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Deal or no deal

When I ordered mine .I originally ordered it with the Express Tube and maxed out the HP with a 150 . By the time I got home I decided I wanted the SPS .Which was not that much more with some of the options I had ordered on Express were standard on the SPS .I went back to the dealer changed the order to the SPS ,but forgot to max out the HP with a 200 . After the 1st season I decided to upgrade to a 200 . Dealer offered me a very good price on the trade ,but as it turned out controls also had to be converted from manual to digital and that meant removing the wave shield . All the labor involved made it not cost effective and would have been less to just trade and buy a new boat .
 
What's really funny to me about HP is that the vast majority of men and I did mean to say men as women don't think the same way. Guys just want bigger and bigger motors on their boats, just to say mine is bigger than yours (majority won't ever use their motor to it's fullest potential). Everyone on here needs to remember that not everyone can afford the biggest motor or the most loaded up pontoon. This guy had a budget in mind and the 115 may have not been the top performance motor, but would have done just fine. The average consumer turns their boat about every 5 to 7 years. Buy what you can afford now, enjoy what you have as owning a boat is how the "other" side lives, in 5 or so years a person may be in a better position to upgrade and buy the nicer pontoon or the bigger motor. Even though he may be financing owning a boat is not inexpensive, maxing out your budget and not allowing room to do the things you want to do would be a prime reason for getting out of boating. I will now step off from my soap box.
 
Some men choose HP based on how they’re going to use their boat. I would never presume to know why a “guy” chooses their motor but I p would say I really have never met anyone that got a big motor just because it was big HP. I do agree that you should only buy what you can afford. I have lived by that my whole life and as a result have no debt.
 
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I bought a 115 for our first benny because I didn't know better. I didn't do my research and thought it would fit my needs I was wrong and I learned a lesson. So when others ask for comments/suggestions, I share real world experience. If guys are buying big HP to compensate for something....Semp must have a happy wife.
 
Sbb888 said:
It is a 2018 hold over, never been in water 22ssrcx SPS with the HO yam 115. I am going to get my own trailer from trailers for pontoons per recommendations on this site. Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks, Bob
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No offense to EvinrudeFan but Bob clearly came here looking for a bit of advice. The active folks in the conference looked at what he was thinking about and most offered thoughts on the motor hanging on the back. I've never had anyone tell me over the years that they had purchased too much horsepower.

The advice asked for and given was sound. It's up to Bob to look at the advice and thoughts presented and make an informed decision based on his unique situation. And, btw, I make my engine choices based on how well the boat will perform the tasks I'm assigning to it. I'd love to see the analysis behind your "vast majority of men" comment. We're all basically intelligent and reasonably mature boaters. And remember, we're talking about pontoon boats here, hardly the poster boats of the testosterone set.

Just my $.02.
 
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I think there is something to what EvinrudeFan was talking about, mixed in with what others have said. How many of us have commented over the years that our significant other is always asking us to slow it down?

Now I personally LOVE all my HP, and if I could afford more, I’d love that too. How often do I get to use it? Almost never. I bet 90% of our boating could easily be done with a 150HP, and any non-water sports very easily with a 115HP. Now I am a speed guy, so for me personally, I could fly around Houghton Lake at WOT almost all day long and love it. However, no one else in my family feels the same way. :(

Basically I open up all my HP when I am on the boat by myself. On some occasions I will go WOT, and my wife will “tolerate” it so I can show guests what our “pontoon” will do. However, that quickly turns into a “look” or request to “slow down so we can talk and relax comfortably”.
 
OP: a Yamaha 150 on a 22' Bennington tritoon will be great! I have a 22SSX with the Yamaha F150 (by the way, that really is the engine designation, not a typo), and I love it! For ME, the perfect balance of power, utility, and fuel economy.

Congrats!
 
Similar experience as others here. I have a Four Winn’s bow rider for speed, and love that. For the most part, friends of me and my wife’s age are split on the fun of WOT. Males enjoy the ride, females....not so much. Even with the 115 on my Bennington, I’m told to slow it down all the time. Are you freaking kidding me??? But I do love our Bennington as well and it is exactly what we wanted it for.
I am glad I did not find this forum until after I made my purchase, as I got exactly what I wanted, but would have probably seconded guessed myself had I been reading the forum. Having said that, I can see a few years into the future where I’ll trade in both boats for one of the Benningtons I drool over that others of you own. At that point, I really will be appreciative of the opinions and expertise everyone shares to spend my money.
Besides the spending of other people’s money, this forum really is awesome with its collection of expertise and experiences across the board that everyone shares. Not too many active and reliable forums like this one out there. Even my 24 year old son commented how cool it was to see all the activity and helpful info, without folks just trying to sell something. This site has helped me tremendously during the fall breakin, and I know will be helpful every year.
 
I am really lucky. My wife has never told me to slow down. She always says we bought it to go fast. So let’s do it.
 
Shmily said:
OP: a Yamaha 150 on a 22' Bennington tritoon will be great! I have a 22SSX with the Yamaha F150 (by the way, that really is the engine designation, not a typo), and I love it! For ME, the perfect balance of power, utility, and fuel economy.

Congrats!
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Feeling a little dumb about the F150 comment. I have a Ford F150 and found myself typing F150 cause I'm so used to referring to my truck, not realizing the Yamaha is actually an F150. Any way I upgraded to the F150 and was surprised by how little the price difference was. I feel now that the boat will do anything we want it to do and am glad with the decision.
Thanks everyone for all the input, it is very much appreciated
 
As a chevy guy, I'm sure you'll find the yamaha f150 to be more reliable than your ford f150. (I had to!)
 
My first truck was a chevy, been driving Ford ever since. They have all been good to me. The only one that ever caused me any grief was the 6.0 diesel. Some of the dealers I talked to were brand specific. I originally thought Mercury was the way to go but this dealer was using Yamaha and after much research and input from you guys I'm glad a Yamaha will be on the back
 
H#LL, OP, you should not feel "dumb" at all! You had the good sense to purchase a BENNINGTON! And to seek guidance in this forum.

Heck, my wife and I were just lucky to find our boat in dealer stock and to purchase it before we had found this place. That being said, the fact that she had a 150 Yamaha was a huge driving force in the purchase.

i think you will be supremely happy with your new Bennie sporting the 150 Yamaha!
 
Sbb888 sounds like a great decision. Just add family, friends, and water for the perfect day ENJOY!
 
I am grateful that unlike many wives spoken of in this thread my wife actually loves speeding past other boats. She is addicted to going fast and will often say let's get the wave runners out so we can really move!
 
Jack M said:
When I ordered mine .I originally ordered it with the Express Tube and maxed out the HP with a 150 . By the time I got home I decided I wanted the SPS .Which was not that much more with some of the options I had ordered on Express were standard on the SPS .I went back to the dealer changed the order to the SPS ,but forgot to max out the HP with a 200 . After the 1st season I decided to upgrade to a 200 . Dealer offered me a very good price on the trade ,but as it turned out controls also had to be converted from manual to digital and that meant removing the wave shield . All the labor involved made it not cost effective and would have been less to just trade and buy a new boat .
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Just wondering what number #4 was? Just sold my 2013 22 SLX and looking for number 2.
 
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