Engine suggestions in a hurry

Thanks so much for all the help! This morning was crazy as I had another dealer trying to sell me a 23 footer with a 250 Merc.
My sales guy Joe at Boatmasters has had to listen to me text him questions pretty much every night without a complaint. This is where you stick by your sales guy in my opinion.
We came to an agreement on the boat that is here now. We are maxing the boat out with a 200hp but there will be no power steering. It's a compromise I'm willing to live with as most folks have told me I should be fine without the power steering (fingers crossed).

Again, thanks so much for all the help! Now to figure out what the hell all these dash devices options do/offer...
Congrats on the new boat, but you'll be back asking about a retro fit power assisted steering upgrade.
 
I'm probably in the minority here, but for a 150 - 200 HP motor I think hydraulic steering is just fine. I have a 200 Yamaha on my 22SSX and it does not have power steering, just the Seastar Hydraulic. I pull plenty of tubers and do lots of S curves and I don't have a problem and don't feel like I'm struggling. I've had another boat with a 200 and had no issue there either. Would power steering be nice to have, yes. If I was buying a new boat, would I include it, maybe...depends on the cost. This is just my perspective and since I've never had a boat with power steering or driven one with power steering, I guess I don't miss what I never had.

I did add a suicide knob to my steering wheel, but really only use that when I'm pulling in and out of my slip.

Best advice I can give is try to drive one with and without power steering so you can feel the difference yourself.
I have cable steering. It's two hands to crank the wheel tubing. The helm creaks, and I wonder if I'm slowly tearing it up. BUT, I have a Merc, not a Yamaha! Ha!

But now I'm wondering if I should get hydraulic steering...
 
The cable steering will eventually freeze up from lack of lubrication or greasing it wrong. Replaced the cable on our 1970's jet boat at least 3 times.
 
Did you commit to this boat? Because I'm with the salesguy who tried to push you to a 23 footer with a 250. In your first post you mentioned FILLING the boat to capacity THEN running tubes all with 175HP on a 22 footer with no power steering. I can't say I've tried that exact setup or even got close to it but (when full) it sounds like you'll be driving slow, steering hard and if it even will pull a tube, whosever on the tube will be texting with their phone out of boredom.

Those capacity placards are for safety only, NOT performance. The Coast Guard only cares if the boat will float and the model they use for the person vs the weight has to be a 90 pound woman because if you do the math that's where the weight vs number of people will meet! The WEIGHT is the more important number on that placard. If you manage to fit that many people on the boat it will seem more like a requisite ferry commute, not a fun day on the water with no room to even open your newspaper.
 
Did you commit to this boat? Because I'm with the salesguy who tried to push you to a 23 footer with a 250. In your first post you mentioned FILLING the boat to capacity THEN running tubes all with 175HP on a 22 footer with no power steering. I can't say I've tried that exact setup or even got close to it but it sounds like you'll be driving slow, steering hard and if it even will pull a tube, whosever on the tube will be texting with their phone out of boredom.

Those capacity placards are for safety only, NOT performance. The Coast Guard only cares if the boat will float and the model they use for the person vs the weight has to be a 90 pound Asian woman because if you do the math that's where the weight vs number of people will meet!
If I need to add power steering down the road I will do so. This was the fastest way to get us in the water for now.
 
My previous Benny was a 2013 22 SLX with 3/4 length express center tube and a Yamaha 115 and cable steering. We had 6 "medium size" to "well fed" adults onboard while towing 3 teen kids on a big toy. I could pull kids just over 20-24 mph running wide open and two handed working the steering. It works but Scotty is "given' her all she's got, Captain" from the engine room!!! lol My current boat is a 2017 Benny 22 SSRCXP with Yamaha 150 and SPS full center tube with electric assist hydraulic steering. What a difference! Although I haven't pulled any tubes yet, I can't believe the difference between the 2 boats. It will run around 35 mph WOT with 2 on board at 5400 rpm's so a different prop might get speed up some. But the feel of the steering is silky smooth like the electric steering in my 2019 Ram Rebel. You can really carve turns with ease. My understanding is that if you have hydraulic steering already, then the electric assist can always be added but a dual battery is recommended due to power draw. What is really nice is ability to let go of wheel and it stays there, no torque steer into a right turn like cable steering. I would have loved to have a 200 hp engine but this 150 is silky smooth and easy on fuel if not running hard. I bet your 175 will be great and will already have hydraulic steering. You will love it!
 
