Getting ready to order my first pontoon. I've been a open bow I/O owner for years. I have to admit to loving to go fast and have enough power to get off the lake when I need to....and probably like to be one of the first to the dock. So with that said, I'm making a big change to a toon because we just don't ski anymore and could use the party room. So I've done two boat shows worth of research, tons of internet reading and visited the dealer today. No doubt I like the Bennington R model and I"m looking at the 2550 RS Fast Back model. After spending the day reading this forum I still have some questions or am looking for opinions....
1) I'm not fishing so I don't care about the fish finder - but maps would be a nice upgrade. My ski boat had depth and water temps and that is it. Standard is the Garmin 100 but thinking about upgrading to the Garmin Echomap 53. Any thoughts on non fish finding performance, quality of unit, etc. Is it worth the additional expense?
2) Kicker stereo. What worries me the most is that the head unit is only available from the manufacturer - so when this thing blows up or fails then what? I had to admit I have not had a unit blow up or fail but I also had a standard stereo mount and could replace it at any time. It seems this comes standard with a KMC1 round head unit. I went on the Kicker site for info and got nothing but a picture. I also am curious as to why this unit doesn't have satellite radio on it? I see that you can upgrade to the KMC10 unit but still no satellite radio. The only one with satellite radio is the KMC20 and it doesn't seem to be an option for Bennington. Seems the dash on the R is molded for this head unit and not much of an option if I wanted to install my own system or at least upgrade.
3) Also read a lot about upgrades to Wet Sounds audio amps and speakers. I'm not sure that I need some killer system that can be heard across the lake but we do enjoy floating on inflatables and hearing our music. On my ski I installed a power amp which drove two remote speakers independently from the main speakers. This allows us to turn up the "water speakers" while maintaining a normal level inside the boat for those who were not on the inflatables. I also had a remote control which could be reached from the water which allowed us to change channels, CD's and volume. Doesn't seem like the Kicker product can do any of this. Does anyone have any operating detail of these units and any thoughts on speaker upgrades. I've read a whole bunch of existing posts already so I don't need that detail again - just wondering if I can get away with the standard kickers for now - are they decent enough to enjoy on the lake and once I get money back into the boating coffers, then upgrade?
4) Anyone done anything with AC inverters in a more permanent installation? We have a large island inflatable - seats 8 people. We use a large blower which requires AC to power it, not DC. Thus it requires me to use my inverter. It's a royal pain to pull out the cushions to get to the battery, connect the alligator clips and then hold it all together while we pump up this huge float. Would like to have a AC outlet mounted so we can just plug in when needed. I realize this requires GFI and so that will be needed as well. Outside of using it for this, we really don't use it much so I'm not looking for some major system - just wondering if anyone has done this?
5) What does everyone do with their anchors? I prefer to store mine while in motion and while docked as there is a good chance they would get stolen or possibly fall off in rough water, which we do get when heading down the river with weekend traffic. I'd like to stow an anchor in the front and another in the back. My understanding is the back storage is taken up by the dual batteries so is there other convenient places to stow them?
6) Eventually I would like to add some side lighting and possibly some underwater lighting. Are there accessory switches open which also have wiring there that I can use or will I have to add additional switches to do this? I'd like to have these isolated from other lights as I do not think our marine authorities allow these on our boats while in motion, so I'd like to have seperate control of them.
7) Finally, I'm going with a 300hp motor to try and still maintain some of my speed to the dock. I haven't seen much posted on Yamaha vs. Merc outboards. Dealer is telling me Yamaha has had very low maintenance issues in his shop and he recommends them. I have always been a Merc guy but with a I/O. It's a strange move to a big outboard but I hear the new 4 strokes are very quiet and efficient.
I would appreciate any insight - I'm brand new here so forgive me if I broke posting rules. I read a lot before I posted but thought I'd ask opinions on my own set up. I hope to put my order in this weekend to hopefully still get the boat before our short season starts but need some opinions before I put the money down. Thank you!
1) I'm not fishing so I don't care about the fish finder - but maps would be a nice upgrade. My ski boat had depth and water temps and that is it. Standard is the Garmin 100 but thinking about upgrading to the Garmin Echomap 53. Any thoughts on non fish finding performance, quality of unit, etc. Is it worth the additional expense?
2) Kicker stereo. What worries me the most is that the head unit is only available from the manufacturer - so when this thing blows up or fails then what? I had to admit I have not had a unit blow up or fail but I also had a standard stereo mount and could replace it at any time. It seems this comes standard with a KMC1 round head unit. I went on the Kicker site for info and got nothing but a picture. I also am curious as to why this unit doesn't have satellite radio on it? I see that you can upgrade to the KMC10 unit but still no satellite radio. The only one with satellite radio is the KMC20 and it doesn't seem to be an option for Bennington. Seems the dash on the R is molded for this head unit and not much of an option if I wanted to install my own system or at least upgrade.
3) Also read a lot about upgrades to Wet Sounds audio amps and speakers. I'm not sure that I need some killer system that can be heard across the lake but we do enjoy floating on inflatables and hearing our music. On my ski I installed a power amp which drove two remote speakers independently from the main speakers. This allows us to turn up the "water speakers" while maintaining a normal level inside the boat for those who were not on the inflatables. I also had a remote control which could be reached from the water which allowed us to change channels, CD's and volume. Doesn't seem like the Kicker product can do any of this. Does anyone have any operating detail of these units and any thoughts on speaker upgrades. I've read a whole bunch of existing posts already so I don't need that detail again - just wondering if I can get away with the standard kickers for now - are they decent enough to enjoy on the lake and once I get money back into the boating coffers, then upgrade?
4) Anyone done anything with AC inverters in a more permanent installation? We have a large island inflatable - seats 8 people. We use a large blower which requires AC to power it, not DC. Thus it requires me to use my inverter. It's a royal pain to pull out the cushions to get to the battery, connect the alligator clips and then hold it all together while we pump up this huge float. Would like to have a AC outlet mounted so we can just plug in when needed. I realize this requires GFI and so that will be needed as well. Outside of using it for this, we really don't use it much so I'm not looking for some major system - just wondering if anyone has done this?
5) What does everyone do with their anchors? I prefer to store mine while in motion and while docked as there is a good chance they would get stolen or possibly fall off in rough water, which we do get when heading down the river with weekend traffic. I'd like to stow an anchor in the front and another in the back. My understanding is the back storage is taken up by the dual batteries so is there other convenient places to stow them?
6) Eventually I would like to add some side lighting and possibly some underwater lighting. Are there accessory switches open which also have wiring there that I can use or will I have to add additional switches to do this? I'd like to have these isolated from other lights as I do not think our marine authorities allow these on our boats while in motion, so I'd like to have seperate control of them.
7) Finally, I'm going with a 300hp motor to try and still maintain some of my speed to the dock. I haven't seen much posted on Yamaha vs. Merc outboards. Dealer is telling me Yamaha has had very low maintenance issues in his shop and he recommends them. I have always been a Merc guy but with a I/O. It's a strange move to a big outboard but I hear the new 4 strokes are very quiet and efficient.
I would appreciate any insight - I'm brand new here so forgive me if I broke posting rules. I read a lot before I posted but thought I'd ask opinions on my own set up. I hope to put my order in this weekend to hopefully still get the boat before our short season starts but need some opinions before I put the money down. Thank you!