Deciding on a pontoon boat

[Cycleman07]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

Warning....I build Bennington pontoons so I am very bias.

Airdvr, is that the coolest thing ever, the last 2 company boats we have had on the lake were IOs, the last with the new 380 horse Volvo, with the ESP and wow, the handling is just insane, to spin a 25 like that is just nuts, I have the new one reserved for the weekend of June 29th and can't wait after your little video.

This years is a 25 R ESP with a 300 Yamaha outboard an arch and the Wet Sounds Stereo upgrade.

If you want to know exactly what ESP is go to the Benny website and check out all the videos but it is our answer to the banking pontoon.

A lot of other companies were making banking pontoons and to keep up we had to come up with something that banked but keeping up isn't what we do at Bennington, we innovate, so we threw science at the problem and came up with the Elliptical pontoon, 25'' tall x32'' wide.

Some solved the problem by making the center tube larger diameter or mounting it lower on the boat which does make it bank but it also creates and inherently unstable boat, with the elliptical you maintain the 25'' tube height but have a 32'' width so the water "sees" the center as a 32'' tube and with our chine/foil package you get the banking pontoon with more flotation.


We actually do build a better boat seriously, if you get on your hands and knees and tear yourself away from all the pretty bits on top of the boat and get down to how they are actually built, there are certainly others that build boats to our standards but not many.

Every nut bolt washer and screw are stainless steel- as are our corner castings and cleats- our decks and rails are through bolted not screwed on- our cross members are heavier gauge stock and we use heavy M brackets where some use what we would call deck trim as their brackets, it gives a full length bracket but it has no lateral strength being just an upright.

Our rails are welded then anodized not made from anodized stock and painted like some do and it goes on and on.

Just the amount of weld on the tubes is many times what others are putting on their tubes, our boats are a bit more expensive because there is more to them and yes you can spend 100K but we also make entry level boats that start in the teens and they all have a 7 year stem to stern warranty, there is a reason we can offer that.


Saying all pontoons are the same is like saying a Mercedes and a Chevy Aveo are the same, they both have 4 tires and a steering wheel but there are vast differences in the engineering and quality.

I definitely didnt say that Bennington doesnt make a superior product to 90% of the boats out there. They do. But my point is Harris, Premier, Manitou, Berkshire/South Bay(Google Worlds Fastest Pontoon Boat) and JC do as well. Brad Rowland wouldnt have chosen South Bay to strap 3X300HP Mercs to if they werent constructed to extremely high standards.

My South Bay has Stainless everything above and below deck. Granite Bar, Soft Touch Vinyl, Stakes, Underskin, 16 inch spaced Cross Members so forth and so on, and would compare with any boat out there on quality so my point is Bennington while being an extremely high quality boat is not the end all be all. I would be proud to own one dont get me wrong, but not any more so than I am to own my South Bay or a new Premier, Harris, SanPan etc.

 

[smclear]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

If you are looking for a more high-powered, sporty type of toon, check out JC Toons.

JC's are made in the next town over from my lake house. So are Bennington's for that matter. My family has owned JC's for the last 30 years or so. Had Harris before then. We've never had any issue with JC's period. Our last toon was an I/O and I must say that if you do the service yourself, Bennington does offer much better accessibility.

To address some of your comments. What type of dog do you have? If he's a serious water dog, take a look at how your going to get him/her back on the boat. We have a golden who loves to swim. Getting him off is no problem since he's usually the first one in. Getting him back on board can be an issue sometimes if we're in deeper water. He's kind of heavy. Secondly, how good of a skier are you? If you are a good slalom skier, it won't matter what pontoon you have or how it's powered, you won't be satisfied with the tow. It will do fine for rookie to novice skiers, but once you start to get good (read serious cutting on a slalom) you'll be disappointed. As far as tubing is concerned, you won't need as much HP as you might think. We have a 25' triple tube pontoon with a 135 Honda. Love the engine. It pulls our 4 person tube extremely well. I wouldn't go below 135 HP, and if I did it over, would opt for 150, but I don't think you need to go to the level of 250 - 300HP. Pics below are behind the pontoon. Plenty of oomph to make an exciting ride. The nieces love to wipe out as much as anything.

 

[smclear]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

More on JC's

Our previous pontoon (the I/O I alluded to in the last post) was stolen off of the storage facility lot. It was stolen at the end of the season and our cottage was closed for the year. At that point, I contacted several manufacturers via their websites asking for a catalog. I stated I was looking to replace our current pontoon which was recently stolen. JC contacted me within 2 days and asked for our HIN. They forwarded that to all their dealerships throughout the country and asked that they be on the lookout for this "stolen" pontoon. Pretty impressive for a manufacturer to do that in my opinion. BTW I know this was not just lip service as our local dealer (at the lake) contacted us to see if they could do anything in our search for a new pontoon. A dealer in the town I live (2.5 hours away from the lake house) was aware of my situation when I went into his showroom and said I was looking to replace a stolen pontoon. Later that winter, a dealer at the boat show was familiar with the situation as well.

