My recent boat shopping and findings

[captain28570]

Well I will be a first time Tritoon owner in a couple months. Did tons of research on who makes the best boat for the money. Its amazing how many brands are out there and priced almost the same for the same options.

The main brands I had heard the most about and see the most of were Bennington,South Bay, Coach,Xcursion, Misty Harbour, Manitou ,Harris, Bass Pro and Lowes. I know I'm missing some but they were the most common.

I priced just about every brand with the same features, motor and same level of boat package. Meaning value leisure quality as in middle of the road upgrades. I wasn't looking into the high end packages with all the fancy stuff.

I was kinda leaning towards Bennington because the 10 year warranty and they sale the most boats. But that's kinda misleading. I believe I was told by the Actual Bennington dealer that well over half their sales are toons and smaller tritoons. They sale a crap load of boats with 2 toons with 90's and 115's on them.

The factory told me they produced about 12,000 boats a year. They are mass produced. Makes sense now how they sale so many.

I have had 4 Sea Hunt boats which are the number 1 selling fiberglass boat in America besides Carolina Skiff. They produce around 2000 boats a year. They are a great value for what you get. But when you step up to a brand that is made one at a time and better workmanship the prices are 20,30 maybe 50 grand more for the same size boat.

In the Pontoon brands there isn't that huge price difference. Everything is within a few grand of eachother.

Well I have several local Bennington and Manitou dealers. I even priced the high volume dealer in S.C. for Bennington prices.

One thing that made no sense to me on the Bennington is a 30 gallon tank on the tritoons. You cant get anything bigger than that unless you go to the Eliptical version which is a lot more money.

Why on earth such a small tank? With their performance package its rated up to a 200 HP. With basically 27 gallons of useable fuel that means if you cruising at 3800 to 4000 rpms doing 25 to 30 mph you will be burning about 6 to 7 gallons an hour with a 150 and more with a 200. If you pull anybody those numbers will go down. So at best you could run at mid 20's for 4 hours before you out of fuel. I have looked at the performance bulletins which show around 4 mpg at best with a 150 unless you go low 20's you might get 4.2 or so MPG.

The Bennington was the only brand I could find that offered such a small tank. Everybody else was over 40 gallons and even Bass pro was 52 I believe.

Well I priced a 22 Bennington tritoon with the performance package ,150 Yamaha, hydraulic steering, trailer,with about 1,500 in options was around 40 grand without taxes in S.C. Here in LA it was 45 K. My local dealer said he couldn't believe the dealer in S.C. could sale it that cheap. The S.C. dealers sales about 500 Bennington's a year. Top 5 dealer.

Well after looking at so many boats and learning that Mantiou's seem to be the best of the best. I was sold on them. The factory was very supportive and explained to me that they use to build 3 or 4 boats a week out of a small factory. Now they have a bigger place because the demand commanded a bigger place. Now its 6 to 7 boats a week which still compared to Bennington's 200 plus a month is nothing.

Why would I buy a mass produced boat over a boat that's built basically one at a time with more detail and better workmanship? Not knocking the Bennington but its a no brainer to me.

I can see the difference's in the welds and details.

Well I ordered a 21 Aurora LE standard tritoon with the SHP package. Its actually over 22 foot long.

150 HO Evinrude G2 with digital controls,power steering,digital gauge and 10 year warranty. Options include tandem axle aluminum trailer with spare tire, wired for trolling motor with half door, luna upgraded flooring, dinette table, s/w package, upgraded captain's chair,portable cupholders,logos, kicker Bluetooth stereo head unit, dual smart battery switch and 2 batteries.

41,000 without taxes included. I thought that was a great price for everything I'am getting. Not knocking other brands but I'am glad I did my research.

[ROLAND]

congratulations on the new toon Captain... can't wait to see pics when you get her... I feel you on the gas tank issue.. I have a 20 foot bennington with a 24 gal. tank. That suits my needs quite well, but then again up til now a tank of gas lasts us pretty much all summer, partly because the 75 yamaha sips gas and we normally don't take the boat out but once a week to go fishing... however we'll probably be doubling fuel consumption now that I'm retired.. Plan on taking her out at least 2 or 3 times a week during the summer now... so yeah, a bigger tank would be nice, especilly if you're running a bigger motor and running a little harder pulling skiers or tubes... again congrats on the new rig and don't forget to share those pics..

[zoom650]

I'm glad you found your boat! How big is it's gas tank?

Funny, how tank size was probably my first criteria when I downsized my boat. My old center console carried 200 gallons in it's tank. I wanted the biggest tank I could find for my pontoon. I think mine has a 50.

[willy13]

Interesting thoughts on gas tank size. I am having a center pontoon built and chose to go with there standard 27 gallon tank. I made the choice that 52 gallon was not needed, though now I am second guessing myself, lol. My current pontoon boat (1996 24 ft with 2013 Yamaha 115) has a 24 gallon tank and I never thought it wasn't big enough. I guess my use is different than others. I have a cottage on a 17 mile long narrow lake. We do water ski and tube but never noticed the tank size being an issue. Too save money I buy non-ethanol in 5 gal cans instead of the marina, and I never had to put more than 5 to 10 gallons in at a time. I fill it up when ever I show up at my in-laws cottage. The reason I did not get the bigger tank was that I am desperate for speed. I am trying to get this boat to an acceptable slalom ski speed. I figured I would never use the extra tank size because of trying to save weight. In current trim the boat does 25 mph, I am hoping to break 30 mph by adding lifting strakes and a center pontoon. I guess I will find out in the coming years, lol.

