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Just joined and bringing home a new Bennington this Friday

bthrel

bthrel

Well-Known Member
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Location
Cuba Landing, TN
Greeting All,

My wife and I will be bring hone our first pontoon this Friday, its a 2012 Bennington 24 SSLX with a 150HP 4-Stroke Yamaha. I have owned lots of boats over the years and will be retiring a solid 1998 Bayliner 1750 Capri (we;ll miss her,, but its time). Anyway, just wanted to join this great group/forum and say hello. We spend 90% of our time on the Tennessee river in West TN around river mile 130, hope to see you out there some time.

Cheers

Brian & Lorraine
 
Welcome aboard, you will find lots of good information and helpful folks on here.

Since this is your first pontoon, i'm sure you will have a few questions, as i did, and you will find your answers here.

Sounds like you picked a really nice Bennington, we love to see pictures, so get some for us and post them in the gallery.

And be sure to post your performance specs once you get through the agonizing break-in period :D
 
Welcome to the party!! Sounds like a nice boat there and you'll love the 150.
 
bthrel said:
Greeting All,

My wife and I will be bring hone our first pontoon this Friday, its a 2012 Bennington 24 SSLX with a 150HP 4-Stroke Yamaha. I have owned lots of boats over the years and will be retiring a solid 1998 Bayliner 1750 Capri (we;ll miss her,, but its time). Anyway, just wanted to join this great group/forum and say hello. We spend 90% of our time on the Tennessee river in West TN around river mile 130, hope to see you out there some time.

Cheers

Brian & Lorraine
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Congratulations on your new boat. We got our new Bennington in April and keep it at Pickwick. Where is mile 130?

Royo
 
Welcome to this crazy addiction we call Bennington.
 
I'm also at Pickwick on the Tennessee River. My boat is at Pickwick State Park marina next to the dam. That's about mile marker 213. I'm guessing 130 is actually in Alabama around Joe Wheeler. Did the poster mean 230?
 
Royo and Truthinthedetails:

Mile 130 is about 8 miles north of Tenn. Hwy. 100--NE of Parsons, Tennessee. That's about 12 miles south of the I-40 bridge at Interstate mile marker 133.

We live at mile 264 on Lake Wilson. This is a magnificent recreational lake, and we're just 35 miles east of Iuka. Lake Wilson drops 100' in 16 miles, it is deep, wide and right in the middle of four cities (Florence/Muscle Shoals.) Lakefront property is reasonable, and we have three Robert Trent Jones golf courses on the water. It's nice to not be landlocked--and in the middle of the best inland cruising in the U.S.

You should visit our lake next chance you get. We absolutely love the conveniences in this area, like a 4 star Marriott Resort, great restaurants, etc. Many Pickwick yachts lock through every weekend docking at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina.
 
Thanks for the warm welcomes all... Bamaman had it right, its near Parsons TN and a spot called Lady Finger bluff. I will post some pictures and specs once we get her home. And for the Pickwick folks, its on the schedule for the summer to take a cruise up that way and lock thru. I will post in the SE forum when we get ready to do it.

I do have two questions.

1. Fule capacity, does anyone cary extra fuel in a 5gal can? just wondering

2. Haven't taken possession yet ( scheduled for Friday) but the front gate when opening drags a little on the carpet unless you hold the gate in the up position on the hinge, is this normal or should I have the dealer fix it. Seems like it would wear the carpet.

Thanks again and see ya soon

Brian
 
Truthinthedetails said:
I'm also at Pickwick on the Tennessee River. My boat is at Pickwick State Park marina next to the dam. That's about mile marker 213. I'm guessing 130 is actually in Alabama around Joe Wheeler. Did the poster mean 230?
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Our boat is at Pelican Pointe, which is the 3rd cove south of the dam. We sold our '98 Sweetwater in January and bought a '12 2275 GCW with a 150 Yahama, which we are really enjoying. By next week we should have the name on it, "five o"clock". Stop by if you see us. We usually anchor in that big cove just south of there across from yellow creek.