 

[Cberault]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

JC's are made in the next town over from my lake house. So are Bennington's for that matter. My family has owned JC's for the last 30 years or so. Had Harris before then. We've never had any issue with JC's period. Our last toon was an I/O and I must say that if you do the service yourself, Bennington does offer much better accessibility.

To address some of your comments. What type of dog do you have? If he's a serious water dog, take a look at how your going to get him/her back on the boat. We have a golden who loves to swim. Getting him off is no problem since he's usually the first one in. Getting him back on board can be an issue sometimes if we're in deeper water. He's kind of heavy. Secondly, how good of a skier are you? If you are a good slalom skier, it won't matter what pontoon you have or how it's powered, you won't be satisfied with the tow. It will do fine for rookie to novice skiers, but once you start to get good (read serious cutting on a slalom) you'll be disappointed. As far as tubing is concerned, you won't need as much HP as you might think. We have a 25' triple tube pontoon with a 135 Honda. Love the engine. It pulls our 4 person tube extremely well. I wouldn't go below 135 HP, and if I did it over, would opt for 150, but I don't think you need to go to the level of 250 - 300HP. Pics below are behind the pontoon. Plenty of oomph to make an exciting ride. The nieces love to wipe out as much as anything.

View attachment 186459View attachment 186460View attachment 186461

I have two golden retrievers and a fifteen month old baby girl. I am not a good skier, but my wife is fairly experienced. I guess I'm thinking future too. I want a boat we can grow into and we will have one more child at some point. I must say I am learning a lot from everyone!
I must admit, I do like speed. Having a Yamaha GP1300 jet ski has been a great experience! I want to be able to hang with some of these power boats with the ride of cat boat. I grew up with my grandfather's "party barge" with a 50 hp Johnson motor on the back, you know what I mean??
I do appreciate all the input, it's giving me a real good sense of what I need!!

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

I have two golden retrievers and a fifteen month old baby girl. I am not a good skier, but my wife is fairly experienced. I guess I'm thinking future too. I want a boat we can grow into and we will have one more child at some point. I must say I am learning a lot from everyone!
I must admit, I do like speed. Having a Yamaha GP1300 jet ski has been a great experience! I want to be able to hang with some of these power boats with the ride of cat boat. I grew up with my grandfather's "party barge" with a 50 hp Johnson motor on the back, you know what I mean??
I do appreciate all the input, it's giving me a real good sense of what I need!!

We have always owned a Pontoon and jet skis at the same time even when our kids were tiny. Great "best of both worlds" approach.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

We have always owned a Pontoon and jet skis at the same time even when our kids were tiny. Great "best of both worlds" approach.

+1 ^^^. Like "Coop" and others said, take a look at 22' w/ +/- 150 hp. It should do all you need and be within your budget. Keep the GP 1300 though. Don't get crazy !!!:lol:

P.S. Where are you located?

 

[smclear]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

I grew up with my grandfather's "party barge" with a 50 hp Johnson motor on the back, you know what I mean??

I absolutely know what you mean. The first pontoon I remember was my Grandfather's 25' Harris with a 18HP Johnson. Took 3 hours to get to the sandbar. Today we get there in 5 minutes. Our Golden loves to go tubing with us. It's kind of a hoot. He whines and moans if he doesn't get to ride along. My brother and I are hanging off the back of the tube (out of site from the camera). We wouldn't let him ride by himself. Good photo op though.

 

[stanthefisherman]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

My wife and I have been considering purchasing a new pontoon pretty soon as well. We have narrowed our choice between a 2013 Harris Grand Mariner 250, and a Cypress Cayman 250, but Lowe's Platinum series has also caught our eye...We found Pontoon Boat Guide to be an extremely useful resource for comparing the same and different manufacturers pontoons side-by-side. Obviously we want the best bang for our buck and want a dependable boat.

Good luck on your search!

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

That link only gives you information on 4 makes. Hardly a good slice of what's available.

 

[Capt Sully]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

That link only gives you information on 4 makes. Hardly a good slice of what's available.

And made by the same company.. But, what the heck, it's going to be your boat, so go for it.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

My wife and I have been considering purchasing a new pontoon pretty soon as well. We have narrowed our choice between a 2013 Harris Grand Mariner 250, and a Cypress Cayman 250, but Lowe's Platinum series has also caught our eye...We found Pontoon Boat Guide to be an extremely useful resource for comparing the same and different manufacturers pontoons side-by-side. Obviously we want the best bang for our buck and want a dependable boat.

I'll say yes on the Harris or Cypress Cay. The Lowe Platinum series is relatively new model, and I have not seen the first one on the lake. I'd say stick with the first two, or Bennington, or Manitou , or Premier.

Try to buy local. If your retail market doesn't have really nice boats, go to Boattrader.com and see what's available in surrounding larger markets. And get out there and kick some tires.

 

[Cberault]

Re: Deciding on a pontoon boat

+1 ^^^. Like "Coop" and others said, take a look at 22' w/ +/- 150 hp. It should do all you need and be within your budget. Keep the GP 1300 though. Don't get crazy !!!:lol:

P.S. Where are you located?

I'm in Prairieville, LA. Live less than 10 minutes from Fred's on the Amite River.