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Buying a Bennington Tritoon

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samjones

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Well, our runabout days are over and off to a pontoon. Our neighbor has the 24' RTFB Bowrider with the fixed thing on top that can hold the Bimini (sorry my nomenclature is a bit lacking) -- and I'd love to get the same.

We love theirs. I want it to be fast 41ish+ mph, but happy with a 22' vs 24'. So I have a few questions.

1) Do I need the 300hp or can I deal with the 250hp.
2) Where can I buy slightly used or new and pay <100k?

Its not urgent, easily can order. But want to be as price sensitive as I can. Happy to buy used or new.

Thank you so much!!!
 
With an SPS Plus set up you can run a 250 and get to 45 . I've can get to 44.7 on my 23 ft QCW. ( heavy boat)
You won't find used boats on this forum,. The selling of boats and motors is not allowed, if some one posts a boat for sale they will be suspended.
 
I was in your situation 2 months ago. I just got out of 20+ years of owning tournament ski boats and wake boats. We picked up a new M22 and I researched and looked for boats that matched what we wanted exhaustively.

Best of luck with your search, but from what I saw, you may want to open your search to other models or plan to be more flexible in your price range. The R series are going to be harder to find, new or used. A new one with a 250 as the only option would be hard to get in that price range. A slightly used one might be like a unicorn hunt.

That being said, if you're open to other models, the M is very nice and you could find a new M22 with almost every option for the price you're looking at. It also has an extended deck so it's closer to 23'. We got the 200 Yamaha (F200) on ours and hits about 41. It's not fully broken in yet and it's running the factory prop so I think there's a little left on the top end. The Vmax 200 would probably get you a little more.

Going new with a 10 year warranty was a huge factor for me. We were also able to hit the timing just right and got a 5 year factory warranty on the motor. I still miss my Mastercraft but I definitely don't miss the thought of thousands, if not tens of thousands, out of pocket for a non-warrantied failure.
 
Consider an L, LX or M model. Will be slightly lighter than an R model, and cost less. Get an SPS or SPS+ tritoon hull. With the SPS you are limited at 200HP, but with a performance version 200HP you would get a 22-24’ pontoon to 40-45 mph at WOT on a light load if dialed in. With a SPS+ hull you can go to 250 HP and again can edge that performance up with a performance version of that motor (Yamaha Vmax, Mercury Verado Pro, etc). Then you are more solidly 40+ mph with a bit more leeway on weight load.

Something to be said for the 10 year warranty by going new. However, every now and then a nice deal is out there on a pre-owned boat. With slower sales in the new market, discounts are out there, and fall and early winter are prime times to get the best deals. I would really lean into deal shopping for new (unsold 2025 inventory) or a good deal on a spec’d up 2026 order.
 
Also, at least in our state (Michigan), FB Marketplace is a great spot to search for good used pontoons in addition to Craigslist if you want to scope out pre-owned.
 
samjones said:
Well, our runabout days are over and off to a pontoon. Our neighbor has the 24' RTFB Bowrider with the fixed thing on top that can hold the Bimini (sorry my nomenclature is a bit lacking) -- and I'd love to get the same.

We love theirs. I want it to be fast 41ish+ mph, but happy with a 22' vs 24'. So I have a few questions.

1) Do I need the 300hp or can I deal with the 250hp.
2) Where can I buy slightly used or new and pay <100k?

Its not urgent, easily can order. But want to be as price sensitive as I can. Happy to buy used or new.

Thank you so much!!!
Click to expand...
Check out Spicer’s Boat City in Houghton Lake. They have a loaded up 2023 24’ RTFBA with a 300 Merc for $120K.
 
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