Mercury Active Trim vs. Trim Tab

peterjaw

peterjaw

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Good day captain,
The Active Trim from Mercury is for leveling the boat when accelerating and decelerating.
In the mean time, it seems that trim tabs are for the same purpose, except it can adjust the left-right balance.

My question is: Do I need to install both of them?

Thank you very much for your comments.
 
Trim tabs can also push the bow of the boat further into the water than drive trim alone.

And as you say trim tabs can accomodate for lwft and right imbalances,due to either loading or wind direction.

Assuming were talking about sports boats up to 40 feet or so on length (because were talking about being abke to trim the outdrives ) id say having both whilst not essential is very very nice to have for most boats of this type, and personally I woudnt have a boat without trim tabs.

My boat would be significantly worse without trim tabs, it is very sensitive to loading imbalances and leans heavily into the wind. Trim tabs allow me to compensate for that,and also really gwt the bow down much lower than using drive trim alone when heading into a chop. They make a massive difference to the ride .
 
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julians said:
Assuming were talking about sports boats up to 40 feet or so on length (because were talking about being abke to trim the outdrives ) id say having both whilst not essential is very very nice to have for most boats of this type, and personally I woudnt have a boat without trim tabs.
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Thank you very much, Julians.
I am making decisions about the options, the boat in my wish list is Quicksilver 855 which
is less than 30 feet and I'd say this boat is not of sports style.
The cost of Active Trim is not a big deal, but I just wonder if I need 2 equipments of very
similar function.
 
Theres 3 things here:-

1. Normal outdrive/outboard trim control (not automated)
2. "Active trim" - mercs name for automated control of 1 above
3. Trim tabs

1 and 3 are very very useful imo, 2 is less useful imo,but if it costs nothing extra then take it, if its an extra cost then its up to you if worthwhile or not.

1 comes by default with any outdrive boat , 3 is usually an extra cost,but depends on the boat in question.

Tim tabs(3)and drive trim(1) are not the same thing, trim tabs allow an extra degree of control that you cannot get with drive trim alone.
 
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julians said:
Theres 3 things here:-

1. Normal outdrive trim control (not automated)
2. "Active trim" - mercs name for automated control of 1 above
3. Trim tabs

1 and 3 are very very useful imo, 2 is less useful imo,but if it costs nothing extra then take it, if its an extra cost then its up to you if worthwhile or not.

1 comes by default with any outdrive boat , 3 is usually an extra cost,but depends on the boat in question.
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Quicksilver makes the "bow thruster" and "trim tab" in a pack. The pack
costs about 3400 GBP. The "Active Trim" is an individual option which
costs 455 GBP.

That is why I am asking.

For such a small boat, I think the bow thruster is not very essential. So
if the "trim tab" can be replaced by "Active Trim", then I can save about
3000 GBP.
 
Active trim is just automated control of the drive trim angle,i wouldnt pay that much extra for it.you can still alter drive trim manually without active trim.

Trim tabs perform a different function to drive trim.

If you have to buy a bow thruster and trim tabs together,and the cost is too great you could always get trim tabs fitted aftermarket on their own without the bow thruster ( although a bow thruster is another very useful thing- but i wont complicate this thread further by talking about bow thrusters)

I repeat again, active trim is not a replacement for trim tabs
 
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If it's case of one or the other, go for trim tabs. Active trim is an Automatic system, but without it you can still trim the engine manually.

Without tabs, you will have no way to correct lean that is caused by weight distribution or weather.
 
The option list makes every boat the most expensive boat in the world. It’s a trick that all boat builders use and it’s very annoying. I’m sure the 855 is quoted without engines which is even more misleading, but if you are going to keep the opinions to a limit (very sensible) I would still think carefully about a bow thruster, they are very handy to have.
 
The boat builders just like all the other car makers in the world. They create tons of options,
packs, accessories .... (you name it.) and there are always something we need but are
spreaded in different packs with even more that we don't want.

Apparently, the "trim tab" is strongly recommended in this thread. I will do some homework
about the aftermarket trim tab in Taiwan.

Boating is defnintely not as popular as in the UK or Europe, the aftermarket is limited due
to the economic scale. The aftermarket trim tab could be more expensive than the factory
mounted ones.
 
If your budget allows for it, I'd definitely speck the trim tabs and the bow thruster - the latter because the 855 will be sensitive to windage giving the relatively high superstructure. I know we are all wonder captains on here and know exactly how to berth by just using the throttles despite a F5 blowing in the opposite direction, but err....realistically you'll appreciate the back-up of a bow thruster just in case......
 
Coustea1 said:
If your budget allows for it, I'd definitely speck the trim tabs and the bow thruster - the latter because the 855 will be sensitive to windage giving the relatively high superstructure. I know we are all wonder captains on here and know exactly how to berth by just using the throttles despite a F5 blowing in the opposite direction, but err....realistically you'll appreciate the back-up of a bow thruster just in case......
Click to expand...

I didn't realize the high structure would be a potential issuer in strong wind condition. Thanks for reminding me.

I have onle experience on the RIB which is very easy to berth it. But you are right, we always appreciate for the back-up.
 
Obviously time has passed here, but worth noting that mercury active trim can be incorporated with trim tabs as well. (i.e. active trim automatically trims the engine AND the trim tabs. I don’t know if the Quicksilver “pack” does this.
 
pumpsmynads said:
Obviously time has passed here, but worth noting that mercury active trim can be incorporated with trim tabs as well. (i.e. active trim automatically trims the engine AND the trim tabs. I don’t know if the Quicksilver “pack” does this.
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So far, Active trim only automatically trims the engine ONLY, and trim tabs are operated by captain.

I don't see Quicksilver ever does anything to try to incorporate these 2 functions.

I have owned my Quicksilver 855 weekend for almost a year, honestly, I just hope Quicksilver could fix those water leaks.
 
Hi
To make certain you’re aware. These are two different things for two generally different purposes.
 
Bouba said:
That’s a very interesting website. Can you tell us what kind of boat you have and what benefits you get from the Mente Marine automatic tabs
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Yep, just watched their installation video but cant figure out how the Mente auto trim tabs know when your at 'cruising speed'
Some sort of gps module in the unit maybe ? or am i just being thick :confused:
 
Oscar24 said:
Yep, just watched their installation video but cant figure out how the Mente auto trim tabs know when your at 'cruising speed'
Some sort of gps module in the unit maybe ? or am i just being thick :confused:
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At the end of the installation video it says get the boat to cruising speed and best trim then press the button to set the machine
 
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