Trim tabs

It will ease your mind at least. Mine was less than two years old (mounting) and it looked really good but on the inside it was not. I feel much better about it now after much drying and epoxy treatment.

My brother-in-law just got his Tracker aluminum boat back from the shop after a few accessory installs and found no sealant used at all on the transducer mounting. He filled his bilge area up with water and it just poured out of those new holes. He was pissed and I reminded him that I offered to do the work right the first time but he got in a hurry. You never know how things were done...

We know how you feel,

Greg
 
Not to hi-jack your thread, but I plan to have trim tabs installed on my new-to-me 16, and don't intend to do it myself. So....is it reasonable to ask my mechanic to do it a specific way? Will he be insulted if I say "Please be sure and seal this appropriately as I don't want water getting in."? There must be a way to approach this without him saying "do it yourself." What would you guys recommend?

I could always have them installed then unmount them and reseal it as I want, and that might be cheaper than asking for the work to be done in a particular manner, but certainly not easier. It will be awhile before I get to this, but this thread made me think of it.

Jackie
 
Thanks, Scott. There was a bit of disagreement in that thread with some proponents of the 5200 purely, and some for the thickened epoxy. I've read a lot of good advice from Bob from thataway on here and would probably go with that. Which method exactly were you recommending?

Jackie
 
Jackie, Since you are paying for the job, you have the right to have it done "your correct" way. I would go with Bob's method. Maybe tell your mechanic that you want to photograph the process to document it for your photo album on this site, to maintain your boat value. Maybe he will get that.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_070.thumb.jpg
 
I wouldn't count on 5200 to keep core dry. You might get lucky, but why have to? The other thing is if you have to remove them for any reason (damage, upgrade), 5200 can be a bit of a bear that way.

What I do for most* core penetrations is overdrill (by a goodly amount if below the waterline because I want a thick annulus that won't crack at all), treat with neat epoxy, then fill with thickened epoxy (colloidal silica, WEST structural filler, etc.). When that cures I do my hardware install (which may be through bolted, tapped, or whatever depending on the application). The hardware then gets bedding compound (again choice depending on job), which does not have to be super-ultra adhesive (which is what 5200 is). That way I have the core protected, the hardware fastened, and bedding compound between the two that can be removed or renewed as desired with no huge fanfare.

I drilled and tapped the epoxy plugs for my trim tabs, then fastened with bronze cap screws (non pointy); but you could also use "pointy" screws if you wanted to. Main thing is to protect the core (for which I don't like to use an adhesive caulk on the surface).

Doing things this way is not particularly difficult, but it IS a bit more time consuming and "fiddly" than slapping it on with 5200. There is also the fact that many instructions basically tell you to do it wrong (even Bennett, whose trim tabs and overall customer service I really like, tell you to just dip the screws in epoxy and run them in). So you are sometimes stuck trying to justify your way (if you are asking someone else to do it). Aggravating. I've just ended up doing things myself because I care the most about my boat and then I can do it how I like (not that one should have to of course).

Here is another link to a good photo tutorial. Even if one is not doing one's own work, it's good to see it I think. Basically many of us are describing the same concept, but just with little variations in tools used and methods. It's actually kind of fun to build up your bag of tricks for doing this work (or maybe I'm just warped :mrgreen: )

Sealing core:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing_the_deck

Bedding (specifically using butyl, but you can extrapolate to other choices):

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebedding_hardware

Sunbeam

*Sometimes I would close out the core by removing it, but not in this situation.
 
Thanks all; hopefully Scott has found these comments on his thread as helpful as I have :lol:

I jumped the gun a bit as I think trim tabs will be next summer's plan - this summer I will install a Permatrim. I am confident in doing that myself, and am actually very good with construction activities. I think installing the trim tabs I could do at the back end, it is running the wiring and lines forward I don't know anything about. But there is certainly a wealth of information here, so I may give it a try one day. I have read and bookmarked all the links and will refer to them soon as Permatrim and downriggers must be put on as soon as they arrive! The King Salmon Derby starts on memorial day and all my friends have been out catching record numbers of kings for April and May. I'm feeling lucky this year with my new little boat! :thup

Jackie
 
Well I finished drilling, back cutting and filling my holes for the trim tabs. Tomorrow I will drill, countersink, use lifecalk and reattach my trim tabs. Thank you for all the good reads Sunbeam and Jackie your comments added positively to this thread. I love my new little boat and looking at yours I'm sure you love your to. I've learned there is a certain confidence in handling epoxy. This is my day 10 and I seem to have had a epiphany. Instead of handling like a liquid I Thickened it up like a putty. With A syringe and putty knife I think I did a very good job.
 
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