Royo
 
Royo -I know that cove very well. My in-laws have a house there. My Bennington is at the state park during the week, but at my in-laws dock every weekend.
 
bthrel said:
Thanks for the warm welcomes all... Bamaman had it right, its near Parsons TN and a spot called Lady Finger bluff. I will post some pictures and specs once we get her home. And for the Pickwick folks, its on the schedule for the summer to take a cruise up that way and lock thru. I will post in the SE forum when we get ready to do it.

I do have two questions.

1. Fule capacity, does anyone cary extra fuel in a 5gal can? just wondering

2. Haven't taken possession yet ( scheduled for Friday) but the front gate when opening drags a little on the carpet unless you hold the gate in the up position on the hinge, is this normal or should I have the dealer fix it. Seems like it would wear the carpet.

Thanks again and see ya soon

Brian
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Hi Brian, you lift the gate to open and drop it in place to close. Enjoy your new boat! TB
 
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I have the 24SSL. The gates do not come close to dragging like yours. That doesn't sound normal to me. Have the dealer fix it.

Welcome aboard!
 
Dealer adjusted the gate before delivery :)

One more question

After having it out now twice this weekend (10 hours total) we have had some time to sit and take things in fully. The only thing really bothering me is the finish of the plastic housing/bases the seats sit on. I figure they are injection moulded, but the finish it very chalky and spotty in places and it does not get better with some 303 treatment. Is THIS a normal thing as well. I have to take it back to the dealer this week as the GPS speedometer is not functioning at all (No display and no movement) the cables appear to be connected (took a peek) but it looks like its not getting any power. Other than that, the boat is a dream, ride is smooth with the express package and it eats wakes like they are small ripples in the river. Pictures coming soon ( I will put most of them in the summer pic thread that was just started.)

Thanks

Brian & Lorraine
 
Is your accessory switch turned on and did you push the button to turn the unit on?
 
cwag911 said:
Is your accessory switch turned on and did you push the button to turn the unit on?
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Tried all accessory switches, no "button" seen on the dash or near the speedometer. The Garmin 100 depth finder and radio are on the far right accessory switch and both work fine. Looking under the dash I see the GPS puck and its connected to the back of the speedometer.

Thanks for replying

Brian
 
bthrel said:
Tried all accessory switches, no "button" seen on the dash or near the speedometer. The Garmin 100 depth finder and radio are on the far right accessory switch and both work fine. Looking under the dash I see the GPS puck and its connected to the back of the speedometer.

Thanks for replying

Brian
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Dealer swapped out the GPS puck from another boat and still no speedometer function, turned out to be a wire reversed on the speedometer connection, working like a champ now.

Brian
 
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Nice boat pics! As soon as I picked up our 24 SSL, the SSLX came out. Doh!

I hold my wheel exactly that same way. Tilted all the way forward, right hand on the bottom. That is, now that I don't have to continuously hold the throttle lever forward.

Ours has a black fence panel behind the gas cap. Your's looks like it goes right into the lounger vinyl. Is that how it is, or is there a tan panel there that's hard to see in the photo?
 
kaydano said:
Nice boat pics! As soon as I picked up our 24 SSL, the SSLX came out. Doh!

I hold my wheel exactly that same way. Tilted all the way forward, right hand on the bottom. That is, now that I don't have to continuously hold the throttle lever forward.

Ours has a black fence panel behind the gas cap. Your's looks like it goes right into the lounger vinyl. Is that how it is, or is there a tan panel there that's hard to see in the photo?
Click to expand...
I had to go look myself,, but its a tan panel where the gas cap is.

My throttle control will stay at 4000 RPM, but has to be held above that, plan to adjust the tension next outing so I can steer right handed all the time.

Cheers

Brian
 
Nice toon bthrel.............

Enjoy it!!!!!!!!
 
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