trim tab vane; how do I set it?

[RB]

'77 Johnson 115hp.

How do I set the trim tab vane on the lower unit? It's easy to physically
loosen, set, and tighten. However, what I'm asking is where to set it, how
to know if it's the right setting, etc. I seem to remember it's some kind of
trial and error thing, but I don't know what to look for. Please give me a
quick crash course in the care and feeding of that thingee.

[Bob La Londe]

It is trial and error. Basically you set it so that the boat doesn't pull
to one side at the speed you run most often.



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"RB" > wrote in message
...
> '77 Johnson 115hp.
>
> How do I set the trim tab vane on the lower unit? It's easy to physically
> loosen, set, and tighten. However, what I'm asking is where to set it, how
> to know if it's the right setting, etc. I seem to remember it's some kind
of
> trial and error thing, but I don't know what to look for. Please give me a
> quick crash course in the care and feeding of that thingee.
>
>

[Dale Coleman]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 21:21:25 -0600, "RB" >
wrote:

>'77 Johnson 115hp.
>
>How do I set the trim tab vane on the lower unit? It's easy to physically
>loosen, set, and tighten. However, what I'm asking is where to set it, how
>to know if it's the right setting, etc. I seem to remember it's some kind of
>trial and error thing, but I don't know what to look for. Please give me a
>quick crash course in the care and feeding of that thingee.
>

Hi all, if you drink lots of coffee and really think about it you will
be able to figure out what way to turn the trim tab to cancel out a
pulling problem in the steering.

If you would rather save your brain for out smarting the fish then try
marking the trim tabs current position using a small screw driver as a
scribe (use a scribe if you have one) and then move the tab something
like a 1/8 inch or so. Go test the boat and see how did it do. Better?
Move it more from the scribe. Pulls harder? Went the wrong way. Pulls
the other way? Went too far. That's the easy brainless way I know to
set one.

PS - why do I like fishing? It takes everything I can think of to out
smart the fish with a pea size brain ;-)

Later, DC

--
Dale Colemam

[Don WA5NGP]

This adjustment is a bit counter intuitive but it makes sense if you
consider ALL factors. To make the correction you actually move the
vane opposite the direction that the tiller would move to counteract
the pulling. The reason is that this trim tab is realy steering the
motor(or tiller) not the boat. So when you steer the motor one way
the net effect is to steer the boat in opposite direction. I fooled
around with mine a long time and had the tab at the very extremes with
no help until I realized I needed to go totally to the other side.
Having sailed a lot with tillers I was convinced I knew what to do but
I didn't consider that the little trim tab was affecting something
else, not the boat directly.

Have fun.

Don
WA5NGP

[WRH]

Move it in the direction of the pull until the boat doesn't pull any more.
It usually doesn't take much.

--
Bill
Chesapeake, Va


"RB" > wrote in message
...
> '77 Johnson 115hp.
>
> How do I set the trim tab vane on the lower unit? It's easy to physically
> loosen, set, and tighten. However, what I'm asking is where to set it, how
> to know if it's the right setting, etc. I seem to remember it's some kind
of
> trial and error thing, but I don't know what to look for. Please give me a
> quick crash course in the care and feeding of that thingee.
>
>