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Questions before placing order of our new Bennington

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Todd & Amanda

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Hi all, Todd and Amanda here, we are new to the forum but not new to boating. We are selling our 246 Bryant and upgrading to a new Bennington tritoon. We are down to deciding between a few things and would appreciate some input from current owners.


Looking at these models: 23RSB, 25RSB, 25QSB


Looking at these engines: 250 Verado, 300 Verado, 250 Sho, F300


Possible options we are considering: Double Bimini, Blackout Package, RGB side lighting, sharkhide


So first off power of course, what kind of difference will we see in performance, cruising, and fuel consumption by going up to the 300?


I know the Mercury VS Yamaha is like the old ford vs chevy debate but I'm curious about the Yamaha, I owned a triton in 2008 with a 250 Verado and absolutely loved it but seems most dealers are pushing Yamaha more around here.


Will there be much performance difference and or ride quality in the 23 VS 25 foot toons?


As far as the options we listed just looking for input in good VS bad of those items. Thanks in advance and we can't wait to be posting pics of our new ride.
 
Welcome Todd, many on here will say the more HP the better but IMO you should first think about how you will use the boat; are you interested in towing kids or grandkids or are you a cruiser.  If you are looking to tow then the bigger HP the better.  Howeveryou will find there are diminishing returns as you go up the ladder   IE a 115HP on my RL does about 28mph, the 150 about 36, the 200 may only see 41 and the 250 will see about 43.


No matter what Bennington you end up with you will love it 
 
I believe the Sharkhide is a good choice.  I like some sun, and don't like the look, so a single bimini for me.  LEDs are a night thing, how much night time boating are you gonna do?  I like the blackout look on some boats.  The ride difference between our 19' bowrider and our 22' tritoon was drastic, I doubt you would notice much from 23 to 25 except maybe on real rough conditions, when & where are you boating, very busy, lots of wake?  Engines, all are of proven quality.  I still can't get my mind around a supercharged outboard (Verado), but they seem to be holding their own.  I am happy with the 150 my Suzuki puts out and it's old school tech, shall we say.  The more stuff that moves, the more stuff that can break.  Still, it would be cool as hell, plus you can tweak programming to get more HP from a smaller version.  Yeah I know, more money and warranty issues.  Always the old adage, how fast can you afford to go?  I agree with Link, you will love it.   
 
you want the motor brand your dealer does warranty work on or you may end up travelling to a dealer who does. We have an in town dealer who is warranty qualified for Merc. If you want Yamaha you might get it from there but warranty work is 45 miles away in Raleigh.


Note sure which floor plans you are referencing unless you are abbreviating swing back as SB. Make sure you have front deck and rear deck outside fences. NO CARPET. NO CUPHOLDERS except the drop ins that can be stowed. Lighter color shows less dirt and doesn't get hot in the sun. Black surfaces will literally burn someone if touched after heating up in the sun. The towers and fixed top frames don't go under a lot of bridges. Double bimini is more shade which is good. Lighting is nice but functional??


My opinion sharkhide is WAY over rated. I've done it three years running now and every spring before the boat goes back in the water I take it to town and get it cleaned and detailed and it comes right off. Have to redo, and it doesn't repel anything in our lake that makes the toons dirty during the summer. Ranger is selling pontoons now with powder coated tubes. Cant wait to see how those do to see if others follow suit.


We tube nicely at 15-18mph so power is up to you but more power means more fuel. If you do NOT have a water front fueling marina (or you hate paying high fuel costs) and are using 5 gal cans the bigger the tank the more cans. Some Bennington tanks are >50 gal.


FWIW, I would take off any stereo system. They get wet and don't work. More holes in stuff means more water intrusion. You can't hear it when you are moving and we never have ours on when stopped.
 
Link said:
Welcome Todd, many on here will say the more HP the better but IMO you should first think about how you will use the boat; are you interested in towing kids or grandkids or are you a cruiser.  If you are looking to tow then the bigger HP the better.  Howeveryou will find there are diminishing returns as you go up the ladder   IE a 115HP on my RL does about 28mph, the 150 about 36, the 200 may only see 41 and the 250 will see about 43.


No matter what Bennington you end up with you will love it 
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Thanks for the welcome. We do pull tubes occasionally but the majority of our lake time is just cruising.
 
guardrail22 said:
you want the motor brand your dealer does warranty work on or you may end up travelling to a dealer who does. We have an in town dealer who is warranty qualified for Merc. If you want Yamaha you might get it from there but warranty work is 45 miles away in Raleigh.


