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8'6" beam or 10' beam?

Timdelta

Timdelta

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I'm trying to decide between the two sizes. I'm considering a R25 fastback with a 300 Yamaha. Dealer said stick with the 8.5 beam because it's a hassle to get a 10ft trailer for service. I will have it on a lift so the only time on trailer is if it is going to dealer. I'm in the Bradenton / Sarasota area if that is something to consider. I think the 10ft will be so much roomier, it would be worth it. Thanks for any advice ladies and gentlemen.
 
I rode on a few10 ft beams Monday at the dealer meeting , they are a lot roomier . Ride is great even with the 600 hp
 
Do you plan to dock your boat in a slip? the slips in my area are mostly 10' wide max. so, you'd never get a 10' beam boat in there....
 
If you trailer your boat, 10' is a nonstarter. You'd need special permitting and/or license to drive it around depending on your state.

If it's on a lake and only comes in and out, or better, is served by a marina, it would be wonderful to have an extra couple feet. There are quite a few slips that barely fit my R25 around my chain though... so there's lots to consider. Wish Benny had a slider option like Barlettas and a couple others.
 
RangerMTB5 said:
Do you plan to dock your boat in a slip? the slips in my area are mostly 10' wide max. so, you'd never get a 10' beam boat in there....
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CLDave said:
If you trailer your boat, 10' is a nonstarter. You'd need special permitting and/or license to drive it around depending on your state.

If it's on a lake and only comes in and out, or better, is served by a marina, it would be wonderful to have an extra couple feet. There are quite a few slips that barely fit my R25 around my chain though... so there's lots to consider. Wish Benny had a slider option like Barlettas and a couple others.
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I wanted to echo the above two comments. In my state, you’d need a special permit just for trailering it on public roads. On top of that, you have many slips/spots you simply would not be able to get the 10’ wide pontoons into.

I think the 10’ seem great. However, they do come with some impractical baggage. For flexibility, even if I could afford a 10’ wide Bennington, I would still stick with the traditional 8’6” beam as its so standard and so much is based upon it: Slips, no speciality lifts and trailers, sometimes bridges and access points, etc…

In a similar vein prior to buying our Benny in 2017, we had always rented the double decker tritoons with slides when on vacation. Would have LOVED to get one when we bought our boat! The dealership actually had a double decker Premier with water slide, all the bells and whistles, right at the top of our price range in 2017. Could have went for that instead. However, we passed due to a variety of practical concerns with a double decker layout: concerns with trailering, storage, extreme weather concerns, etc…
 
My boat slip can handle a big boat so no problem there. I will keep it on a lift in that slip so trailer is not an issue. The dealer can pick it up with a 10ft trailer if need be, but he said that they share a big trailer between some dealerships so it could be a delay. I just assume that a 10ft wide would do much better (better ride) on the water around Tampa bay and intercostal waters. Bridges are not an issue and all boat slips around here are plenty big so, I guess just the delays with service (due to trailer availability) would be the only issue. My question now is how much better is the ride between the two sizes? Anyone have any experience? Thank you,
 
Timdelta said:
My boat slip can handle a big boat so no problem there. I will keep it on a lift in that slip so trailer is not an issue. The dealer can pick it up with a 10ft trailer if need be, but he said that they share a big trailer between some dealerships so it could be a delay. I just assume that a 10ft wide would do much better (better ride) on the water around Tampa bay and intercostal waters. Bridges are not an issue and all boat slips around here are plenty big so, I guess just the delays with service (due to trailer availability) would be the only issue. My question now is how much better is the ride between the two sizes? Anyone have any experience? Thank you,
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Sounds like the 10’ is a good option for you. Very cool!!!

How long of a boat are you looking at? 10’ wide should provide nice stability, but length of boat will likely impact a smoother ride even more. Longer the better for riding across higher wakes and waves.

I don’t know about Florida. Up here in Michigan with our short boating season, getting a boat in to service is a looooong wait because everyone is doing it in a narrow 3-4 month stretch. It seems to me that with your year long boating season, that a wait on service wouldn’t be too bad. And if so, you have a long boating season anyway to make up for it. Enjoy a 10 footer!
 
