WOW!!! What a difference these things make. I could not believe how much smoother the boat rode in chop today. I have the 60lb actuators set on the softest setting and the boat was great in the chop and seemed to be much more stable and nimble. I also noticed that the boat tracked straighter on the nowake zone.
Smart Tabs SX first impressions.
- Thread starter hemi2nv
- Start date
black magic
New Member
Great to hear it. I think I'll be making the move to get some soon. I really like the idea of tracking better in the no-wake zones. I was at West Marine the other day and they had a set there, but I didn't pay attention to the size of the actuators. Do you have any pics of them installed yet?
black magic
New Member
Wow, I didn't even see that thread. Thanks for pointing it out. Also, if you are thinking of repairing your chips yourself, I have personally used marinetex to repair some dings on my keel. Its a two part mixture and sands smooth and even polishes up. Its like a marine grade bondo that 1.) its white and 2.) it doesn't need to be painted. Granted it is not a perfect match for the "sea ray white", but it will get the job done and its cheap.
The hard part about repairing the one on the bottom holes is the holes them self. I could have easily patch the hold area but it would have filled in the hole. Since it is covered by the hinge I just used some Fiberglass sealant that was for below the water line and then used the marine sealant on and in the holes themselves when putting the screws back in. I really could not believe how much better the boat rode in mild chop. I could easily cruise along at 33mph (my cruise speed at 3500 rpms with the 4 blade 18pitch prop) smoothly with just me and the wife. She told me after we crossed the lake she could really tell the difference. My top two suggestion for install would be to tape the hinge on the boat were you want it so than it is flat and the draw the holes using a mechanical pencil so the lead fill fit flush against the inside edge of the hole. Drill the holes starting backwards with the 7/32 bit and finish in forwards. After that make sure to remove enough gelcoat around the edge of the holes do the screw threads will not touch it when they are installed. My starboard side was perfect after I learned that trick. lol...
Noland
New Member
- May 28, 2010
- 68
- Boat Info
- 2006 SR 185 Sport
- Engines
- 4.3 Merc TKS w/ Alpha 1
Big Air Oasis Tower
what made you go with the 60# actuators? I was thining about getting a set, but I thought I read teh 185 needs the 80#.
Noland
New Member
- May 28, 2010
- 68
- Boat Info
- 2006 SR 185 Sport
- Engines
- 4.3 Merc TKS w/ Alpha 1
Big Air Oasis Tower
Thanks for the info. how do you like the 60#?
I really like the way it improved the ride when the lake is choppy and could tell it improved the maneuverability of the boat. The boat planes out quicker and seemed to hold plane at lower speeds although I never had a problem with planing out due to the 4 blade 18 pitch prop. It seems I picked up about 2 mph on the top end and cruise speed as well. The only negative I could find was at slow speeds the boat appeared to roll side to side easier when people were up moving around. Nothing terrible just something I noticed. I have not had a chance to adjust the actuator position yet to see what difference I could notice between the softest setting and the firmest setting yet.
Black180BR
New Member
Im glad these threads pop up every now and then! Great write up on your previous post hemi. I believe I will get with the program and add a set of these to my boat.
- Oct 3, 2006
- 2,019
- Boat Info
- 04 SeaRay 185Sport, Smart Tabs, Mageln Meridian Gold GPS, Hbird Matrix 87 dept/ff/gps/cp, Uniden vhf
- Engines
- 4.3L 190HP, Alpha 1 1.81 ratio, 14 1/4X21 Turning Point Prop
They are well worth the money, I have them on my 04 185, I originally bought them with the 80# actuators, could not get the bow out of the water, I call Nauticus they exchanged them out for 60#, they work great. I have the Stainless version, the composite tabs were not out yet, I think the stainless steel ones are easier to mount and adjust on the belled out transom due to the different mounting setup.