Note sure which floor plans you are referencing unless you are abbreviating swing back as SB. Make sure you have front deck and rear deck outside fences. NO CARPET. NO CUPHOLDERS except the drop ins that can be stowed. Lighter color shows less dirt and doesn't get hot in the sun. Black surfaces will literally burn someone if touched after heating up in the sun. The towers and fixed top frames don't go under a lot of bridges. Double bimini is more shade which is good. Lighting is nice but functional??


My opinion sharkhide is WAY over rated. I've done it three years running now and every spring before the boat goes back in the water I take it to town and get it cleaned and detailed and it comes right off. Have to redo, and it doesn't repel anything in our lake that makes the toons dirty during the summer. Ranger is selling pontoons now with powder coated tubes. Cant wait to see how those do to see if others follow suit.


We tube nicely at 15-18mph so power is up to you but more power means more fuel. If you do NOT have a water front fueling marina (or you hate paying high fuel costs) and are using 5 gal cans the bigger the tank the more cans. Some Bennington tanks are >50 gal.
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My closest dealer services both brands but really pushes the Yamaha over the Verado. We boat on Dale Hollow Lake so fueling isn't any trouble. Yes the SB is referring to the swingback models.
 
I am throughly satisfied with my Yamaha F250 as far as power and fuel consumption goes.  We mostly cruise and occasionally pull tubes and skiers.  As said before, you will enjoy whichever boat you get.


Jack
 
One thing I forgot to ask, building the boat online there's only around $1000 difference for us to get the Q series. I like the looks of the sloped front on the Q's but it appears that it shortens the front seating. What is everyone take on this?
 
I love the looks of the Q, but as you noticed, you lose some seating. I can't comment on motors as we've been stuck at 20hp (lake restriction).  Love blackout, ordered it with our G model. If it's not part of build, think about the elevated helm, it's a nice upgrade. Hope to see the specs of an "order" soon!!
 
Well, I guess you do lose some seating with the Q but I haven't noticed it being an issue.  I routinely take 6-8 people on mine and seating is never an issue and nobody feels cramped.  I love the blackout package.  My wife wanted it more than I but now that I have it I love it.  Clean up is easy too.  The double bimini is must where I boat.  With temps 115-120 you need all the shade you can get.  I had an issue with my front bimini and my dealer was absolutely worthless in trying to fix it.  It was way too loose.  Fortunately, I contacted Bennington directly and they paid a local place here to make me a new one which is perfect now.  My F350 Yamaha is an awesome motor.  The only time I notice any real fuel consumption is when I'm heavy on the throtlle.  For just cruising around at say 25-30, the fuel economy is actually quite good.  Problem is it sounds so good when pushed hard it's hard to just cruise around.  I've had lots of other boaters flag me down and ask about the motor and how it runs.  It's very impressive to say the least.  And, as far as Sharkhide, I'm very glad I have it.  Our water here is very, very hard and the Sharkhide sure makes clean-up a breeze.  I have several buddies who have pontoons without it and their tubes look pretty bad.  Not sure about other places but it certainly makes a difference where I boat.  Hope it helps, my .02.
 
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I have a 2017 swing back on order, but thought I would add a little something I've picked up during the order process.  You might want to make sure you add in the rear stainless steal rails around the swingback.  In my state (Michigan), you cannot have people back there underway legally without them - no matter how slowly you go or how old the passengers are.  I have heard others report that is true in their states as well.  


I'd ask your dealer to look into it.  Our dealer said they sold 5 last year without the rails when they first came out, they didn't realize the regulation/limitation, and then had a 2 customers not happy after getting their boats that they got flagged with people laying out in back without rails while under way.


Even if not required in your state, I think 1) the stainless steal rails look classy on the swingback, and 2) would give me better peace of mind with any riders laying out while under way if the rail is back there.


Additionally, the rear stereo and skirting upgrade for the swingback really improves the overall look of the entire swingback seating area in the rear.  It's a pricey option, but I think it totally pulls together the rear swing back seating look properly.


Finally, we ordered the blackout edition as well, and think it looks amazing with a multitude of color options.  I cannot wait to see what you order, and hope you post pictures of it this spring when it comes in.
 
