Need a new Pontoon Boat, looking for ideas

[Lkin]

My brand new Bennington pontoon boat was stolen with the trailer a few days ago- If anyone sees a suspicious 24 ft bright red 2275RCLI Tri toon with a Yamaha 150 , call the cops please!) so am probably looking to replace it.

I'm looking for ideas on pontoons sold on the lake. What makes do you own, and why you went with them. Im looking for something similar to what I had:
22-24 feet
Tri Toon
150HP
I need at least one forward facing lounger
privacy area for changing and portapotty.

Input is appreciated!

[cmack]

That sucks! Where was it taken from? Post a pic if you have one to make it easier for us to see what to look for.

[Lkin]

Unfortunately i dont have any pics that the website will recognize.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Lkin

My brand new Bennington pontoon boat was stolen with the trailer a few days ago- If anyone sees a suspicious 24 ft bright red 2275RCLI Tri toon with a Yamaha 150 , call the cops please!) so am probably looking to replace it.

I'm looking for ideas on pontoons sold on the lake. What makes do you own, and why you went with them. Im looking for something similar to what I had:
22-24 feet
Tri Toon
150HP
I need at least one forward facing lounger
privacy area for changing and portapotty.

Input is appreciated!

Is there a reason you are not looking to another Bennington, especially if it was brand new? Just curious.

I have owned two Premiers (including the 31' monster I have now), 2 Manitou, and multiple lesser boats such as Lowe and suntracker. I have a feeling that another new Premier will be showing up on my dock in the next few weeks.

Both Premiers and Manitou's I own/owned were tritoons. The Manitou's were a 22' legacy with a 115 opti and a 24' oasis xplode with a 225 opti. The premiers were a custom setup 225rf with the 250 pro xs and the 310 sky dek boundary waters with the new verado 300 pro. Both Premier and Manitou have dealers that service the lake, although I do not have experience with the new Manitou dealer as mine came from Rochester Sports Center.

The Manitou's were a bit faster boat to boat I think, but the quality, fit, finish, and options available go hands down to Premier and the local dealer (Winnisquam Marine) is the best in my opinion.

On my latest boat I was shocked as to how quiet the verado 300 pro is, I find myself checking the gauges to make sure it started when I turn the key. The optimax 250 pro xs had a growl to it that I was not fond of. I use a day enclosure or at least a Bimini often, and a lot of engine noise was present. I am told the 200 and 225's don't have that.

The new Merc 150 4s is supposed to be the top motor in its class this year.

[Lkin]

Codeman, i will be looking at bennington. If their is a positive to come of this, it is that we are a little more educated in owning a pontoon boat. When we bought last year, it became a little overwhelming with all the choices we had.
Great input, lots to ponder as we sit and look at the lake from shore:
Thanks
Larry

[Grandpa Redneck]

I have to agree with Codeman, you cant go wrong with a Premier and Winnisquam Marine!

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by Lkin

Codeman, i will be looking at bennington. If their is a positive to come of this, it is that we are a little more educated in owning a pontoon boat. When we bought last year, it became a little overwhelming with all the choices we had.
Great input, lots to ponder as we sit and look at the lake from shore:
Thanks
Larry

LKIN....
You can't go wrong with a Bennington. For two years I sea trialed eight different manufactures on quality consturction, performance and value both from boat and dealer. I took out all of the manufactors boats out for WOT performance in 4-5 foot waves.. The Bennington tritoon out performed all by a wide margin

My ranking came out as Bennington rated in my mind #1. Harris number #2 and Premier and Manitou rated three and four. If the local dealer would let go of the Optimax versus the Verado the Premier would in my mind jump to number 2. I heard from so many Premier owners wishing they went with the 4 stroke Verado vs the Optimax. There is a place for both. Optimax has higher performance but is a 2 stroke and noisy . The Verado is a extremely quite engine compared to all others. Nevertheless Winnisquam Marina is a quality run family organization.

[Lkin]

Thanks chasedawg.
Do you remember which benny you trialed? I am wondering about length and hp. We started the season last year with a 20sl 90hp benny. Got caught in a mild storm and we were soaked and disappointed in its ability to handle rougher conditions. Traded to the 2275 tritoon with the esp package and were impressed with how it handled all conditions, including a nasty storm. It powered through with ease.
If we go with a bennington, it wont be the model we had (captains chairs blocked side gate access, and forward deck was like standing on a narrow window ledge).
Thanks

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by chasedawg

LKIN....
You can't go wrong with a Bennington. For two years I sea trialed eight different manufactures on quality consturction, performance and value both from boat and dealer. I took out all of the manufactors boats out for WOT performance in 4-5 foot waves.. The Bennington tritoon out performed all by a wide margin

My ranking came out as Bennington rated in my mind #1. Harris number #2 and Premier and Manitou rated three and four. If the local dealer would let go of the Optimax versus the Verado the Premier would in my mind jump to number 2. I heard from so many Premier owners wishing they went with the 4 stroke Verado vs the Optimax. There is a place for both. Optimax has higher performance but is a 2 stroke and noisy . The Verado is a extremely quite engine compared to all others. Nevertheless Winnisquam Marina is a quality run family organization.

