New to boating, 1st Bennington

Pilotnate14

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Got to meet our new Bennington today, fresh off the truck! Gave the dealer the thumbs-up, so now they will rig our SLX21 with the Yamaha 150. Taking delivery in a week and a half, can't wait to get it on the water! New to boating, rented a pontoon for two days this summer and the family loved it, so, now I will be a poor man with a happy family. Thanks for all your old posts, learned a lot and found it helpful for boat shopping. Going to keep it on valet at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, at least for next summer. It isn't cheap, but I figure I'll use the boat more. Anybody else use a valet for their pontoon?

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My wife uses that service ... ME!
Congrats on the new toon, looks nice! Get ready for miles of smiles!
 
Awesome, if you haven’t taken a Boater safety course, I would suggest you do so. Can be found either locally or online.
 
Beautiful Bennington, Congratulations!
 
Congratulations! Pretty exciting getting a new boat/first boat/any boat. Enjoy all the time ahead that you and your family will have on it.
 
Thanks folks! Local marina sells fuel that contains ethanol, but they treat it with an additive of some sort. You guys run normal gasoline or ethanol-free in your Yamaha outboards?
 
I have always used ethanol free. The marinas on our lake sold the gas with additive and it might be fine but I wasn’t willing to use it
 
Our closest marina with dockside gas is like yours Pilotnate: has ethanol, but I believe an additive. The other two marinas with lakeside gas are the same way. I’d have to haul and gas at my dock ethanol free rec. fuel to avoid ethanol completely. Not doing it when it is otherwise more convenient.

I’ll take my chances with what the marina is selling lakeside. I think if it were truly a problem, hundreds of boaters on this lake would be up in arms because they’d have problems. We live at our lake house in the summer, and so our boat is dockside and used pretty regularly. Thus, gas doesn’t sit stale in our tank too long very often.

You could also weigh how often you’ll use your boat. If you will be using it regularly, I absolutely don’t see using your marina gas as an issue. However, if it will sit for LOOOOONG stretches unused, then that might be more of an issue over time.
 
Do mean like a Boatel? Also don't use fuel with ethanol in it if you can help it!!!
 
Thanks folks! Local marina sells fuel that contains ethanol, but they treat it with an additive of some sort. You guys run normal gasoline or ethanol-free in your Yamaha outboards?

Good looking boat and dog! Welcome!

The fuel quality debate never seems to end. I’ve read conflicting things from marina fuel being the cheapest left-over dregs, to marina fuel coming from the exact same truck that fills up the Sunoco down the street, which comes from the exact same pipeline that serves everyone from the refineries down in Louisiana.

I don’t think there will ever be 100% certainty (unless you send it to a lab for testing) so until that time buy some snake oil to put your mind at ease e.g. Yamaha Ring Free Plus or others... I run a small amount of Techron Marine with each tank. And some basic steps like regularly running the boat so your fuel is fresh, keeping the tank topped off to displace moisture-containing air and having the appropriate 10 micron filters in place will help prevent many fuel issues.

Happy boating and welcome to the club!
 
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Congrats on the new Benny!

We've a 2018 SSX22 with a Yamaha F150 and we LOVE it!

Happy and safe boating! I second the recommendation for a boating course; too many people out there that don't know the rules of the road, etc.
 
congratulations on the awesome boat. on the gas....everyone I know uses gas with ethanol and puts in additive (most use Stabil Marine, some add sea foam In addition). I will have ethanol with Stabil Marine on hand but if I am near a non-ethanol pump on the lake I’ll stop by (and add some sea foam with it).

a few older guys with workin-on-engines pasts that I trust, swear that ethanol is fine with the Marine additive. they each have been running boats for 30+ years. The mechanic I use would agree.

Note with non-ethanol, I would still use a stabilizer of sorts.

I use Stabil Marine in all gas i use for every small engine I own, as well as one car we have at the cottage we use sparingly.
 
Hey guys I'm sure that using fuel with ethanol WITH an additive is fine. BUT.......I just can't forget an old gas blower and gas trimmer/weed whacker that I had. The fuel lines literally fell apart in my hands from using fuel with ethanol in it. So since that day I haven't used fuel with ethanol in any engine (Except our vehicles) that I own. Our boats, jet skis, lawn tractors, lawn equipment etc. etc. has never seen ethanol fuel ......
 
I’m confused here. I will be taking delivery of my new to me Bennington (R23), no marina gas stations on my lake. So , is it recommended to use Rec Gas from my gas station or just unleaded gas? Not sure what has ethanol or not.
 
Our gas station refers to it as non-oxygenated gas, pure gas, or collector car gas. You can always check with your local marinas or gas stations. Ethanol causes water buildup so it’s important not to have it sitting in your tank for a length of time. It can also eat away at your rubber seals and gaskets.
 
Hey guys I'm sure that using fuel with ethanol WITH an additive is fine. BUT.......I just can't forget an old gas blower and gas trimmer/weed whacker that I had. The fuel lines literally fell apart in my hands from using fuel with ethanol in it. So since that day I haven't used fuel with ethanol in any engine (Except our vehicles) that I own. Our boats, jet skis, lawn tractors, lawn equipment etc. etc. has never seen ethanol fuel ......

I’m the same way with exception of vacations, when we pull our boat tp places I’m not familiar with, then I’ll run the local ethanol for that week. When back home, the ethanol is quickly burned and replaced with the real stuff.
 
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