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New owner questions

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Eufaula_bentoon

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Hey guys, I'm sure this has been beat to death, and may be in the wrong forum, so set me straight if I'm doing something wrong. This is my first post here.

So this is my first toon, a Bennington 22SFX with a yammie f150. My wife and I both have grown up on the water, and I have been on pontoons many times, but new as an owner. (Didn't really want a toon, but its growing on me.)

Wife wanted something we could cruise with friends and family, I wanted something to fish and pull tubes, so we compromised on the SFX layout.

I originally wanted something with 200+ hp, coming from a offshore tournament background, I know how important the extra ponies can be if the weather turns nasty and you have to outrun a storm or power through swells that come from nowhere, she wasn't that concerned with power, she won again.

Now that that is covered, overall I'm pleased with the performance of the 150. I'm getting 39-40 out of it at 58-5900 WOT. I believe it has a 15 pitch, but I'd have to look again to be sure. Haven't calculated exact figures, but fuel economy seems ok. It has the 3/4 tube with strakes, none on the outboard tubes.

Here's the question, is that all I should expect out of this boat, or is there more to be tapped? Different pitch? Adding strakes? Outboard height adjustments? Or does it sound on the money?

As I said, overall I'm pleased so far. I'm not familiar with these smaller outboard. My last tournament boat had trip 300 yammies, the boat being built now will wear trip 350's. So I'm looking for opinions from people more experienced with these types of setups.

Sorry to be long winded, thanks in advance for any information.
 
Welcome to the club, Eufaula! You have definitely purchased a popular combination that I'm sure other members with a similar package will weigh in on, but it sounds like you're pretty much dialed in. Are you happy with your hole shot and acceleration? How does it perform in the turns (any blow-outs or cavitation issues)? Not sure what WOT RPM range that engine should be operated in but you seem pretty close.
 
Hole shot and acceleration seems good, haven't operated many other pontoons set up closely enough to compare. Haven't done a whole lot of top speed driving yet as I'm just finishing the break in. Not really dissatisfied at all, more or less just wondering if it's in the zone or if I'm leaving anything on the table.

If there are any small adjustments or add one that will make any significant hole shot or top end gains (3 mph+ here and there) I'm interested to hear ideas. But I'm not willing to drop a thousand or more for things that would gain 1 mph. If there are 2-3 things that could be done, like adding more strakes and a new pitch prop, that would gain say 6-7 more mph or a significant hole shot, I'd like to know. But minor gains aren't worth the time or money to tinker with.
 
I think you've got what you've got and 40 is nothing to sneeze at on a pontoon. Welcome to the family.
 
For a 22’ with EPP hull and a 150hp I think you’re there. You might squeeze a mph or so playing with props but no more. Your only focus now would overall usage, pulling etc and fuel consumption. Welcome to club! Must be a small vessel to what you’re used to if you were running trip 300’s!!
 
Welcome to the forum and to the world of Bennington. You made the right decision. I find to hard to believe that no one has mentioned the requirement of posting pictures. Your numbers sound good to me, I don’t believe you can squeeze much more out of her.
 
Welcome to the forum Euf! Can't really add much. I think you're pretty much dialed in. Hope you and your wife enjoy the boat......
 
Beautiful!
 
WOW!!!
 
The boat looks fantastic. Congratulations!
 
Stunning
 
Nice accent color choice
 
Thank you all. My first toon. Had to go with the best! Love it,can't believe the smooth ride.
 
Thanks. It's actually not a color I thought of either. We wanted a different color scheme, but this was the exact setup we wanted for nearly 13k less than ordering new. Our dealer said he could order one for us, but it would be 6-12 weeks and there was only so much he could do on the price. But he's friends with another dealer on the coast that really doesn't live in a pontoon market.(which I'm familiar with since he is where I do most of my offshore fishing) He bought 12 Bennington's for dirt cheap from a dealership that shut down but was having trouble selling them in his area and just wanted to break even. So it's not really the color we wanted, but that extra 13k makes it easier to like hahaha
 
I like the looks of your new boat and the additional money in my pocket would be the icing on the cake. Enjoy!
 
So does anyone know the fuel capacity of this thing? I looked through the paperwork and can't find anything. The owners manual that came with it seems to be just a generic booklet, not model specific. Haven't found much online to give me anything direct for this model. Also, heading out scalloping this weekend in Steinhatchee. I've fished out there a good bit and know of several good places in close (4 miles or less) that that have good bottom and hold bigger fish like kings, cobia, big spanish, occasional keeper grouper. While they are only a few miles out and still in sight of land, they are a decent run from the dock. Trying to see what kind of range I can expect to see what I can safely run to, fuel and weather permitting.
 
I believe if its a pontoon 22 gal. If upgraded to the SPS they give you a 34 gal.
 
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