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Has anybody added a 3rd Pontoon to their Bennington.

JonnyBsince83

JonnyBsince83

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Little Elm, Texas
I am seriously looking to add a 3rd pontoon this off season to my 2275 GFI, it has the standard Yamaha 115 and a 4 blade prop SS. after poruing thruough various forums I have yet to find anybody who has actually added one them selves and reviewed it. Can somebody please provide some first hand info if its prudent to add a 3rd log, or just upgrade to a 150. the boat is only a few years old so the resale value would leave me upsidedown a considerable amount if i traded it in. Thanks.
 
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My brother added the full center tube w / strakes / wave shield to his 115 hp powered RL last year. Getting the right wave shield from Bennington was a real pain and never happened. They sent the wrong parts on 3 separate orders. I still dont understand it as they build this same boat on a regular basis. We finally took the aluminum shielding to Crest to have them modify and bend it to fit. A big thank you to the good folks at Crest for correcting Bennington's screw up. Three strikes and you're out! A big thumbs down to Bennington's parts department last spring.

Anyhow, the boat picked up roughly 5 mph on any given day. It went from an average of 28 mph to 33 mph. He has seen 35 a few times. A tritoon with 115 hp makes a great cruiser and for some people that's what it's all about, but the problem still remains that when you load the boat down with 5-6 "full bodied" adults, the 115 just doesn't get the job done. It drops down into the low-mid 20's @ WOT. He's been tossing the idea around of swapping to a 150, but has decided to just save his money and buy a new boat.

Would he add the third tube if he had a chance to do it all over again with just the 115hp??

You bet he would! The return exceeds the investment in both the much improved overall boating experience / performance and resale value.
 
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Your posting doesn't say what you're after. More weight carrying capability? More speed?

The easiest option would be to order an Express Tube for the center with lifting strakes. It's a simple bolt on application, and would work best if you'd also put the underskin on at the same time. With current dealership labor rates, it's a much less expensive proposition than replacing your engine pod and fuel tank.

The trick to getting more speed is getting the nosecones out of the water. I don't see that boaters with full length toons are seeing any more speed (40 mph) than I'm seeing with the Express Tube and a Yamaha F150.

But the cheapest thing would to just add lifting strakes to your present two toons and see how they perform. Bennington Parts can supply them through a dealer.
 
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The S models are fast because they are light.......period.

If you want to go the least expensive route, buy the Express Tube Pkg.

I don't care for the ETP for a number of reasons.

IMO, spend the extra grand for the full length center tube with strakes. It's not much more work / money to have a better boat.
 
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Thank you all for your feedback. I have 32in elliptical tubes with strakes now. I want to add a bit more speed and improve the handling. I usually go out with 5-10 adults, I'm thinking the best bet will be to wait till I'm not upside down and then trade up for a new model with the 150.
 
If you have twin ellipticals right now, that's already probably the fastest setup. There has been talk before about adding a third log between them, not a lot of room left between them. You essentially have almost the same buoyancy as an SPS setup, 85% of it, with less drag, so power is what you need my friend. that is a boat load though. I had 9 on my 2275 ESP with/250 and topped at 39.3. I was happy with that.
 
I went to a local dealer and inquired about adding a express tube and was told that due to the spacing with the elitipical tubes that it would not be an option. my next venture is to look into a product called the water glide. have any of you researched this product or heard anything good or bad? that sounds like a sweet set up you have bulldogs caddilacs!
 
The WG is 35" in width. The typical standard tube is 25". Now refer to what your dealer told you.

What are you trying to accomplish by wanting to add a 3rd tube when you already have one of the best tube configurations with the twin 32" Ellipticals?

Better for TROLLing maybe? :rolleyes:
 
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Your option is to trade the motor in for a F150. That combo on this website is reporting 42 mph--2 to 3 mph faster than the tritoons. It's quite a performer, and ellipticals are also better on fuel usage. You just give up a little in handling for the speed, as you also have good weight carrying capability.
 
Bama is spot on! Put the power to that baby!! Hehe thanks, I like my setup too, for a couple years at least! :D
 
Years! Good one Derrick!
 
lakeliving said:
Years! Good one Derrick!
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No really, I mean it this time!! Although dealer told me the new owner is super happy with my "old" one, was amazed at the build quality and thoughtfulness put into it. Or something along those lines. I'll keep him in mind in a couple years, unless Andy is ready to pull the trigger by then!! Haha
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
No really, I mean it this time!! Although dealer told me the new owner is super happy with my "old" one, was amazed at the build quality and thoughtfulness put into it. Or something along those lines. I'll keep him in mind in a couple years, unless Andy is ready to pull the trigger by then!! Haha
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With my symptoms I wouldn't last years waiting for you to sell yours and I wouldn't be able to extract enough plasma from my blood to pay for it by then either! As for our fellow new member here with the topic at hand, there is no room for new/additional toons below deck.
 
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