Electric surf tabs addition question.
 

I have a 2012 Epic 23V. I want to get my wake cleaner and longer. It has enough ballast and it also has surf tabs that fold up and down in the back. I want to add surf tabs that that fold out to the right and left side similar to a surf gate. I found electric actuator trim tabs from 2 good manufacturers that come with all the wiring and knobs and everything necessary to install them. Here is a link to the parts:

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/benn...iABEgL6nvD_BwE

I was wondering if anybody has used a similar setup. If so, what brand/model did you go with. And did it improve your wake a lot?

I have attached a photo of the back of my boat so you can see exactly what I have going on. My boat has a great wake and it is pretty damn clean but there is still a lot of wash that kicks back from the sides and I was thinking that this should help a lot. Thanks in advance for the input.

That boat looks like a good candidate for slappers!

I am not familiar with the boat at all but before going too crazy and spending a bunch of money I would try an aftermarket surf gate (suction cup style) and see if that helps you. They can be had pretty cheap and you would know immediately if it was an improvement.

^^ agree on what drnate said, you should at least try a suck gate first to see what it does. I would be scared to drill more holes in my boat without knowing what it would do, if you did it, would you remove the vertical side tabs?
I use a Nauticurl suck gate on my boat. Super clean wave with great curl to wave, lots of push and easy to put on and switch sides in under a minute, it also lengthened my wave. You probably know this, but typically you can add bow weight to add some length, tho you will lose some height, may not matter tho if you have enough ballast. I run 5k lbs of ballast and run around 1k in the bow, if I put it all in rear, wave is so high when I got to neutral it will crash over sundeck and into the boat, so not good....you will burn a lot of money installing the type of system you are talking about.
I only know of 1 boat that has similar system (called GSA...go surf assist). On a friends boat, 2007 Malibu 247. Does a great job on his boat, great wave.

Pro tip...if you try a suck gate, slightly list boat to surf side. Usually makes the wave a little better, you can also play with placement on side of boat, front to back. I find the further back, the better...its one thing I like about the Nauticurl, the "gate" is at the back, also cheaper than most at $230 and it floats with their new model. I place mine 8-10" off back of boat.

Thanks for he replies. I do have a suck gate that I used in my old mastercraft. I'm gonna try it out. If t does clean up the wave a lot, I might just try the side surf tabs. I would leave all 3 tabs and add 2 more I think.

Here's one I never got to try on my Sanger prior to selling. What would happen if you had a suck gate (non surf side) and those trim tabs deployed on surf side? SO both crabbing and braking with a little list? I wanted to put my gate on and a buddies under the stern on the bottom running surface to see what happend.

You don't need surf gates. Just have a local fabricator make you larger tabs and you should be fine. You may have to play with the mounting position of the actuator. Go check out boats with that style of surf system and copy what they do.

Surf gates and surf tabs do the exact same thing. Both act as brakes for one side of the boat so that you get delayed convergence in the wake.

Technically they work the same but GSA & Surf Gate waves are different & the amount of weight to make GSA incredible is very inefficient. Hands down, GSA on my MB B52 w/ 5400 pounds is the longest most powerful wave I've ever srufed. Surfed a 25 lsv recently & I think my MB blows it away. Using a ghetto gate (rather a mock-up "slapper" as the MB guys call them) on my boat it takes less weight & gives a cleaner face, still pretty long but not as powerful as the GSA wave. Rear weight becomes more of an issue cause it buries the gate then you just get a lot of spray. I am not really a fan of the suck gates, they seem to provide a steep face with a much smaller pocket to play than the GSA or surf gate. Still a good wave just not as good.

Nah, GSA is expensive and you can easily make gates for that thing. Don't get hung up on perfect dimensions or matching the perfect hull. I learned that lesson a long time ago. There's a good DIY tutorial on Wake Garage that walks you through it. Plus that style is easier to pull off on an inexpensive budget.

I also run the GSA / Wave Control and there is a difference then just putting tabs on the back. Way more length and push.

https://www.wakemakers.com/wavecontrol