R25 so a 25ft boat, I think any bigger is a twin motor setup and I am not doing that. (I don't think)
Thanks for the info.
 
What's the price difference between the two beams?!?
 
Met someone on our lake a few weeks ago at a lakeside restaurant who pulled up in an R28? 10' wide with a 350 Merc hanging off the back. He introduced himself as a Jeep engineer and he just couldn't say enough about the difference in ride and room. Actually, he might very well be on the Bennington payroll the way he talked about the construction, warranty, fit/finish and on and on. His only regret was that he should have gone with a Merc R400 rather than the 350 as he was only able to hit 53 MPH. Goggles anyone??? :p
 
Only 53.... I would think 53 mph with a 10 foot wide R28 is impressive.
 
Michiman said:
Met someone on our lake a few weeks ago at a lakeside restaurant who pulled up in an R28? 10' wide with a 350 Merc hanging off the back. He introduced himself as a Jeep engineer and he just couldn't say enough about the difference in ride and room. Actually, he might very well be on the Bennington payroll the way he talked about the construction, warranty, fit/finish and on and on. His only regret was that he should have gone with a Merc R400 rather than the 350 as he was only able to hit 53 MPH. Goggles anyone??? :p
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Only 53?!? Ha! We very rarely go WOT but my wife knows when we get close to 40. She gives me that "slow down" look! You all know that look!!!
 
BigKahuna said:
Only 53?!? Ha! We very rarely go WOT but my wife knows when we get close to 40. She gives me that "slow down" look! You all know that look!!!
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Sounds exactly like my wife. She is a human radar gun, and knows what she doesn’t like. Ha, ha.
 
Yeah, I'm allowed to run about 18 MPH when I have people aboard but every once in awhile I get to exceed that speed for a brief time. WOT only happens when I'm alone and even then, it doesn't last very long before my eyes start watering to the point I can't see. Same thing with our PWCs. They top out at 50 but I usually am riding it at half that. Showing my age, I'm afraid...
 
Vikingstaff said:
Sounds exactly like my wife. She is a human radar gun, and knows what she doesn’t like. Ha, ha.
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Reminds me when I explained boat trimming to my wife…

“see the nose is out of the water, reducing our drag and it’s a much better ride for you up front”

“nose out of the water, sounds dangerous, is that dangerous!?”
 
BigKahuna said:
What's the price difference between the two beams?!?
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This is kinda of a hard question. The 10ft 25RSR is 147K and the 8.5ft 25RSR is 140K so about 7K more for the bigger beam. However the 25RCW is 149K in the big beam and the 25RFB is 148K in normal beam so almost no difference but the boats are slightly different.
So lets say about 6-7K more for big beam. Do you think it's worth it? I have to travel, then when I get home I will be ordering the lift for my slip, the bigger slip is a little bit more too. Then off to dealer to order boat. I'm pretty sure I will get the bigger beam lift so I will have no issues later if I go the trawler route.
 
I honestly think you have all issues covered to get the bigger beam. You’re talking the only negative being maybe a longer lead time for the annual service for the dealer, definitely not a deal breaker. That extra space on the boat will be awesome. Excited for you, will be a blast on that thing
 
LOL...at WOT I can hit 43 in the heat fully loaded when the wife gives me a smirky look "see, you should have ordered the 400".
 
Timdelta said:
This is kinda of a hard question. The 10ft 25RSR is 147K and the 8.5ft 25RSR is 140K so about 7K more for the bigger beam. However the 25RCW is 149K in the big beam and the 25RFB is 148K in normal beam so almost no difference but the boats are slightly different.
So lets say about 6-7K more for big beam. Do you think it's worth it? I have to travel, then when I get home I will be ordering the lift for my slip, the bigger slip is a little bit more too. Then off to dealer to order boat. I'm pretty sure I will get the bigger beam lift so I will have no issues later if I go the trawler route.
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What motor are you talking about on that 25R?!?
 
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