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Potential new Benny buyer ... thoughts and opinions

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BenningtonBob

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I'm always one to do far more homework than most when it comes to larger purchases. Any thoughts on the following would be appreciated.

As a prelude, we were boaters for 16 seasons on Lake St. Clair (often called the 6th Great Lake, but nothing like the other five) in a Regal Commodore 3060 with twin 5.0L GM Vortec V8s and Volvo outdrives. We're talking central air/heat, automatic ice maker, etc., etc.. Last year we sold the boat and bought a cabin up north about a mile from two large lakes (700 and 1,300 acres).

Our plans are to use it in the inland lakes around home (lets say 700 acres average) as well as a few up north (700 to 1,300 acres). We'll be doing the typical crusing and enjoying, but do want to be able to pull folks on tubes and not have to worry about bogging down. If I had to guess, I'd say we might typically have 7-8 people on board most of the time, with a tolerance of +/- 2. I rode motorcycles for a couple of decades and still love riding the ATVs and other above-average sports/activities, so this will be for more than just a grandpa cruiser. My wife is in her late 40s and I'm 52.

Admittedly, as much as I know about boating, I don't know much about pontoon boats.

Anyways, we've been looking at pontoon boats and at this point, have narrowed it down to a couple of brands, obviously with Bennington being one of the two.

We are looking at a new Bennington. I would appreciate opinions on this boat in general, as well as on the price.

2018 22 GBR - Midnight Black/Smokey Granite Accent
Black Canvas bimini
Driftwood Interior w/Zebrawood Slate accent
Yamaha F150XB Four Stroke
SPS tritoon
Power Assist Steering
KMC10 Stereo Upgrade
78" Driftwood Galley
Speedo, G-series upgrade
Deluxe gas grill
Seagrass Slate full flooring
Exterior side lights
Panel switch with Striker 4 Fish Graph
Lighted cupholders/Bimini top
Portable cupholders (2)
Sport Series Interior
Trapezoid Zebrawood table upgrade
Bow gate seat
In floor storage
Dual battery switch
Porta-potti w/Changing room
Removable Ski Pylon
Crystal Cap Graphics

Asking price is just over $58K. The only other costs are sales tax and title/registration.

Thanks!
 
Nicely appointed. We have the 150 with SPS and love it. We generally have 4 adults and three young children on board. It does great tubing, cruising etc. If you routinely have 8 people on board while doing water sports you might consider stepping up the engine size. Do a search for the bow seat there are many comments about it.
 
Thanks, Mike31406. The 8 person load would be total (on the boat and/or on the tube). Your payload sounds very close to what we expect. As for the bow seat: Yea, I did. But this boat is on the floor, so it's not like they will let us remove it and save money ... :)
 
Looks like a nice building and set up. I think a solid range of things for a floor model, and will facilitate a lot of different uses. I agree with Mike’s general thoughts above, but with it being a floor model, you take what it does or doesn’t come with.

Out of curiosity, does it have an extended aft deck? That is very nice when it comes to water sport and/or swimming. Also convenient when cleaning and covering the boat.
 
Sounds like a nice build but from your first post i’d Try to max the horsepower out on the SPS. Should be at least 200. Our boat is similar in size and I’m not to sure a 150 would do the trick, your passenger count plus the the tubing would warrant some more horsepower. Our boat still runs 37-38 with 6-7 adults and a 5 little ones (3-12). We can run 42 with my wife and two kids (3 & 6). My buddy has the “other” brand and losses a mph for every passenger. His boat is faster with just him and I running down the lake but once we load to go the sand bar we always run away from him. Good luck on your decision!
 
+1 on bumping up to the 200. Aside from that, you can't go wrong with Bennington!
 
+1 on the extended aft deck. Big bang for the buck, and something you don't realize the value of until you have it.
 
Sounds like a very nice boat.
I didn't think you could get the removable ski pylon with the SPS hull? Better check that out.
Price wise, with a 150 and SPS I think you could do better than 58K. I'm in that same ball park, on a 22GSRFB we have on order. We don't have as many options, but we have a 200hp, ESP and black out package.
 
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