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First Pontoon: 2018 Bennington 23SSBXP....Can't Wait!

I am hitting 33 mph with a 2018 ssbxp and a Merc 150 and Sea Legs with 4 on board and a full tank of gas. I’m guess Devin will do a bit better with the Etec. I’m very curious to see as well.
 
NICE!!
 
Sharp looking! Very similar to the look of our 2017 SSBXP.
 
Congrats! She’s a head turner!!
 
First time out had a few things to document which need to be addressed.
  • Digital speed readout always shows 0.
  • Digital oil level always shows empty
  • Only 3 of 6 speakers worked, fixed myself, loose plug.
  • 17 pitch prop, 3 people, full tank of gas, and Bimini up it did 5,000 rpm at 34mph. We are going to try a 16 to get closer to our redline.
  • Slight vibration in steering wheel at low rpm’s. You can feel I t in the seat too.
  • Trailer did not have center bunk support for SPS toon.
 
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What were the lake conditions like? Much wind?
I think a 16p would be perfect. I wish i had the 16 instead of the 17 as well.
It seems like there’s always a few bugs to work out. Hopefully your dealer looks after you.
 
Renegade34 said:
What were the lake conditions like? Much wind?
I think a 16p would be perfect. I wish i had the 16 instead of the 17 as well.
It seems like there’s always a few bugs to work out. Hopefully your dealer looks after you.
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No wind, no chop. I am going to try today with Bimini down.
 
Went back out for another run with bimini down and no wind or wake. Same speed and rpm. I am going to ask the dealer to swap it for a 16p and see how it goes. Current prop is 16.5" x 17p.

IMG_1623.jpg IMG_1624.jpg
 
Smart kid, it looks like he already claimed the best seat in the house. Lol.
I’m in the exact same boat (so to speak). I want to try a 16 pitch to maybe gain another couple mph but now I’m wondering if I do then I’ll lose on the bottom end. Since we do a lot of tubing and water sports I’m starting think I’d rather have better hole shot and sacrifice a couple mph at the top end. I guess maybe I’ll wait to see how you make out if you do the switch. It would be a good idea to get a sense of the bottom end before you do the swap so you can compare both hole shot and top end. It’s not the easiest thing to quantify but if pulling tubes, etc are in your plans then it would be an important factor as well.
 
Met with the Evinrude rep at my boat today. With some extra trim we got 35mph at 5200 rpm, 2 adults (450lbs), 3/4 tank of fuel, no wind or chop, and about 200lbs of gear. He said 5200 is what he likes to see so no prop change needed. So that is that even though I was hoping for a bit better. That said, it was awesome that the rep came out to my boat and ran me through everything. I wish I would have paid the money for a 200hp. :(
 
Renegade34 said:
Smart kid, it looks like he already claimed the best seat in the house. Lol.
I’m in the exact same boat (so to speak). I want to try a 16 pitch to maybe gain another couple mph but now I’m wondering if I do then I’ll lose on the bottom end. Since we do a lot of tubing and water sports I’m starting think I’d rather have better hole shot and sacrifice a couple mph at the top end. I guess maybe I’ll wait to see how you make out if you do the switch. It would be a good idea to get a sense of the bottom end before you do the swap so you can compare both hole shot and top end. It’s not the easiest thing to quantify but if pulling tubes, etc are in your plans then it would be an important factor as well.
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I think the hole shot with this motor is spectacular. Not sure if the 2 stroke helps with that but I was more than willing to give some of that up.
 
Boat looks great! I'm sure that Traverse is feeling the boat back there. We towed our 22' with an Acadia and it was doable for the couple times a year we towed.
 
Maybe you should ask this guy, cuz his 150 does 50mph all day! :D

EvinrudeFamMember
Doesn't surprise me that Yamaha, Mercury, and now Suzuki are having supply issues. They are all lower cost motors, therefore power many boat companies lines to keep costs down. Evinrude and Honda tend to be the priciest of the bunch. Take a look at all the highest end boats on the market they tend to be powered by Evinrude. What I can say is way to many people think that 4 strokes are the way to go when from an emissions standpoint the Evinrude Etec G2 motor has fewer emissions and better MPG. Sure I add oil, like once every 2 years, but don't do an oil change. In the fall I hit a few buttons and my motor auto fogs. Say bye bye to dealer visits. If you haven't taken a serious look at an Evinrude, I would. I am sure their is a ton of other folks on here who would agree. As a side note my 150HO will outperform the Yamaha 200 all day long. I have a 21' with SPS and with 4 adults can run 50mph on GPS.
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
Maybe you should ask this guy, cuz his 150 does 50mph all day! :D

EvinrudeFamMember
Doesn't surprise me that Yamaha, Mercury, and now Suzuki are having supply issues. They are all lower cost motors, therefore power many boat companies lines to keep costs down. Evinrude and Honda tend to be the priciest of the bunch. Take a look at all the highest end boats on the market they tend to be powered by Evinrude. What I can say is way to many people think that 4 strokes are the way to go when from an emissions standpoint the Evinrude Etec G2 motor has fewer emissions and better MPG. Sure I add oil, like once every 2 years, but don't do an oil change. In the fall I hit a few buttons and my motor auto fogs. Say bye bye to dealer visits. If you haven't taken a serious look at an Evinrude, I would. I am sure their is a ton of other folks on here who would agree. As a side note my 150HO will outperform the Yamaha 200 all day long. I have a 21' with SPS and with 4 adults can run 50mph on GPS.
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I have seen 41mph on a 22' without sea legs per Evinrude's test, one adult. 50 is a pipe dream.
 
Devin said:
Met with the Evinrude rep at my boat today. With some extra trim we got 35mph at 5200 rpm, 2 adults (450lbs), 3/4 tank of fuel, no wind or chop, and about 200lbs of gear. He said 5200 is what he likes to see so no prop change needed. So that is that even though I was hoping for a bit better. That said, it was awesome that the rep came out to my boat and ran me through everything. I wish I would have paid the money for a 200hp. :(
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Nearly everyone wishes they had more hp. I wish I had a 350, or even 430 hp instead of my 300 hp IO. I still am enjoying the heck out my new boat. I also have approximately $20,000 more in the bank by not getting that 430!;)
 
I wish I had 50hp ..... :p
 
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