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Horsepower, the never ending (couples) debate

We sold our boat with a 115 after 3 months. Now have a 200 and am a happy happy man! If you want I can have my wife call yours!
 
We had the same struggle and we went for the 150 and I'm very happy.  I believe there's even a thread around here somewhere that goes into detail about how the 150 actually uses less fuel which with marina prices can be a pretty big deal as well!
 
Thanks Lakeliving, I'll let her know.

We chatted last night, did some more homework and came to the following conclusions/thoughts based off all the great advice here:

  • While I don't know the impact, underpowering looks to be the biggest regret from owners. (I know what the diff is if I go with the V6 or V8 in my car, but don't know on a toon on the lake)
  • This will not be our last boat, even with the old addage, as we just don't know what we don't know, how our family will use this, etc. so if we make a mistake, we make a mistake
  • NADA guides show that the 150hp engine will upgrade the cost of a 3 year old benny by $3k over the 115hp. So we don't lose out on the current upgrade cost if we decide to sell - this was huge
  • No one is ever going to be able to say that the 150hp is too much for them and they wish they had saved the $3k, how would you know?
  • All the add ons are, well, adding up and what was originally a $30,000 idea (before we knew what boat we wanted) is now turning into a $45,000 idea
  • How often will it be more than just the wife and I with our baby - we figured 30% of the time we'd be a total of 4-6 adults and some kids. Based off the drop in performace with that load are we ok with a putt putt a third of the time?

At the end of the day, I want three things - to enjoy my "investment" as much as possible, to not wish I had done something different when all advice pointed me that way, and a boat that if I need/want to sell will sell, To be clear, I know this isn't an investment financially, but it is an investment in my/my family's peace of mind, time together, vacation days, etc. and that comes with a price.

Decision: We're going with the 150 upgrade

Thanks to all for the thoughts, input and helping me work through this. I really appreciate this forum and look forward to many more conversations as I/we enter the world of pontoons on our new Benny!
 
We bought a floor model boat that the dealer listed with a 115 merc. Of course the dealer said that was plenty of motor and I said no way. End of day, got the 150 with SS prop for 1k more. A Good dealer will work with you. When you upgrade see if they will include the longer warranty. We got it because of the boat show deal but there is always some kind of deal going on.
 
How did you swing the upgrade for only $1k?
 
They had a fair price on the boat. Told them I would only make the deal if they upgraded to the 150 for the same price. They counter offered for 1k more because they include the SS enertia prop on that motor. As the best price on that prop is $550, I thought it a good deal for the upgrade and shook on it.
 
The boat was a floor model and the price was 29% off list. I figured they had some room for negotiations and the upgrade worked for them.
 
Maybe it's a locale thing - He won't budge on the floor model price at ~20% off list. Good job negotiating. :rolleyes:
 
IslandNomad said:
Maybe it's a locale thing - He won't budge on the floor model price at ~20% off list. Good job negotiating. :rolleyes:
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If you have not purchased yet, tell him why you will not make the purchase and walk away.  Do NOT spend all that money on something you will kick yourself over if you don't get what you want.  It is your money, take it elsewhere if you don't think they are being reasonable.
 
The thing with the 115 is it will run pretty good on a two toon boat with full strakes (35mph) but as soon as you add two more adults you feel it bog down. I've had 8 on my new boat and can still hit 40. Granted that is a 200 but the 150 provides similar results.
 
Good decision going with the 150. When I ordered my boat the largest merc was the 300. They now offer the 350 merc. I have contacted my dealer with the release of the merc 400 and requested that he contact bennington. If they will authorize the 400 and it wont negatively affect my warranty, I am going to upgrade.

Cheers, Steve
 
Personally, I think you should put 3 back there, but, that's just me.
 
I'll chime in from the standpoint of having an underpowered boat. The Yamaha T50 does a smidge over 20 mph with two people on board. That's always been enough until last week when we added two more people and a 100 lb. dog. The drop in speed was dramatic. I didn't have my gps but I would guess we were doing around 12-13 mph at wot.  IslandNomad wondered if he would mind a drop in performace 30% of the time when he added more passengers, I didn't like it the ONE time we had extra weight. If I had to carry extra people more often I would be shopping for a different boat.
 
I would say a 115 is like a 4 cylinder and the 150 is like a V8.

Seriously, after I got the 150, I could swear there were two 115s back there
 
ssc said:
Good decision going with the 150. When I ordered my boat the largest merc was the 300. They now offer the 350 merc. I have contacted my dealer with the release of the merc 400 and requested that he contact bennington. If they will authorize the 400 and it wont negatively affect my warranty, I am going to upgrade.

Cheers, Steve
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Please keep us updated on this 'request'. That sounds fantastic!
 
Will do. So far the wife has not given me too much grief, but that could change. :D  

Cheers, Steve
 
Nope. I will be in Havasu next week and drop by my dealer. He was supposed to have contacted Bennington. We shall see.


When I mentioned it to the wife yesterday, she said, "When are you going to grow up?" My response, "Never."


Cheers, Steve
 
Calling my dealer tomorrow. Asking if a can custom order a seven marine on a 2016 2874qcw sport tower!!!

If so going to step up the game on my lake every year it's a leap frog on who ups the game this year it's twin 300's on harris's and premiers and big blocks on southbays most running mid 60's to 70mph!!! But I think going to a seven marine will be a advantage and a game changer!!! Made the upper 70's low 80's
 
russ w said:
Calling my dealer tomorrow. Asking if a can custom order a seven marine on a 2016 2874qcw sport tower!!!

If so going to step up the game on my lake every year it's a leap frog on who ups the game this year it's twin 300's on harris's and premiers and big blocks on southbays most running mid 60's to 70mph!!! But I think going to a seven marine will be a advantage and a game changer!!! Made the upper 70's low 80's
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You will definitely have to go with the 627 then!
 
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