2005 228 -225HP vs 2006 250HP ??? Yam 4 strokes

[rorkin]

Can anyone suggest buying one set up over the other other than age & Hrs .. Cost equal
Is the 225 more fuel efficient in any material way ?.. ( I have the performance bulletins)

Thanks

 

[awc4kds]

Rorkin,

I believe that the 225s run on 87 octane fuel, whereas Yamaha recommends 89 octane or higher for the 250s.

 

[rorkin]

OUCH !!!!!

 

[Greg B]

If you don't trailer and buy gas on the water, I think most fuel docks are 89 octane.

 

[gw204]

My vote goes to the F250. Bear in mind I have no personal experience w/ either, but everything I have read/heard says that the F225 is a weak motor HP-wise and will probably have to work a lot harder than the F250 to maintain the same speeds.

If fuel economy is your primary concern, I'd look for boat that has been repowered with a 200 or 225 Opti. They are awesome motors!

 

[B-Faithful]

I havent seen it over here but on the Parker board, most owners show the F250 to be more fuel efficient than the F225 in their single applications on the same hull. It is true that the F250 requires mid grade fuel but some of that cost in the higher grade fuel can be made up through the efficency at cruise (I am sure trolling that they yeild about the same economy). As also stated, most marinas on the water generally only carry 89 octane anyhow. Unless you are bringing fuel from a roadside station, finding the less expenisve 87 octane may not be available anyhow.

Brian, glad to hear you like my Opti so much... (although I know you loved that 150 Merc on your last boat too)! The bass seem to like it too! When are you coming fishing again? I need to break the curse of the bucket. Chumming season is upon us!

 

[BobP]

B- Fa... Greg -

The 25 ft Parkers were underpowered from day one with a single F225, but Parker had no other choice since they are Yamaha spec only like Grady.
The bracketed 25 ft pilot house Parker is a heavy boat, same length and beam as my Sailfish, gets only and F225, or now an F250?. The F250 helps the sutuation, a bit.

Boat needs a 300 Suzuki - ideal single screw for the 4 stroke crowd. Then there' s the Etec 300, does Opti have a 300 yet?

 

[B-Faithful]

Depends upon the parker hull. The mod v does ok with the f250. I think the boat will hit 40mph at WOT. The f225, which according to the EPA test site, dynos in at 208hp and probably is on the weak side. For the deep v's I would think 300hp would be a min. The deep v is probably more comparable to your sailfish.

Mercury marine doesnt offer a 300hp yet, only a 250hp. Mercury Racing (seperate div) offers a 300 but the racing motors carry a shorter warranty and have speedmaster gear cases. The consumer Merc Marine 250hp is said to be a very stout motor that out performs some of the 300hp motors. The OptiMaxes tend to under-rate their the HP on their motor. For example, a guy on the Bass Barn repowered his 29 Wellcraft with higher hp Etec 250's from 225 OptiMaxes and lost speed. (see here: http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/showth ... p?t=124330 ) I know my boat with a single 225 OptiMax will run 42 and cruise 27-30mph burning 9-10gph in calm water. A local waterman with the same hull as me claims a top speed of 38 with his F225

 

[JiminGA]

We have the 05 228 with the F225. I have ZERO complaints. Yes, we DO trailer and I take advantage of that when buying gas. The 225 takes 87 octane and the 250 requires 89 octane.

As to performance, the GW posted specs are pretty close. With full fuel (we have the aux tank - 148 gals total), all the fishing gear, 100-plus lbs of ice, curtains installed, 3 adults on board, we can get 38 to 39 MPH top end. Quite frankly, I dont go that fast and sea conditions normally dont permit over a 25 to 30 MPH cruise anyway, plus I want to go easy on the fuel burn. I think the F250 would get us maybe 3 MPH extra on the top end and slightly better torque in the mid-range. Either way its pretty much a 40 MPH rig, give or take a couple of mph.

If I was totally water-bound and stuck with marina fuel, Id go ahead with the F250. If trailering, the F225 is still a viable alternative.

 

[Parthery]

GW has basically quit offering the 225 as an option for new boats...reason being is the cost difference between the 225 and 250 is only about $700 or so.

The new Yamaha 300 is based on the 800 lb 350, not the smaller 250 block. This is a shame, because I too agree that a 500 lb. 300 hp motor would be perfect on the 22-24' GW. I'd love a 232 or 258 with that combination...it would likely be a 46-47 mph rig that would cruise comfortably in the mid 30s.

 

[BobP]

So Parth, why do you think Yamaha offered an F300 that has not one good application suited to it ? (vs. F350)

(same situation as F225/F250?)

 

[Parthery]

So Parth, why do you think Yamaha offered an F300 that has not one good application suited to it ? (vs. F350)

(same situation as F225/F250?)

2 reasons come to mind....the number of boats with a 300 hp max rating is sufficient enough to justify it, and 2- they needed to be able to compete with the Verado and the Zuke, although a 500 lb motor doesn't exactly compete on a level playing field with an 800 lb motor.

 

[wahoo33417]

Rorkin: For what it is worth, I have 805 hours on an F250 and it has been perfect. I test drove a 228 with an F225 and I thought it was plenty of power for that hull. I did notice that there was a short time where the tail end 'squatted' a bit before coming up on plane. I attributed this to the engine being out on the bracket. It was not a problem by any means, but I suspect an F250 will get you past that point just a tad quicker. In my experience, the F250 is slightly louder at most rpm ranges, especially mid range where the variable timing is kicking in.

If you spend a lot of time in that mid-range (2000 - 3000 rpm) slogging through heavy seas, I suspect you would notice a decrease in fuel economy in the F250. But at trolling and planing speeds, since it is the same block, I don't think you'll see any appreciable difference in fuel consumption.

My numbers are 27-28 mph at 4,000 rpm and getting 3.0 mpg on calm water. WOT is 42 mph at 6,000 rpm and I don't want to know how much fuel I'm consuming!

Rob

 

[rorkin]

Thanks all