I agree on the Optimax vs Verado concept as well (sorry Ryan). My recent one is Verado and I would have a tough time going back. My 250 Pro XS was loud. I have never owned nor driven a Bennington so I cannot compare. Canvas is a big deal for us being islanders, and I think that the canvas setup on the Premiers with the J-clips instead of snaps is a huge benefit.

I cant imagine getting any better (or comparable) service than I get from Winnisquam so it is hard for me to look elsewhere.

[chasedawg]

I would only go with a tritoon for rough water boating on Lake Winnipesaukee. It makes a huge difference over two log pontoons. They are safer; have more stability and are faster.

I trialed the Bennington 2550 ESP package. I have trialed the Premier PTX36 and the Harris PIII. Harris has a XTR package for rough water but it is bulky and slow. I also took out the Godfrey San Pan. The Bennington took 4' waves with ease at WOT. The others did not do as well. The Manitou performs well but the new dealer didn't have an interest in selling me a boat. Very strange personal experience with Northern Boats and Boards. Enough said. I had a great experience with Ryan and his Dad at Winnisquam Marine. But Channel Marine gave me the best package that I was looking for.

Go see Jason Wylie at Channel Marine. He was fantastic to work with. Gave me an exceptional deal. I went to the Bennington plant. Saw the quality they put in the construction of their boats. Bennington is the only tritoon out there that their logs can take up to 400HP outboard engine and 600HP I/O. That tells you something about the quality and strength of their ESP package. Bennington sells more pontoon boats than any other. Some may debate that but they built and shipped over 1100 boats just in one month.

I ordered and got delivery of a Bennington 2550 GSR. It is a new model with lounge seats in stern like you would find in the bow. I have a 300HP Mercury Verado. The engine is the quietest engine out there, exceptional low fuel consumption and WOT GPS reading of 49.8 MPH. You can not hear the engine run at idle and it hums at WOT.

I will PM you to give you more detail and introduce you to Jason. He will take care of you.

Good luck in your search. I will give you a decision matrix that I put together that helped me make my decision. I am very pleased with my choice of Tritoons.

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by codeman671

I agree on the Optimax vs Verado concept as well (sorry Ryan). My recent one is Verado and I would have a tough time going back. My 250 Pro XS was loud. I have never owned nor driven a Bennington so I cannot compare. Canvas is a big deal for us being islanders, and I think that the canvas setup on the Premiers with the J-clips instead of snaps is a huge benefit.

I cant imagine getting any better (or comparable) service than I get from Winnisquam so it is hard for me to look elsewhere.

Codeman671....I agree with you. I owned a Optimax 200 and would never go back after my experience with the Verado. It is an amazing engine.

I also live on an island. So canvass for protection from the weather is very important to us. Bennington has clips like the J-clips, but different design. I would never go back to the snaps. It kills my fingers trying to put them on. I had a custom stern enclosure with frowns in each panel done by Ship Shape. They did a great job.

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by chasedawg

. I would never go back to the snaps. It kills my fingers trying to put them on. I had a custom stern enclosure with frowns in each panel done by Ship Shape. They did a great job.

Quick comment on snaps: bought some snap lubrication...I had never heard of such a thing. Easy to snap (no complaints from my wife now) and unsnap. Makes all the difference in the world for those hard to snap fasteners.

Now back to subject at hand.

[Grandpa Redneck]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Quick comment on snaps: bought some snap lubrication...I had never heard of such a thing. Easy to snap (no complaints from my wife now) and unsnap. Makes all the difference in the world for those hard to snap fasteners.

Now back to subject at hand.

Chap stick works great on snaps

[SAMIAM]

Love my Bennington....not quite as fast as Chasedawg's.....darn !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IOJd..._embedded#t=0s

[Winnilifer]

Very sorry to hear of the loss of your boat.

Here is another vote of confidence in Bennington and Jason Wylie at Channel Marine. I am on Winnisquam looked at toons chasedawg mentioned as well met with people at the various marinas. We purchased our 25QCW-I/O from him and have been very happy with sevice (different lake) and his (Jason's) follow-up after the sale as well.

Good Luck

[Lkin]

Thanks. Jason is a good guy to deal with.

Hopefully it will be recovered. If not, boat us says it would be 60 days before they woukd settle. That pretty much kills the season for me.

[Lkin]

Update- boat was found in saugus mass today. Dzmage to be determined.
Thanks to all for their ideas!

[cmack]

That's great news. Hopefully it's in perfect condition.

[tis]

Why don't people read the WHOLE thread? Not enough time, I guess.

[Lkin]

Still waiting for full damage report. Early report is the thieves took the prop, damaged some of the panels, took the speakers, stereo, possibkyvthe gps, and the trailer. Left it on a ramp in saugus mass.
Hopefully it wont impact my boating season too much!

[BroadHopper]

I'm surprise someone took the whole boat and take the electronics and drive. One could do that in like 10 minutes right at the yard!

I'm surprise the police says it is rare. The lake grapevine almost always has rumours going on that an i/o was stolen, electronics etc. Once someone swap my fairly new boat trailer for an older model! The sad part about this story was the police confiscated the trailer when I reported it. I had to purchase another trailer.

My dad had his Higgins stolen for a joy ride. It was abandoned at Gilford beach.

Insurance policy says I had to wait 90 days, for someone to find the stolen boat or trailer. During that time you are out of luck as they don't pay for rentals.

[NHBUOY]

www.biltmoremarine.com For your consideration..