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Tri-toon motor 115?

Benni Newbie

Benni Newbie

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I am in the beginning stages of purchasing a 22 tri-toon. My husband wants to get a 115 motor because we primarily will use it on a lake. I have done some research and most say to get a 150 minimum with a tri-toon. We are trying to keep some cost down and wondering what are the must haves??
 
If you are a cruiser, 115 is probably fine, if you plan on water sports, spend the extra for 150.
 
We have adult children without grandkids yet so we won’t be pulling anyone for a while. And we have jet skiis if we want to pull a tube or wake board. Thanks for the input.
 
I would go for the highest HP you can afford. It will never be cheaper than when you buy the boat and you never hear anyone say I have too much HP.
 
If you are going with a 115 ,I would not even bother with a Tri Toon . You will never buy horse power for as little as you can at the time of order .I went with a 150 ,now it is not cost effective to upgrade to a 200 .
 
We tested out 115’s and 150’s before going with a 200 on our tritoon. I am not sure I would bother getting a tritoon with a 115. I would lean towards just staying with a traditional pontoon with lifting strakes with the 115.

If going up to tritoon, I would advice to drop other options to fit the 150 into the budget. You cannot get HP cheaper than at time of purchase. IF ANY water sports are in the future either with your adult children (or with their future kids), the 150 is by far a better motor to do them with. Also, if boating with larger groups more often, or speed would be fun, handy, or helpful in beating a storm into the dock, the 150 holds up better.

The 115 gives you very nice performance when riding light - a very small group of passengers. It’s also great if all you will do is cruise around or hangout at sandbars or sitting on the water. It’s probably more than fine if just fishing different spots on the water. Once you add many people and weight, its performance drops right off. We found the drop off very noticeable when with a group of people, and when turning during water sports. Thus, we went up in price to get more HP.
 
My first Bennington had a 90 Merc... It cost me over 50k to upgrade that motor because it required a whole new boat o_O...
 
sjhorner9475 said:
I would go for the highest HP you can afford. It will never be cheaper than when you buy the boat and you never hear anyone say I have too much HP.
Click to expand...

What he said!! That throttle lever never goes far enough when needed in an emergency but you can always pull it back if you need less power!
 
I’d say a 115 now with a tritoon is better than a pontoon. At least you could bump up to a 150 one day, but if you have a pontoon, you’ll end up like TwoTone.
 
We have a SPS Tritoon w/ 115 and love it... no issues pulling a skier or tubes... 35 mph max speed... but normally sweet spot is low 20s for towed water sports. Definitely need to weigh the pros and cons and what the intended purpose of the boat will be... or your pricing will go through the roof.
 
I have a 2275RL which is a heavy boat. I got the 115and wish I had at least bought the 150. We are slow cruisers and never tow anything but when we have a boatload of friends the 115 is really sluggish
 
I've owned both. The boat with the 150 is a completely different boating experience. Follow YOUR instincts, you will never regret it.

PS: Search "power steering" at this site, too.
 
I agree that I have never said I wanted less horsepower however, as has been said it depends on your intended usage.
As Ugleeual stated, a 115 is fine for their needs. If you are just going to cruise slow and do not need to cover a bunch of miles with no water sports during an average run then cruising in high teens or low 20's will meet many folks needs and you can do that with the 115. I will not argue that the 115 is in the same class as the 150 and I currently have a Yamaha 150 but considering a 115 on my new boat. Where I will use the boat I would not see a pronounced advantage of the 150 over a 115. If I were looking at a heavy 22 or above then I would do a ride in both a 115 and 150 and decide.
I don't think the OP will see a big advantage in a 3 tube over a 2 tube with strakes with a 115 and a 2 tube elliptical will most likely be faster in a straight line according to Bennington's own tests...
Again as has been suggested, I would do a trial with both motors in similar weight boats and then decide...
 
“Buy your last boat first” also consider resale. We have the 150 and love it. Two great options; power steering, the extended rear deck is great for numerous uses.
 
I realize your question was about 115 vs 150 and the general consensus over the years has been to go with the 150, especially for for heavier boats. Just for thought though - we have a 22 foot slx with a 50 on it. Obviously we don’t do water sports with it and never planned/plan to. We bought it for slow cruising and fishing, intending to keep it “forever” without regard to resale. Our lake is just 400 acres (all sports lake) and after 6 seasons are still VERY happy with it. Our grown kids enjoy it too. Buy what you want/need for your intended uses and size of your lake.
 
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