Trim Tabs For 22 Cruiser

H

hauptmaus

New member
I would like to put trim tabs on a 2003 22 cruiser with a swim platform. Reading the past posts it looks like the Bennett M-120 would be the choice. The sump pump in this boat is under the step in the cabin. At the the transom there is a plastic 20 gal fuel tank on each side and two battery boxes between them

It would appear that the tanks, which have been topped off for the winter, may have to be moved back so the cylinder brackets and hoses can be installed. If anyone has done a similar installation, comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

Jim
 
You are correct in that you will have to get behind the gas tanks and batteries. You do not have to disconnect the tanks but you will need to move them a little. The trim tab power unit will need to be mounted on the inside/center transom above your drain plug give or take a few inches.

I would suggest waiting till spring to start this project and have a helping hand around when you do it. Be careful and don't drill a hole through your tanks. Holding a sheld between the tank and where the drill bit is going to come through will prevent this.

Installation is pretty straight foward and more time should be devoted to measuring twice...then measure again.
 
I would suggest over drilling and under cutting any holes in the transom, to fill with epoxy. You may have to move the swim platform: if so, then these holes have to be filled also.

I would suggest the tab control with the indicator and automatic retraction feature.
 
Thanks to all for your help!!!
I will be having a new engine (90 hp E-Tec) installed and will also have Bennett M-102 trim tabs installed.
Jim
 
Do yourself a favor put on Lenco trim tabs a lot easier to install and no messing with all that fluid . I had one of the tabs go bad they sent me a new one and I had lost the paperwork . The Lenco are a lot more responsive and it won't take up valuable real estate in the transom area
 
As much as this hurts my soul to say...I have to agree with Jim on the choice of Lenco over Benett tabs. I had to replace my power unit a little while back and it took a lot of searching to find one that was not half the price of the tabs to start with. Retail on the power unit alone is over $350.00.

With Lenco there is less realestate as Jim puts it..taken up in the transom and the replacment of any component is much easyer if it ever comes to that.

Do the research and make a discission that suits your needs.

Both are outstanding companys to do business with.
 
I have Lencos on my CD25 and I hate the things. They are noisy, slow, and the stroke is too short. One of the actuators failed and a replacement was $187 the last and only time I looked. I will be replacing the tabs with Bennett hydraulics.

I had Bennett M120 tabs on the CD22 and my belief is they must have been designed for the boat. They are perfect for the hull. They provide a little more trim than you need, but believe me - it is way better to not use all there is than to be stuck with not enough. You do not have to mount the hydraulic lunes thru the hull. Bennett makes actuators with external fittings that can be plumbed over the transom, and they used to swap for the standard actuators for no extra charge. Of course, it looks better to have the hoses completely hidden.

Because I always like to have things out where I can see them, the hydraulic unit on my 22 was mounted under the gunwale. The installation kit comes with enough tubing to mount it just about anywhere in the cockpit you want.
 
Remember Mike,
When the HPU on the Benett's goes your be looking at $350.00.

I am interested in how noisy are they....I have only had experence with Jim's 23 Wantabe C-Dory Venture Cape Cruiser with a Yami 115 running and I have never heard a peep out of his Lenco's over the engine noise...

Now if you trim a lot at idle speed or without the engine running then I can believe you might be albe to hear them.

An on another point , I must have done something wrong when I installed my Benett's because I followed their instructions to the letter and it stated that you should place the HPU in a dry spot with enough clearence to remove the lextran cover and to keep the port and starboard fluid lines as equal in length as possable. This being said I assumed that would only allow me to place the pump on the centerline of the boat between the tabs and between the gas tanks...thus making the lines equal. If I had known that they would work by having one line 3 ft and the other one 9 ft then I would have placed my HPU under the gunnel as well. It would make access much easyer in the future.

You also said they were slow and the stroke was to short.

There again I only have one Lenco to compare to , but Jim's are quicker then my Benett's to respond and the stroke is the same. Therefore even as I write this I am wondering if your Lenco's are having a internal problem that is making them scream for attention. Have you contacted Lenco to ask about these issues?

Just thinking outloud....no need to get out the tape measures yet.
 
Yeah ok - the Lencos aren't loud enough to be heard at speed, but I can hear the racket when retracting them to return to the dock. It is an annoying noise, but on the plus side it eliminates the need for the expensive position indicator because the noise changes when the tab is full up! To be fair, the hydraulic pump (mounted where I had it) could be heard as well, but it wasn't as loud or annoying.

I have a Permatrim on now, so it takes some of the need for the tabs away, but the ones I have are still inadequate.

The biggest I can fit without going to a bracket for the kicker is 12x12. The boat had Bennett hydraulic 12x12 tabs when I got it, but the tab plates had corroded to the point of needing replacement. I didn't like where the pump was located and I didn't like the joystick control that was already there, so I replaced the whole system. For simplicity, I used Lenco electrics. They were the same size, but they gave much poorer performance than the tabs I took off. I made some 1/2" spacer blocks to mount below the actuators to shove the tabs further into the water, and that helped some. Then, however, they did not retract as far.

I don't recall, but if the directions in the Bennett kit I put on the CD22 said to keep the tubing runs the same length, I probably did so and coiled the extra couple feet of tube. Or not. Didn't that Pascal guy say it shouldn't matter? I do know they worked great.

To tell you the truth, I think the biggest advantage of the Bennett Sport Tabs is in the plates themselves. As light as the 22 is in the water, the turned down edges of the Sport Tabs did a lot for control and tracking, much as the PermaTrim plate seems to.

As far as having to someday replace the HPU, I saved the one I took off. It's only 15 years old, so it will go a few more seasons. :teeth

I do not know what brand of tabs SeaSport will be using, but I do recall that when the C-Dory folks finally admitted that tabs were a good thing on their hulls they started with Lenco electrics and changed very soon to Bennett M120 hydraulics. And I believe they did so based on feedback from this group. My memory is not what it used to be, so the above may be wrong. All I know for sure is that I will take a hydraulic jack over a screw jack every chance I get.
 
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