Asking for a Friend: Bennington vs Harris

[ajcampen]

I have a buddy looking at tri-toons (I know....whyyyyyyyy). Anyone know if both are similar quality or if one beats the other? Thanks.

here is one he is looking at
https://www.boattrader.com/listing/2018 ... %20listing

[sailor55330]

Have a friend with a well equipped Bennington. I've been on it many times. The boat itstelf is nice and handles very well. The dealer/manufacturer support network has been less than good, to be polite. When they bought, they looked at Harris, but they are in another price range. Harris is one of the top end Toons out there. If $$$ is not an issue, Harris. Upper end Bennington's seem to offer a solid niche for well appointed boats that are relatively inexpensive in the toon world. Heck at the boat show this year, there was one tri-toon at $250,000. I don't remember what brand. Foot for Foot, they are more expensive in many cases than our boats.

As to why a Tri-toon? I used to think the same way. His will run 52mph, pull skiers, tubers, whatever, and carve almost as well as my r3and carry 10 people comfortably. Ease of loading is awesome for guests of all ages. I used to think the same thing....after being on it multiple times and driving it, I can see why they are popular, if I'm honest. Cobalt's are fantastic boats, but in the all-around world of performance, a Tri-toon probably is more versatile than a bowrider. IMHO, Bowriders do some things great and a lot of things pretty good. High end Tri-toons do more things pretty good, but nothing great.

That particular listing seems like a pretty stripped down Harris. I will offer that on my buddy's 26', he has a 300hp hanging off the back and some days wishes he had more, but then again, he's the BBP of the toon world. Heck, he can even get a factory mod to put twin 350's on his...

[Table Rockin]

Funny ive always read that Harris was a step below bennington....something about how they attach the deck to the toons and preventing rotting of plywood floorboards. If i purchased a toon it would have an IO on it. Not an outboard......WAY better handling IMO. Just harder to find.

[MnLakeBum]

The smarter route is for him to avoid plywood altogether and get a slightly used Marker One M27 - that way he gets Cobalt quality(they were designed and built in the Neodesha factory with all the other Cobalts) and won’t have a boat that’s starting to fall apart in a decade. There is currently a 2017 with a 350 Verado for sale on Boat Trader for $79k and a slightly smaller M25 with Yamaha 300 w/30 hours for $63K.

We have a 2016 M27 along with our R5 Surf and the Marker One is much smoother ride on a a choppy day and has plenty of room for 14 - perfect for a sunset or dinner cruise and we prefer it over the R5 Surf for those occasions. We went to lunch yesterday on the Marker one with 11 on board and pulled a tuber on the way up the lake. It runs 46-47 with two on board and still hits 40 mph loaded with 14 friends. I’ve been on a lot of Harris, Bennington, and Premier Pontoon boats and they are simply no comparison to a Marker One. I’f I had to pick one I’d take the R5 because of it’s versatility and we love to surf, but I’d be very sad if we didn’t have the Marker One. The only downside of the M27 is it’s not an easy trailer boat with it’s 9’3” beam and 5,800 pound dry weight. Ours only sees a couple annual short trips on a trailer to storage so it’s wide beam is not a problem.

[tgrace98]

Tell him to buy one of these. Playcraft toon with twin merc racing 400r’s

[MnLakeBum]

I saw a Premier with twin 350’s last week out on the lake. If my 350 ever dies I’m going with the Seven Marine 557. The Marker One is rated to handle it and It’s lighter than twin 400R’s!!