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Great point jhill. Our 150 gets BETTER gas mileage than our old 115 did because it doesn't run as hard for any given speed.
 
I am glad you are getting it with the 200HP, I think you will be a bit happier with the results based on what you said your intended use is: filling it to capacity, and tubing. My experience is with a full boat, most don’t want to go as fast as you think (or sometimes want) to go. And when tubing, you can only go so fast between tossing people off, and durability and speed rating of tube. The nice thing going higher in HP is you are not working the motor as hard to do things at higher speeds.

Many people are fine with hydraulic steering, but most I know with a 150 or higher on a pontoon/tritoon want/prefer power assisted (electric) steering. I would NEVER have any pontoon style boat that has 150HP or more without power steering. The nice thing is It can easily be added to your boat next season. You just lose the benefit of the 10 Bennington warranty on it. And after boating this season, if you are fine with how this handles and steers with 200HP and hydraulic steering, you can save some $$$.
 
After having the cable steering on my previous 2013 22 SLX express tube 115 hp, I am sure most folks would be perfectly happy with the upgraded Seastar hydraulic steering that comes on higher hp boats with it ability to hold course without pulling to right under power if you let go of wheel. But if you test drove an electrically assisted hydraulic steering Benny with SPS and steered through some high speed hard 360 degree corners like a sports car, you would fall in love. It is like walking into Costco and seeing 75" OLED tv's with 4K nature content playing. Your tv at home is fine BUT you start salivating and can feel credit card trying to jump into your hand. Test drive a brand new truck and get same feeling. Don't have to have it but how sweet it would be. Just add it later as a Christmas present to yourself. :cool: It will be like getting a new boat but way cheaper.
 
I think the OP already finalized his decision and he's on his way to building his Popeye forearms!
 
I think the OP already finalized his decision and he's on his way to building his Popeye forearms!
Send him a couple of cans of spinach for tubing days..........Does Olive Oil ride the tube? lol ..:D
 
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My power steering was installed by the dealer after the purchase. Believe me it is well worth the money.
 
Great point jhill. Our 150 gets BETTER gas mileage than our old 115 did because it doesn't run as hard for any given speed.
It's kinda odd that torque output is not a measurement promoted with outboard engines like it is with cars and truck engines. As we were discussing differences between Yamaha 115 vs 150 , the difference is way more than "just" 35 hp. Entirely bigger drive system and beefier and larger actual displacement (and of course, heavier). I imagine that torque difference between 150 to a 175 is not as big a jump as between 115 to 150. Someone with no outboard knowledge would think it is a small hp upgrade for a lot of money difference on cost of new boat with 115 vs 150. If that measurement carried over to gas vs diesel engines in husky 3/4 - 1 ton pickups, it would appear the $8500+ option diesel engine has less hp than the cheaper gas engine so why would you pay extra for less? (Of course 1000 ft lbs torque is the reason for efficient towing and load hauling and long life.) :rolleyes:
 
I saw a Top Gear (correction) episode years ago where they took a tired Toyota Prius and drove it as fast (and hard like you stole it) as possible on a racetrack and following it was a new BMW not even working hard to follow it. When they measured fuel usage, the BMW was actually more efficient as it didn't even break a sweat and I think they actually broke the high mileage used Prius running it that hard. That kinda shows that sometimes a little larger engine can actually be better overall choice for overall efficiency. Boat engines don't get to coast like car engines. They are always working against water and air drag. (downhill slopes tough to find in a lake....lol) Thanks for Top Gear correction, Lakeliving
 
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If I recall correctly in 2017 it was around $2000.00
 
retail on the pump is $1,295 plus installation.
 
I paid $2800 for pump and other materials and installation in 2016. Worth every penny!
 
That was TopGear.
 
We had built in power steering on our I/O for 12 yrs. Smooth and effortless. That was a big factor in the purchase of our current boat.......until the test drive. We have Seastar hydraulic steering on our 150 and have no problem turning or navigating at any speed. Of course it's NOT power steering but my wife had no problem with it during the test drive or currently......
 
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