Back to the main site

Advice sought?

B

Bigun'

Member
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Location
Loudon, TN
My wife and I are new to owning a pontoon and are looking at a S series Bennington (22SSL or 24SSL). We love the family friendliness and functionality of a pontoon and hope to order our Bennie soon. What options would you recommend for a newbie. Our family will be using it to cruise and tube (60/40). Very excited about becoming a Bennington owner! These are by far the finest pontoons on the water.

Brad
 
Bigun said:
My wife and I are new to owning a pontoon and are looking at a S series Bennington (22SSL or 24SSL). We love the family friendliness and functionality of a pontoon and hope to order our Bennie soon. What options would you recommend for a newbie. Our family will be using it to cruise and tube (60/40). Very excited about becoming a Bennington owner! These are by far the finest pontoons on the water.

Brad
Click to expand...
My advice would be to put most of your available $$ in the motor! More HP !!
 
I agree that you should buy the most power you can if you want to pull skiers or tubers.

I would also suggest the snap in carpet, or the all vinyl option for ease of cleaning.

Otherwise you will love your new toon, and have many quality hours of fun with your family!
 
I don't know how old your family members are, I know that with my 2075GLi with 2x25 toons and a 90hp yamaha, it was fun, but a lot of work! Now I was pulling my wife/bro-in-law/sister-in-law who are ranging in age from 25-35 they can hold on and it was tough to dump them. Worst part being for me since I didn't have power steering. I would look at definitely a 115 or 150hp, and power steering makes the cruise SO much easier and enjoyable! Depending on how old the kids are, and how careful, I wouldn't worry about the snap in carpet, we just have a no shoe policy, with younger kids, it's probably a good idea, gives you the option to take to a cleaner if there is an accident. But for the cost of it, those 'little green machine's " are great!! And small enough to fit under the seat for instant cleanup with power invertor! Those are the main things. As said previously, get as much horsepower that you can afford, you don't have to always use it, but it's nice to be there when you need it. Mine was an 09 with 33.7 hours and I just traded it in for a 2275RCW with a 200hp ESP. I'll be paying for it forever, but I can't see myself needing anything else for a very long time!

Derrick
 
If you're looking at an S series, then you're looking for a value proposition and you want the best bang for your buck.

You should get either the twin ellipticals or the tri-toon with the regular 25" tubes, not the ESP. You can go for whichever one you can get the better deal on, but all things being equal, the twin-ellipticals will probably work better for you.

Get the underskinning so the water can't hit the underside of your deck, or more accurately, the cross members. If you want to squeeze your dollars for all their worth, you can do what some of the more creative tooners do. Buy some FRP at one of the big box hardware stores and screw it to your underside yourself. FRP is the pebble-skin sort of wall paneling you see in the restrooms of most public places. Lots of folks tuck the leading edge OVER the forward-most cross member, others just bring the leading edge of the panel flush with the front side of the cross member.

Now to the engine...

First off, if you're looking at pulling folks on a tube and having a few guests, you'll want the 24 foot boat. Two feet DO make a difference and it's only about a grand. Plus, on the 22 you can only get a 115 while on the 24 you can get a 150, and you're going to want the 150.

Second, take a good look at the Yamaha 150 Vmax 2-stroke. Modern two-strokes are not like the older ones, and two strokes do make some good power. Plus, it's like $1,000 less than the 4-strokes.

Finally, do NOT overlook the possibility of snagging yourself a left-over or even a used boat. You'd be surprised at how good a deal you can get that way.
 
As many have stated, the motor hp is very important especially for tubing. The 24 footer wth the 150hp might be a good choice for you. The power steering makes operating the larger engine boats so much easier. I really enjoy our snap in carpet. It make it easy for cleaning, drying it out if it gets saturated by rain. The carpet adds a touch of luxury and feels good underfoot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top