STRAKES STRAKES STRAKES

liljake83

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I AM GETTING CONFLICTING INFO ON LIFTING STRAKES I AM LOOKING TO BUY A 2012 22SL WITH A 115 HP MERCURY AND THE EXPRESS PONTOON PACKAGE. DEALER AND BENNINGTON REP REC. ONLY ADDING STRAKES TO THE INSIDE OF THE OUTTER TUBES THE CENTER TOON ALREADY HAS STRAKES ON THE OUTSIDES BUT I REMEMBER KAYDANO SAYING HIS HAS STRAKES ON THE INSIDE AND THE OUTSIDE OF THE OUTER TOONS WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?
 
Here is my understanding on your question...

Strakes on the outside give you more speed, but less handling (the boat will bank less in a hard turn). You will have to decide which is more important to you, speed or turning. On the 24SSL thread, I think you will find a post by Team Bennington (factory) that indicates, for my boat in particular, the "less handling" of more strakes would be negligible, but there would be a noticeable speed difference. That was a big factor in my decision. Your boat is pretty similar to mine. I understand the factory and dealer may be giving you a different story, but this is what I was told.

In my opinion (really just a guess) a boat banks more the more power you have. In other words, if you don't have a lot of power to begin with, your boat isn't going to bank much in a hard turn to begin with. For my boat, which is a 24SSL with a 115 HP, I considered the 115 to NOT be huge amount of power. So, I didn't think the boat would really bank all that much without the outside strakes because the motor wasn't all that big to begin with. Plus, speed was more important to me (so kids can tube with a halfway full boat). Also, my lake is actually a reservoir at the end of a river, and the "boatable" portion of it is somewhere between 10-15 miles long, so I generally don't do much turning anyway. So for me, the obvious answer was strakes all around.

I am still happy with how it turns, however. Remember, it's a pontoon boat, and unless you're going to shell out the bucks for a 250HP with ESP, it's pretty much going to handle like a pontoon boat. The strakes will help you plane up faster, go faster, and in my opinion, saved me some bucks by getting a few more MPH which helped me decide to buy a 115 HP instead of a 150, which in the Mercury line, was a fairly significant jump in price (once you factor in you also have to add hydraulic steering).

But, you'll have to weigh things for your own needs. Hope this helps. Post some pics when you get it!

Dano
 
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KAYDANO THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP I WAS REALLY HOPING YOU WOULD RESPOND TO THIS POST SINCE OUR BOATS ARE SO SIMILAR YOU HAVE DEFINITLY DONE YOUR HOME WORK. ALSO DEALER GAVE ME THE OPTION TO ADD THE NEW 150HP NON SUPERCHARGED MERCURY OUTBOARD THE COST IS NO WHERE NEAR THE VERADO HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THIS NEW MOTOR?
 
KAYDANO THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP I WAS REALLY HOPING YOU WOULD RESPOND TO THIS POST SINCE OUR BOATS ARE SO SIMILAR YOU HAVE DEFINITLY DONE YOUR HOME WORK. ALSO DEALER GAVE ME THE OPTION TO ADD THE NEW 150HP NON SUPERCHARGED MERCURY OUTBOARD THE COST IS NO WHERE NEAR THE VERADO HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THIS NEW MOTOR?
Had that motor been available when I was powering my boat, it would have been a no brainer. I would have gladly shelled out the little extra for the 150. I personally like 4 strokes for their resale value and not a fan of superchargers for reliability issues, though may be unwarranted.
 
HEY DANO DID YOU EVER NOTICE WATER SPRAYING UP ON THE BACK DECK? DEALER SAYS THIS MAY HAPPEN WITH STRAKES ADDED ON THE INSIDE OF THE OUTTER TUNES A WET RIDE IS HOW THEY REFFERED TO IT
 
Whether to wait for the new Verado 150 was a tough decision.

My understanding was the new Verado 150 was still supercharged (I think all Verados are), but Mercury removed the digital throttle and shift, which shaved the price down a LOT. I still would have had to add hydraulic steering though, and after a test drive with the 115, we were satisfied with the 115. We were already spending twice what we were originally going to on this boat. Talk about scope creep...

Like spinzone, I probably would have went for it had it been available though. Are you sure the 22 allows 150? I'm to lazy to "build a boat" to find out...

