Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Our family is looking to buy our first pontoon. We want a new one and are starting with the entry level Bennington. Price is a big factor as is using the dealer that is local. Our lake is mostly Benningtons and mostly pontoons. We are just looking to cruise around and fish and have an old speedboat for tubing, etc. We are going with a 40hp because that is what we can afford. Any thoughts? Thanks

From what I have seen Bennington seems to be a good company. You don't mention boat size or amount of toons, so that limits opinions to be offered..

You can't go wrong with a Bennington and they have a great warranty (7 years). Not that you'll need it. What size and model are you looking at? And where are you located?

New ones are fine but you might look at nice used ones with more power. I made the mistake of getting one with a 50 on a 22ft and it's just to slow for anything. The kids don't go out because it's to slow to tube. Luckily I did get a fair deal on a used one so if I sell it hopefully I won't take a hit. Good luck

We are looking at a 20ft boat. Just the basics. Don't need to tube behind it....sandbar and anchor and swim!

Try to go as far as your pocketbook will stretch. Try to go with a bigfoot motor with a larger propeller. They're better suited for pontoons.

Cornej1 wrote:Our family is looking to buy our first pontoon. We want a new one and are starting with the entry level Bennington. Price is a big factor as is using the dealer that is local. Our lake is mostly Benningtons and mostly pontoons. We are just looking to cruise around and fish and have an old speedboat for tubing, etc. We are going with a 40hp because that is what we can afford. Any thoughts? Thanks

I think ( for obvious reasons ) it's a good choice.... I bought an entry level Bennington about 4 years ago and love it... ours is a 20 footer rigged for fishing with 3 point fishing seats, live well and came with a Yamaha 75 hp 4 stroke.... not gonna break any speed records, but she'll get up to 23-24 mph under the right conditions..... love ours, and feel confident you will love yours as well... don't forget to post some pics...

Cornej1 wrote:We are looking at a 20ft boat. Just the basics. Don't need to tube behind it....sandbar and anchor and swim!

We had a fisher...(insert any jokes you like), it was an 18 foot with a 25hp bigfoot and top speed with 3 people was 11 mph, now this was wide open so it didn't sip fuel at that speed, nor did it make enough breeze to make the lake enjoyable for a trip when its August in the Ozarks and 103F. I really urge you to at least find one that can do 15-18 mph.

Looks like I'll be the first to say...Welcome to the club.