Trim Tabs - wakesurf tabs actually...?

[ktige7]

I have looked at the Go Surf Assist which costs some serious money for an older boat. Anyone used just regular Bennett brand or other trim tabs that basically would do the same thing for $600? Would like thoughts or suggestions on anyone that has tried.

2005 Tige 24V

[sandm]

there's a reason that tige went away from "plain old tabs" to gsa and heard they are now moving back to an in-house design that is different from taps 3t and gsa. they have been proven to work better than a standard tab BUT that's also on tige/mb hulls and sure there are some hours in testing before they made that decision.

you can try the bennett tabs and if you don't like the results, measure up a tab off another boat, machine one and see if you notice a difference.
keeping in mind that the controller/software are some of the costs of gsa.

we were pondering for our old z3 before we sold it so go over to wakegarage and you'll see a lot of dyi in this area including making your own controllers with parts off ebay/amazon.

[chpthril]

One thing is for sure, to build a quality wave, theres more to it then just a square hunk of metal dragging in the water. Tige TAPS-3 made a huge leap in wave building compared to just listing. GSA's plate design showed to be even better.

With that said, my opinion will certainly differ from others. Tige never used a "trim tab" for a surf system. It was an in-house built plate and it differed from Mastercraft, Supra, MB and others, but it was not a trim tab.

I think one difference between a trim tab system and a surf system, beyond the plate size and shape, is deployed depth and angle. So you could use a bennett plate, but you would want to more closely mirror the deployed depth of a surf system compared to a trim tab system on a cruiser or off shore boat.

[ktige7]

Chpthrill - what if I found some Taps 3 plates fairly cheap?

[chpthril]

They would be 10X better then an actual trim tab. Given the number of TAPS-3 to GSA plate swaps talked about here, Im sure some Tige dealer in AZ has a pair collecting dust.

[ktige7]

Chp-thank you sir! I think that gets me in the right direction. Do you sell a custom ballast bag for the 24v?

[bsreid]

There’s so much more to a surf system than just a basic trim tab. In both the tab design and the controller it uses.

[duffymahoney]

I really like the suck gate on the side of the boat, I feel like it makes the wave better, I would love to experiment with placement more. I would be surprised if the GSA location is better. I thought they did that to get around malibus patent?

[UNSTUCK]

This has come up a couple times in the past. I’m a hypocrite and a naysayer at the same time. The basics of a tab is to delay convergence of the two wakes from hitting each other to form the wave. How a boat builder chooses to do that mostly (IMO) depends on what patent he wants to infringe on or what he can get away with. Look at all the different systems producing great waves for the average boating family.

Turning a non surf system boat into one on the cheap will make a HUGE difference. Going from a $600 system to a $5k will not be nearly as noticeable. Maybe start with $600 and see what you think. I’d rather be out $600 by upgrading to the $5k than buying the $5k first and not needing it.

Having said all that, I have a set of taps3 tabs that will be up for sale in the next few weeks as I try something different, again.

[maxrider]

The actuators on my 2021 RZX23 looks like outboard trim motors. Is that what they really are?

[chpthril]

The actuators on my 2021 RZX23 looks like outboard trim motors. Is that what they really are?

The new actuators that Tige is using, is more robust then the previous Lanco actuators. There very well could be someone using them a lower unit actuator. The application is the same. They are a 12V reversible motor intended to move a component out and in or up and down.

Considering that about 75% or better of a boat is sourced from vendors using existing components, dont make a judgment because you see something used by another boat builder.

[ktige7]

I really like the suck gate on the side of the boat, I feel like it makes the wave better, I would love to experiment with placement more. I would be surprised if the GSA location is better. I thought they did that to get around malibus patent?

Duffy - which suck gate you recommend?

[ktige7]

The new actuators that Tige is using, is more robust then the previous Lanco actuators. There very well could be someone using them a lower unit actuator. The application is the same. They are a 12V reversible motor intended to move a component out and in or up and down.

Considering that about 75% or better of a boat is sourced from vendors using existing components, dont make a judgment because you see something used by another boat builder.

did you see my question on custom ballast bag? Do you sell?

[chpthril]

did you see my question on custom ballast bag? Do you sell?

Not yet, im behind on getting back to people, sorry. I do sell custom Tige sacs.

[maxrider]

The new actuators that Tige is using, is more robust then the previous Lanco actuators. There very well could be someone using them a lower unit actuator. The application is the same. They are a 12V reversible motor intended to move a component out and in or up and down.

Considering that about 75% or better of a boat is sourced from vendors using existing components, dont make a judgment because you see something used by another boat builder.

Are they better tho is the thing. Time will tell.