[ron nh]

This is a great example of why it's so hard to tell someone what to buy. You chose a sportier hull that probably cost 5 to 7k more then a regular tri-toon. Many people would go with the regular hull and upgrade furniture and helms, It's such an individual decision. I think you'll love that ride for sure.

[Bamaman]

My Bennington has the Express Tube with the standard 21 gallon fuel tank like used in their pontoons (not tritoons). My old boat had two tanks--a steel 6 gallon OEM Yamaha tank and a plastic 12 gallon portable tank (which we never moved.) With those ole portable tanks, I could completely empty them for winter--and not have deteriorating gasoline.

I never wanted any 52 gallon tank like so many boats running 250 hp will use. Filling such a tank is just tying up so much money.

Because we live on the lake, we don't feel the need to put 8 hours on a boat just because we towed the boat 100 miles for a day on the lake. We'll often just run 1/2 mile out into the middle of the river and float for hours listening to the radio. We use our boat often, but don't really use that much gasoline.

Every time I roll my 14 gallon Gas Buddy fuel tank down to the boathouse, I've saved $21 by buying gasoline off lake. And when we want to do some long distance river travel, I've got my 21 gallon tank, the 14 gallon rolling tank and three 5 gallon Jerry cans. I'm good for over 200 miles without running out of fuel--plenty enough.

[captain28570]

I paid only $2,500 more for the SHP versus the standard VP package. That's a bargain for what you gain.

It holds 43 gallons. My lake is about a 45 min ride down the canal out to the lake at 28 mph. So if I don't do much joy riding I should burn about 10 gallons or so per trip. With the bigger tank I can do 3 trips without adding gas. With a smaller tank I can't do that. It's always better to have more than enough than to be cutting it close. 10 gallons of fuel is what 80 pounds at most. That's not going to make a difference.

[ron nh]

[quote="captain28570"]I paid only $2,500 more for the SHP versus the standard VP package. That's a bargain for what you gain.

It holds 43 gallons. My lake is about a 45 min ride down the canal out to the lake at 28 mph. So if I don't do much joy riding I should burn about 10 gallons or so per trip. With the bigger tank I can do 3 trips without adding gas. With a smaller tank I can't do that. It's always better to have more than enough than to be cutting it close. 10 gallons of fuel is what 80 pounds at most. That's not going to make a difference.[/quote]
That is pretty damn good.

[captain28570]

I understand if you have a 115 or less then 30 gallons is plenty. But cruising around at 20 mph or less isn't my thing. Mid 20's is a perfect balance of speed and mpg with a 150.

[captain28570]

My 24 Sea Hunt Bayboat with a 300 Yamaha at 29 mph got 4 mpg because I was only turning 3200 rpms. I could go to the lake and back on 10 gallons or less with that big motor.

Because a bigger motor runs much easier to achieve the same speed. Sometimes it actually gets better MPG.

[ron nh]

I didn't think about tank size when I bought mine but I will next time, When I go to Moosehead lake Maine I can't get around the entire lake, Some is secluded with no gas docks so I have to plan ahead. I would like 50 gallons.

[mpilot]

[quote="zoom650"]I'm glad you found your boat! How big is it's gas tank?

Funny, how tank size was probably my first criteria when I downsized my boat. My old center console carried 200 gallons in it's tank. I wanted the biggest tank I could find for my pontoon. I think mine has a 50.[/quote]

They must have changed the packages for 2017, but you are right you have a 48 gallon tank it looks like. Mine has a 38 gallon tank because I have the pp+. In my model year (2016) it has a dropped middle toon and strakes all the way to the back. The new pp+ has no drop but also has the bigger motor pod like the higher tier packages. I'm guessing because they had problems with spay like I am having. Maybe they'll be nice and swap mine out.

Back to the topic though - my 150 gets over 4mpg anywhere between 3000-4000 rpm which is around 16-25 mph. Using a 10% reserve formula that means I have a range of around 140 miles on a tank. I think the thought process on pontoons and smaller tanks is two fold. First, most people use them to get where they are going and hang out a majority of the time. Second space is limited unlike a v hull where there is a ton of dead space below deck. Normal motor pods only have room for 25-30 gallons, upgraded around 40, and the big motor pod around 50 is max. Anything more than that would need to go above deck and take up a lot of room.

Also, the advantage in the design of a tritoon is that it isn't as sensitive to load and therefore massive fuel burn increases when under load unlike most vhull boats. I can have bimini tops opened or closed or the enclosure on and see similar speed and fuel numbers. Also with 2 people and a baby or 8 people and a baby with the enclosure on and my cruising numbers are similar and only top speed is hurt slightly. Lots of starts and stops will hurt efficiency but pulling a tube or skiers for a distance won't have as big of an impact as it would say a 20 foot bow rider.

[mpilot]

[quote="ron nh"]This is a great example of why it's so hard to tell someone what to buy. You chose a sportier hull that probably cost 5 to 7k more then a regular tri-toon. Many people would go with the regular hull and upgrade furniture and helms, It's such an individual decision. I think you'll love that ride for sure.[/quote]

This is very true as well. In another thread I pulled the performance bulletins for identical boats with a 150 and either a 225 or 250. The larger motor was more efficient from comfortably planed off (around 20mph) through the entire top end of the smaller motor because it wasn't working as hard.

[Bilboinsa]

The first time I filled up our 52 gallon tank, I could not believe seeing how much it affected the way the boat sat on the water!

[Bryden24shp]

Congrats on the Manny! Can't wait to see pics! If you bought it with the silver vein railings, I have matching EzFenders for it, too.