Curly Q Link
New Member
I have a general question on what your thoughts are on the motor I should get on a new Bennington 22 SSX. My only choice is Yamaha, and I'm fine with that. The pontoon is priced out with the T50. The other option I might consider is the F90, but I'm not sure what to do.
I'm 68 years old and my wife is 65. In spirit we like to think of ourselves as 25 but reality gives us a wake up call with some aches and pains and trying to remember how many doctor's appointments we have lined up in the next couple months.
I've done some general boating 30 to 40 years ago so I'm mildly familiar with rules of the road and operating a small motorboat. We did go out a week ago and rented a 20' pontoon for half a day just to see how we liked it for something to do in retirement. You probably guessed it, the fever hit us and we were off to the pontoon dealers and decided on the Bennington.
At first we were going to get the 20 S which is probably the basic new entry line pontoon. It was a nice looking pontoon that came with some options and nicely appointed. It had the T50 Yamaha (high thrust). The 20' we rented had just a standard 40hp Mercury and we felt that did pretty good for our type of boating. So I was feeling the T50 Yamaha on the 20' Bennington would be more than adequate. Keep in mind that our boating will be pretty much what I would call "old school", putting around the lake for slow rides, getting out for fresh air rides, anchoring off and doing what I do best - trying to take a short nap for an hour in the afternoon. The lake is in Minnesota and is 1,600 acres. A nice lake for cruising around, fishing and just relaxing. We'll be happy with a top of speed of 15 to 20 mph but most of our running will probably be in the 4 to 5 mph cruising speeds. There are not a lot of places to go other than going around in a large circle and one restaurant and bar on the lake. A couple larger bays and maybe try a little fishing for something to do. Probably in my life time the pontoon will never get off this lake other than for maintenance.
So we figure 90 percent of our use will be with just the two of us. A couple times a season there might be 4 to 6 of us going out for a ride. My thoughts were that this 20' would probably be adequate for our use. Then I started doing some math and checking and realized i could upgrade to the 22 SSX for $2,500 with a few more standard features, two feet longer and might be more comfortable than the entry level 20 S. A year from now I didn't want to be saying, "We should have bought the 22 SSX when we had the chance." We might not need the extra room but it is a nice pontoon and we will probably be glad we upgraded.
Here is where I'm at with the motor. This $2,500 to upgrade is still with the T50. The 22 SSX is probably 300 to 400 pounds more in weight than the 20 S but for our kind of pontooning with the 22 SSX would the T50 be an adequate motor? Like I mentioned, I'm fine with top speeds of 15 to 20 mph. My main concern is would I be putting a lot more stress on a 50 hp motor running at 1500 rpm four or five hours in a day's outing than would be stressing a 90 hp motor maybe only having to run at 1100 or 1200 rpm to get the same speed. I guess I'm more concerned about putting wear and tear and the longevity of a T50 as opposed to a F90 that would probably be operating under less stress pushing the pontoon at a lessor rpm. I hope this explanation is making sense. Also I suppose a 90hp motor would be a positive selling point for resale.
Another question is if I do go with the 90hp motor, what do you think the upcharge should be going from the T50 to the F90?
Sorry this ended up being so long. I will more than likely base my decision on what feedback I get here rather than from the dealer. Thanks for your thoughts and help.
I'm 68 years old and my wife is 65. In spirit we like to think of ourselves as 25 but reality gives us a wake up call with some aches and pains and trying to remember how many doctor's appointments we have lined up in the next couple months.
I've done some general boating 30 to 40 years ago so I'm mildly familiar with rules of the road and operating a small motorboat. We did go out a week ago and rented a 20' pontoon for half a day just to see how we liked it for something to do in retirement. You probably guessed it, the fever hit us and we were off to the pontoon dealers and decided on the Bennington.
At first we were going to get the 20 S which is probably the basic new entry line pontoon. It was a nice looking pontoon that came with some options and nicely appointed. It had the T50 Yamaha (high thrust). The 20' we rented had just a standard 40hp Mercury and we felt that did pretty good for our type of boating. So I was feeling the T50 Yamaha on the 20' Bennington would be more than adequate. Keep in mind that our boating will be pretty much what I would call "old school", putting around the lake for slow rides, getting out for fresh air rides, anchoring off and doing what I do best - trying to take a short nap for an hour in the afternoon. The lake is in Minnesota and is 1,600 acres. A nice lake for cruising around, fishing and just relaxing. We'll be happy with a top of speed of 15 to 20 mph but most of our running will probably be in the 4 to 5 mph cruising speeds. There are not a lot of places to go other than going around in a large circle and one restaurant and bar on the lake. A couple larger bays and maybe try a little fishing for something to do. Probably in my life time the pontoon will never get off this lake other than for maintenance.
So we figure 90 percent of our use will be with just the two of us. A couple times a season there might be 4 to 6 of us going out for a ride. My thoughts were that this 20' would probably be adequate for our use. Then I started doing some math and checking and realized i could upgrade to the 22 SSX for $2,500 with a few more standard features, two feet longer and might be more comfortable than the entry level 20 S. A year from now I didn't want to be saying, "We should have bought the 22 SSX when we had the chance." We might not need the extra room but it is a nice pontoon and we will probably be glad we upgraded.
Here is where I'm at with the motor. This $2,500 to upgrade is still with the T50. The 22 SSX is probably 300 to 400 pounds more in weight than the 20 S but for our kind of pontooning with the 22 SSX would the T50 be an adequate motor? Like I mentioned, I'm fine with top speeds of 15 to 20 mph. My main concern is would I be putting a lot more stress on a 50 hp motor running at 1500 rpm four or five hours in a day's outing than would be stressing a 90 hp motor maybe only having to run at 1100 or 1200 rpm to get the same speed. I guess I'm more concerned about putting wear and tear and the longevity of a T50 as opposed to a F90 that would probably be operating under less stress pushing the pontoon at a lessor rpm. I hope this explanation is making sense. Also I suppose a 90hp motor would be a positive selling point for resale.
Another question is if I do go with the 90hp motor, what do you think the upcharge should be going from the T50 to the F90?
Sorry this ended up being so long. I will more than likely base my decision on what feedback I get here rather than from the dealer. Thanks for your thoughts and help.