Question For HP For "Old Schoolers" on New Bennington 22 SSX

[kcman]

Most will advise you to buy the biggest motor you can afford, but you also need to consider the lake you will be using your boat in your decision.  I am retired and in my early 60's and like Semperfi, we have a small motor (25HP) and like cruising rather than going fast.  Also, the lake we are on is in a retirement community and it is not a "sport lake" (no jet skis or going fast allowed).  They do allow you to open your boat up near the dam but everywhere else it is "no-wake" which basically means about 5mph.  The no-wake rule is waved if storms come in and there is lightning in the area and that is nice to know in case a stray storm comes up and we need to get back in a hurry (will not be easy with a 25HP) but at least we can go a little faster.  I have a 22SLX and have checked the speed at WOT and it will go 13MPH with two of us in the boat which is slow for many but we like the 5MPH.  At that speed, we are usually turning about 2800rpms.  I would say you could expect at least 15MPH from a T50 and probably closer to 20MPH with a light load on a 22 footer.  Good luck with your decision and I think you cannot go wrong with either motor based on how you plan to use the boat. 

 

[Spoiledrotten]

SpoiledRotten, in the interest of making sure correct information getting out [and I have been corrected a number of times] I would have to challenge your statement of "never showed any problem with 8, it still had all the power it needed"  I have 8+ passengers fairly often and my Yamaha 115 dogs down tremendously.  It is well known that I am not a speed demon as I prefer to cruise at 8 - 14mph.  Sometimes over wide body of water I may do 18 - 20 just to get to where I am going.  When I have 8+ people on my boat if I remember right I think 18 is my wot and my hole shot is sloooow.  It is at these times that I regret not purchasing the 150. 

I did not purchase the 150 as my dealer assured me that I would be happy with the 115 coupled by the fact that it would be another $6000 by the time I added the motor and the steering.  Now it will cost me quite a bit more to make the move 

I understand what you mean, but "needed" would be the key word there. I didn't give ages of the ones on board, but when you have eight people on board, and 4 of those eight people are 75 years or older (two of them, my parents, are over 82 years old), you don't "need" much power. I surely don't "need" a hole shot unless I'm needing to get them to the shore to rush to the hospital because one of those had heart failure.

Now, if I had stated that the eight people were less than 20 years old, then I most like wouldn't have all of the power "they" need. 

 

[kaydano]

Needed motor HP is inversely proportional to the square of the average age on board.

     Motor HP = B x 1/(Ave Age)^2

For Bennington S model pontoon boats with the Express Package and full strakes, the coefficient B = 60,000.  Plugging this into the formula above results in the following:

     If Ave Age is 20 years, required motor = 150 HP.

     If Ave Age is 78 years, required motor = 9.9 HP.

 

[Link]

Needed motor HP is inversely proportional to the square of the average age on board.

     Motor HP = B x 1/(Ave Age)^2

For Bennington S model pontoon boats with the Express Package and full strakes, the coefficient B = 60,000.  Plugging this into the formula above results in the following:

     If Ave Age is 20 years, required motor = 150 HP.

     If Ave Age is 78 years, required motor = 9.9 HP.

Kaydano I believe your formula has a flaw; You have left out the M factor [Maturity]

 

[lakeliving]

According to that forumla (Me 30, wife 29, baby .05) we need 155 hp. I guess I could pull one of my spark plugs wires, that should drop me down 50 hp....

Link- The maturity factor is too multi varient depending on owner. For example, you sporting a trend setting hair cut, relax on rafts, joy ride on other members new boats.....you see where I am going with this  You would probably have a maturity factor of 20 so  Motor HP = M x B x 1/(Ave Age)^2.

So using the S class factor and average age of 60 this should get you around 300 hp. Plenty of power to suppliment your fist pumping at the sand bar!

 

[swiftm]

I don't have express package or the strakes, so I guess my 50 is about right according to that formula

 

[Rockie69]

Don't forget the r factor as well r=resale

 

[guardrail22]

My 207 L has a 70 hp two stroke. My wife says not fast enough. Wouldn't do less than 100. You can always run at something less than full throttle.

 

[sportsfisher]

We are retired folks ... but we too believe that going with maximum HP is, usually, the best overall way to go.  Our 22-SSX has a 150HP Yamaha and we love it.  We have neighbors who got a 20-foot Bennington with a small motor and they are very sorry they got the smaller boat, and especially sorry they got the smaller motor.  Most of our other neighbors have 22- or 24-foot boats, and 100+ HP motors, like us.  The more HP gives you more versatility, plus probable better resale value.  Good luck with your Bennington!