Trim Tabs, triple rams?

[yottyboy]

OK well I nabbed a set of (starts with a "B" brand) tabs off FleaBay for (don't hate me) $35. These are used of course, but not much it seems. Very little sign of wear, just the usual dinginess that comes with age. They look like about early 90's vintage. The pump and housing are flawless, and the tabs have virtually no sign of even being in the water, let alone the expected 20 layers of paint. Other than just being old they are as new. Told you not to hate me.

The odd thing is that this set has three rams on each tab. The tabs are only 9x18 so this seems like complete overkill. Are these some early version of racing tabs? I assume that I can get away with losing at least one ram on these when I get around to installing them. This came with the chrome 4 button switch and 30 feet of wire as well as all the plumbing.

Any insight or advice greatly appreciated.

Edited July 18, 2011 by yottyboy

[Sans Peur]

I would only caution you about removing one of the cylinders. The flow rate of the pump is probably designed for a high volume of fluid. If you remove 1/3 of the volume you will probably find the tabs a bit quick going down. Shouldnt hurt anything, but they will be fast reacting.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Sans Peur

[Chisox]

I'd contact Tabman, he'll let you know what the ramifications of dropping an actuator will be...

[Tabman]

They must have been used on a high speed boat as three actuators per Trim Tab is highly unusual. The control you describe was known as the Racing Control and has not been manufactured for some time now.

There will be no issues with removing an actuator from each Trim Tab, in fact depending on the boat and its speed you could run one actuator per Trim Tab.

I hope this helps,

Tom McGow

Bennett Marine