On the "wet ride", I am SO glad you asked that question, because you have put the pieces together for me on that. I was told my boat would also have a "wet ride", but I never knew what that meant. I do have some water spraying up on the deck though, and based on your comment, that must be what they meant. And, I did not know what caused it exactly, but sounds like you were told the inside strakes on the outer tubes cause it, and that makes sense. Coincidentally, the aluminum underskinning on our boat has a bent corner near the motor pod, and until now, I had thought that was what it might be. I think you saved me from going down a wild goose chase on that.

Anyway, the water spray is not much, and does not happen constantly. I've only had our boat out a few times before winter (grrrr), and I didn't notice it at first, but I noticed it and started watching it on just the last 2 outings before we winterized it. I had planned to take video of it and post a link here, but I forgot to take the camera on our last trip. Actually, I didn't think our last trip was going to be our last trip at the time.

Again, I only watched it (and not real closely) on just a couple outings, and what I observed so far was it happened whenever I cut the throttle quickly from full speed, and I seem to recall it also would happen once in a while at a certain fixed speed (somewhere in the mid-RPM range as I recall). The amount of water, and how it hit the swim deck (I have the extended deck by the way) was similar to someone taking a pint glass of water and gently throwing it from the motor side toward the rear fence, if you can picture that. When I was able to witness it, I would generally see a 3-4 inch wide swath of water from the end of the rear deck by the motor to the fence. Sometimes the water would get under the fence and go into the changing station area a little, and anything on the floor there would get a little wet, but again, it's all vinyl, and it drains right back off the back of the boat due to the slant of the boat (the weight of the motor makes the back end sit lower than the front of the boat). It's not a big deal, more of a minor annoyance. It doesn't get the carpet wet, not even close. And, Bennington may come up with a fix for this at some point. It's not so much a "spray" as a short/quick "puke" of a glass of water being thrown (gently) up on the rear deck. In my opinion, the kids will get the rear deck MUCH wetter than this.

I hope that helps describe it, and I wouldn't let it deter your decision on the strakes, but just know that it happens. Worst case, if it really gets on my nerves, I'd bolt a small panel of black plexiglass (my boat is black and I would cut it carefully so that looked like it was meant to be there) and bolt/screw/glue it to the rear rail to shield the spray.

Again, thanks for your comment. I now know what they meant by "wet ride". If you have other questions, just ask. I HEAVILY leaned on the experience of the other guys on this forum when making my purchase decision, so I'm more than happy to pay that back. This is the best forum I've used.
 
One other thing, I think it happens from water bouncing up off the motor. Sounds strange, but that seemed to be how it happened the few times I saw it happen. The boat was new, and I was paying attention to other things, so I'll have to watch it more next spring. I remember it looking odd though, seeing the water come up on deck opposite the direction we were moving. It's pretty turbulent back there (I guess due to the strakes) and I think it's just splashing off the motor and bouncing up on the deck. Water doesn't just "wrap" around in mid air all by itself and get up on the deck going the opposite direction, so I'm assuming its bouncing off the motor at certain speeds.
 
I believe this is Merc's new non supercharged 150 4stroke. From my dealer's estimates, it's about $2100 price difference from the 115, and $3600 for someone like me with a used, 1yr old, 115, if I should choose to upgrade.

 
KDANO THE NEW 150HP IS NOT A VERADO ITS A NATURALLY ASPERATED 3.0L ENGINE WATCH THE VIDEO SPINZONE LOADED IT EXPLAINS IT VERY WELL {THANKS FOR THAT SPINZONE} AND MY DEALER TOLD ME ABOUT $2500 AND THE DEALER REP HAS TO OK THE 150HP UPGRADE ON THE 22 FT MODEL THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP AND INPUT
 
Nice find on that video. I didn't realize the new model was not a Verado.
 
Liljake,

Stick your dealer with Ed's Marine Superstore prices (google them). No one can seem to match their prices but you might be able to show your dealer the difference that they charge and hopefully shave another $400-500 off the motor price.
 
My 2275 RCW with 32" Eliptical tubes has inner and outer strakes. They are the sealed version. Not sure why dealer ordered sealed, as I boat in freshwater, but they did

Hope this helps

Todd
 
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