) so they will fit nicely under a swim platform if you have one. If you opt for Lenco and have a swim platform look into their edge mount 12 x 12, they use less height on the transom than their standard kits.

I will leave the what brand question to the others since I'm a little biased :D

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine
 
Tucker said:
I put Bennetts on my Escape and they went right on. Whole job took a Saturday.
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where did you mount the pump, an what size did you go with?
 
Went to the AC boat show today and noticed that all the boats that had trim tabs were lenco, so are the electric ones better?
 
joesmo86 said:
Went to the AC boat show today and noticed that all the boats that had trim tabs were lenco, so are the electric ones better?
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I Forget the size. It was a Bennett package for that size/family of boat (M10 kit maybe?). The tabs were about 12" long and had a bat-wing design that's a little different than their larger kits. Mounted to sbd side transom. Believe the factory mounts them in the console. I wanted the pump out of the way. Stayed away from the Lenco's because of the high current draw. May not be a valid reason, they sell a lot of trim tabs. Auto retract is standard on the Lencos but an option on the Bennetts. Need to consider that in your thought process.
 
I don't think that the current draw should be an issue since you're going to be running your engine whenever you're using the tabs. Any doubts I had about the Lencos were put to bed when they still worked after my boat was swamped in Sandy and they still functioned. I actually straightened the tabs and plan on puting them on my Tarpon.
 
The orginal Bennetts are on my '92, not much else lasted as long.
 
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