I'm not an naval architect so figuring out the correct setup for my boat was trial and error.
The quickest path to success for me was SX Smart Tabs and a four blade stainless Stilleto prop.
My boat was slow to come on plane, it plowed, top end was poor and it porposed badly. I installed the smart tabs as per manufacturer spec's and it worsened the problem. I then changed to the 4 blade prop and there was a definite improvement but the boat was still sluggish out of the hole.
My final remedy was to make 6" long T brackets to replace the factory, single position, upper mounting bracket. There are 5 mounting holes in the brackets. The lowest setting puts them at 30 degrees and the upper is at zero. This is with the trim tab indexed on the center hole of the tab.
My perfect setting is with a 10 degree initial drop and the tab on the last (firmest) hole. Much to my suprise, it's also perfect with the three blade stock aluminum prop.
The boat is an 18 ft Starcraft with 2 group 27 batteries in the bow storage and a Minkotta V2 powerdrive trolling motor hanging off the front. I'm not sure what my fully loaded weight is.
The point is that while prop selection is extremely important, you can add some flexibility in your choices with smart tabs and a little ingenuity. I wouldn't be supprised to see mine or a similar solution in future versions.
The quickest path to success for me was SX Smart Tabs and a four blade stainless Stilleto prop.
My boat was slow to come on plane, it plowed, top end was poor and it porposed badly. I installed the smart tabs as per manufacturer spec's and it worsened the problem. I then changed to the 4 blade prop and there was a definite improvement but the boat was still sluggish out of the hole.
My final remedy was to make 6" long T brackets to replace the factory, single position, upper mounting bracket. There are 5 mounting holes in the brackets. The lowest setting puts them at 30 degrees and the upper is at zero. This is with the trim tab indexed on the center hole of the tab.
My perfect setting is with a 10 degree initial drop and the tab on the last (firmest) hole. Much to my suprise, it's also perfect with the three blade stock aluminum prop.
The boat is an 18 ft Starcraft with 2 group 27 batteries in the bow storage and a Minkotta V2 powerdrive trolling motor hanging off the front. I'm not sure what my fully loaded weight is.
The point is that while prop selection is extremely important, you can add some flexibility in your choices with smart tabs and a little ingenuity. I wouldn't be supprised to see mine or a similar solution in future versions.
