Tubing with a 115 HP

[kaydano]

We had a fabulous time out on the lake last night with another family. It was such a good time, I didn't want to leave. But I was smiling the entire drive home! We SOOOO made the right decision to buy Bennington!!!

We were able to get in some serious tubing, and I'm very happy with the performance. We had 4 adults, and 5 kids (two teenagers), and 3 on the tube at a time, with throttle to spare on the 115. I was able to swing the tube out of the wake quite easily. So, for us, I think we made the right decision on boat/motor combination.

The bonus part is we've put 6 hours on a full tank of gas since the beginning of the season, and the needle is just starting to move off of "full". The 115 seems to sip gas...

 

[JasonLepore]

Damn that's good with gas,,, I feel like my 150 guzzles gas ... But I also wonder how people are using it ,,, I'm still in Exploring mode,, traveling all over the river at 3/4 to full throttle ,,,we never chilled out anywhere yet,, I usually use half to a full tank each day,, but again ,, constant driving ,,, $130 to fill the tank each time ,,, I'll see how it is once we settle into a few places

 

[kaydano]

The last 6 hours out, I've probably been at full throttle 10%. Tubing, maybe 20-30% of the time at 3/4 throttle. The other 60% or so, just putzin around slow. Spent several hours anchored, but the motor isn't running then, of course.

I'm sure the tank is like most others where the gas has to drop a little bit before the fuel gauge float will even pick it up. But, I'm keeping track of hours and will figure out my average burn rate when I fill up the tank (hopefully that will be around the end of the summer, ha).

One other thing, just because it came to mind, it seems I've read a number of posts the last few weeks about people not knowing what their top end speed is yet because they are still in the break-in period. Maybe other manufacturers are different, but my Mercury 115 manual says the first 2 hours constantly vary the speed up to 3/4 throttle (4500 rpm) and run 1 minute out of every 10 minutes at full wide open throttle. So, no reason not to know your top speed pretty much right away. Break-in involves putting some pretty good load on the motor and constantly varying the load. I don't think you should be babying it at low rpm, or at constant throttle, during break in, but that's the sense I get that some may be doing. Just 2 cents. Any thoughts?

 

[Bamaman]

You're right about the fuel mileage on the 115 hp motor as it's substantially better than 150 hp. When you get the motor broken in, we'd be very interested in fuel mileage figures and your top speed.

You picked the best hull package for a boat that's going to pull tubers. The 3 hulls with strakes will corner substantially better than my 24' two toon (that handles like a pig.) It's the strakes that give you the speed and they're very helpful in fuel efficiency.

Sounds as if your family is really going to have some enjoyable times this Summer.

 

[dmctruby]

Wow, my 2010 2250 rcw with a 115merc 4 stroke is pretty strained by the large 3 person pull behind we have. In fact I stopped towing that as I had to keep the throttle WOT to get any kind of action. We switched to an airhead single tube with steering tabs on the bottom. That tube allow the tube rider to move themselves over the wake rather then swinging the boat to create a whip. Running in a straight line allow less throttle while getting to a decent speed (est 23 to 25mph tow speed). Frankly I do not think my 115 did great on gas, used 1/2 tank in about 4 hours but was at wot a good 70 to 80% of the time.

 

[kaydano]

That was with 3 kids on the tube. Two 100 lb 13 year olds and a 40 lb 7 year old.

I've not pulled 3 adults yet. That could be a challenge.

 

[dmctruby]

Yes two adults not too bad, but the very large "couch" looking tube we have is just to large, it can take up to 4 riders. Believe it's called the "big brawler" or something like that. I really like the airhead tube we have, it's a kneel down type and has two large fins or rutters on the bottom of the tube.....so all the rider needs to do is give a little lean input and it will fly off to either side. That really saves stress on the motor vs having to zig zag the boat to make the tube move like that.

That was with 3 kids on the tube. Two 100 lb 13 year olds and a 40 lb 7 year old.

I've not pulled 3 adults yet. That could be a challenge.