Tab Upgrade: Lenco 12x 12's to Lenco 16 x 12's ???

[John_Madison CT]

Anyone try this yet? Lenco tells me it can be done with no major modifications. The actuator stays in the same place. Just unscrew existing tabs, put in new 16" x 12" tab and you're all set to go. (BTW, the 16" measurement is the front to back # , not the port to starboard #.

I wonder if the extra 33% in tab surface will show a significant effect on performance?

Any opinions are welcome. Here is the link to the tab:

http://www.lencomarine.com/Racing%20Tab ... encoh.html

 

[DaleH]

I wonder if the extra 33% in tab surface will show a significant effect on performance? Any opinions are welcome.

OK, but only because you asked ! Will they work? Yes, … but at what “cost” to efficiency?

Given the same surface area, you get far more performance and efficiency by having wider (span) tabs across the hull than depth (chord) projecting off the hull. Those 16” depth planes will bring your bow down, but I know they will seriously kill your motor’s miles-per-gallon performance. Trim tab planes work by adding lift to the stern of the boat, but by doing so, they also create drag. Tabs that size will add so much drag IMHO that this retrofit wouldn’t be worth the cost to consider.

 

[Fishinfireman]

I tried this on my 2520. My advice is don't do it. The longer chord planes were a waste of time and money on my boat. Take that money and get a good fiberglass man to plug the old holes in your transom. Then get some wider tabs and mount them up. You could use your old Lenco actuators with a wider set of planes or just get a big set of Bennetts. Here are the problems that I ran into.

Problem #1 - The longer tabs that Lenco sent me had the same hole pattern but I had to wallow out the holes in the hinge a little bit to get everything lined up right. The longer tabs were made with a much heavier and bigger hinge and the distance from the holes in the hinge to the running surface of the tab is not the same as the tabs that are on your boat now. This causes the next problem.

Problem #2 - Lenco tabs use a piano type hinge which will allow water to pass through. This is not a problem if the tabs are mounted 3/8" up from the bottom of the boat like Lenco states in their instructions. The 12 x 16 tabs when mounted to the original holes in your transom will be flush with the bottom of the boat. This causes a lot of saltwater to spray all over the motor where it is probably sucked in through the air intake. Being the master jury rigger that I am, I came up with a way to block the spray coming through the hinges. Then I discovered problem #3.

Problem #3 - The next time I put the boat in the water I was still getting quite a bit of spray on the motor so I handed the helm to my buddy and I went back to see what was happening. My rigging had stopped the flow of water from th hinges but now I could see water rolling over the side of the tab and the hitting the actuator where it mounts to the tab and then spraying all over the side of the motor. No good.

Problem #4 - Dale is right on with his advice. When I put the tabs down far enough to have the desired effect it really drug the boat down and the spray was terrible.

I wound up removing the Lencos and installing a set of 30" wide Bennetts and I am completely satisfied with them. I can now make the bow cut like it is capable of doing.

 

[John_Madison CT]

Wow, without this Website I would have spent close to $300 and hours of time to do this retro.

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. It looks like I'll wait and put large width Lenco's or Bennetts on my Parker. I'll probably have to wait a season since I have so much more going on.


John