Vikingstaff said:
I have a 2017 swing back on order, but thought I would add a little something I've picked up during the order process.  You might want to make sure you add in the rear stainless steal rails around the swingback.  In my state (Michigan), you cannot have people back there underway legally without them - no matter how slowly you go or how old the passengers are.  I have heard others report that is true in their states as well.  


I'd ask your dealer to look into it.  Our dealer said they sold 5 last year without the rails when they first came out, they didn't realize the regulation/limitation, and then had a 2 customers not happy after getting their boats that they got flagged with people laying out in back without rails while under way.


Even if not required in your state, I think 1) the stainless steal rails look classy on the swingback, and 2) would give me better peace of mind with any riders laying out while under way if the rail is back there.


Additionally, the rear stereo and skirting upgrade for the swingback really improves the overall look of the entire swingback seating area in the rear.  It's a pricey option, but I think it totally pulls together the rear swing back seating look properly.


Finally, we ordered the blackout edition as well, and think it looks amazing with a multitude of color options.  I cannot wait to see what you order, and hope you post pictures of it this spring when it comes in.
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I can't believe they would sell the Swingback model without the protective rails. We saw an R23 at our local dealer that was the Bennington rep's demo boat that didn't have the rails. She said they it was an option but they would add them if requested before selling it......
 
Vikingstaff said:
Additionally, the rear stereo and skirting upgrade for the swingback really improves the overall look of the entire swingback seating area in the rear.  It's a pricey option, but I think it totally pulls together the rear swing back seating look properly.
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What is this upgrade?
 
Yup, I agree with Link that you carefully consider how you intend to use your boat. Our dealer normally hangs a 200 HP on a boat our size GCW 2575 but I went with a 250 Verado just to make sure we really were not under powered.


While my top-end is just under 40 (which is slow compared to many on this board), I have great acceleration and it is more than enough power fully loaded (16 people) with little drop-off in performance. While sometimes I dream about the 300, realistically, it would probably be overkill for me as I rarely cruise over 20 MPH anyway. Additionally, I can only go a minute or so at full throttle before the wind affects my eyes anyway.  


That said, Havasu doesn't seem to have too many complaints about tooling around with a 350! And, if it's in your budget, why not eliminate any possible regrets??  
 
Have tied up with R model and did not notice any real loss of seating (have had 12 on board and all fond a seat) but did notice a loss of front decking area (between the outer fence and the front edge of the decking).  What made this most apparent was that the R boat had an electric anchor mounted on the front deck and I noticed that I would not have the room for such a mount.


Jack
 
I had the 250 SHO if I had to do it all over again, I'd go with as big as I could Verado, Or, if you want to really stand out in the crowd I might even step up to a Seven Marine 557 or 627. :ph34r:
 
Rockie69 said:
I had the 250 SHO if I had to do it all over again, I'd go with as big as I could Verado, Or, if you want to really stand out in the crowd I might even step up to a Seven Marine 557 or 627. :ph34r:
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What would make you pick the Verado over the SHO? In 2008 I had a 250 Verado on a 25ft Crestliner Grand Cayman and loved it. That boat would GPS 52 mph with 2 adults on board and 50 gallons of fuel. It had 27'' logs and the center log was dropped 2'' best I remember to make it handle better. My friends newer toons with 250's and 300's aren't running that fast but the newer boats are probably heavier. The Crestliner was built very light and no extra options but it sure was fun. I have some dealers telling me the SHO is the better engine but they don't really give me any details other than saying the SHO is easier on fuel.
 
The SHO is a a good engine and the bass boys love them as they can beat the heck out of them. I had a slight misfurtune with the top seal popping and throwing oil all over the place while I was in LOTO. There are other documenated challenges, but it's not to say that I "hate" the SHO, I'd just do it differently my 2nd chance.
 
Todd said:
What is this upgrade?
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Sorry Todd.  The Swingback Stern Lighted Speaker/Grill Upgrade    I spoke of is an upgrade on the s-series swing back.  It looks like it is standard on the R/Q variants you are looking at.  I think you get that look standard.  Sorry for the confusion on that.
 
BigKahuna said:
I can't believe they would sell the Swingback model without the protective rails. We saw an R23 at our local dealer that was the Bennington rep's demo boat that didn't have the rails. She said they it was an option but they would add them if requested before selling it......
Click to expand...

I think its crazy from a safety perspective that its not standard with the swing back.  My wife and I love the look of them back there, so we were adding it on our order regardless.  However, I'd be really upset if I didn't add them, and then got a ticket if someone was back there while underway.
 
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