275 owners with twin 250s: how does it ride?

[mr_mbuna]

I asked my local dealer about reporting my 2011 275 with twin 250s… they strongly recommended 200s and in fact wouldn’t quote me on twin 250s at all. I emailed Grady-White to ask why they stopped offering twin 250s and they said “With the additional weight it brings the bow up and making the steering a little more tender. It also wasn’t an option that many people purchased. We found the dual 200’s being the better option.”

The performance reports show that the boat has exactly the same performance (cruise and top speed) with twin 200s as it does with a single 350, so that change wouldn’t make sense.

If you’re a 275 (or 273) owner with twin 250 four strokes, let me know how your boat sits at the dock and how it rides through the water. Do you feel it makes the boat too stern heavy or should I just ignore the naysayers and go full send?



P.s. this picture is from an official Grady-White marketing video, which is awesome:

 

[Ekea]

i have the 263 which is the same hull as the 273, both of which are narrower than the 275 if i recall correctly. i have 2006 3.3L F250s on mine. it does sit low in the stern. the scuppers are partially submerged when at the dock. that being said, it runs great

btw, my sig pic doesnt really show this as there was a bit of boat movement that day

 

[mr_mbuna]

Thanks for the response... super helpful, since the 263, 273, and 275 all share the same hull. 26'11" center line length, 8'6" beam, and SeeV2 hull shape.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Part of it is horsepower to weight ratio with regard to the performance data being the same between twin outboards and a single. This is true as you have slightly more horsepower but you've also got considerably more weight on there, especially with the older/earlier 4 stroke motors that could add an extra 500-600lbs of weight on there. It's odd that Grady White won't offer the 250's when the brochure states the old maximum horsepower rating was 500 hp, and when especially when a brand new Mercury outboard weighs less than the weight of a brand new Yamaha F200. The Mercury 250 ProXs weighs only 511 lbs and then their FourStroke version weighs just slightly more at 527 lbs. Comparatively, the Yamaha F200 weighs 516 lbs for the mechanical version, 525 lbs for the digital version and the F250 weighs 551 lbs. So, you would think in theory that it's not all about weight as even the difference between the F200 and F250 is only 70 lbs total. Which on a boat that weighs 8k lbs, you wouldn't think 70 lbs would make hardly any difference at all. I also wouldn't imagine the slight lifting of the bow, if that's truly the case, would be something that couldn't be adjusted with trim tabs, tilting the motors, some additional weight to the bow area, etc. I would check a few other places if you're looking for a repower, especially if they won't do the F250's and you really want to go that route.

 

[mr_mbuna]

Anyone other than the local Grady-White dealer will do whatever I want. The best prices I've found are $50K rigged for twin Yamaha F250XCBs (or Honda BF250s) with 5 years of warranty, $37K rigged for twin Suzuki DF250s with 7 years of warranty, or $35K rigged for used 2019 F250XCBs with 300 hours. At those prices I'll probably go for the new Suzukis.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I love the idea of going with the Suzukis for their 7 year warranty, from what I've heard very good customer service, reputation, the amount of money you save with them as opposed to Yamaha and so forth. The only issue that you CAN, though not always will face with them, is that they CAN be on the heavier side. The DF250AP is like 630 lbs a piece, compared to the other above mentioned options which are over 100 lbs less per outboard. If weight isn't an issue though, Suzuki is definitely a very good option, and if I were to repower today, it would very likely be with the Suzuki DF250AP which have the fly by wire or digital controls as opposed to the mechanical ones. Also as mentioned above, I'd consider the two Mercury options as well strictly out of respect to their weight savings. That, and they also appear to have a 7 year warranty promotion going on right now as well as a $750 rebate offer currently per their website. Just something to consider of course, as a good deal of it depends on your local dealers available, their reviews or reputation, your budget and so forth. But, I would honestly at least give Mercury some consideration for their weight savings alone and their matched 7 year warranty. Food for thought and just my 2c, of course. Good luck either way and let us know what you decide on going with.

 

[Fixit]

id tell that dealer they just lost a customer. HI, id like "this"..... no, were giving you "this other thing".... goodbye lol


I run twin 250 verados on my 270. yes, It is a fast boat. yes it sits lower in the water then twin 150's or a single 250. but its exactly what I want from a boat. ( I do have 5 group 31 batteries in the stern fyi ). running it offshore when heavily loaded, or when your on/off throttles hard in bad slop. the extra power adds safety IMO. plus sometimes I like to do 52 Mph.

im sceptical about their claiming 400 hp is the same top speed as 350hp.


I also believe that displacement is very important. you need the torque. HP just gives you the top speed. something to consider with running the 4cylinder 200's vs the 250 V6. my pervious motors were yams v6 200hp twins. I gained 10mph with that extra 100hp

 

[mr_mbuna]

I love the idea of going with the Suzukis for their 7 year warranty, from what I've heard very good customer service, reputation, the amount of money you save with them as opposed to Yamaha and so forth. The only issue that you CAN, though not always will face with them, is that they CAN be on the heavier side. The DF250AP is like 630 lbs a piece, compared to the other above mentioned options which are over 100 lbs less per outboard. If weight isn't an issue though, Suzuki is definitely a very good option, and if I were to repower today, it would very likely be with the Suzuki DF250AP which have the fly by wire or digital controls as opposed to the mechanical ones. Also as mentioned above, I'd consider the two Mercury options as well strictly out of respect to their weight savings. That, and they also appear to have a 7 year warranty promotion going on right now as well as a $750 rebate offer currently per their website. Just something to consider of course, as a good deal of it depends on your local dealers available, their reviews or reputation, your budget and so forth. But, I would honestly at least give Mercury some consideration for their weight savings alone and their matched 7 year warranty. Food for thought and just my 2c, of course. Good luck either way and let us know what you decide on going with.

I looked into the Mercury after your post. I admit I have a negative impression of the brand due to reliability issues I heard about in the past, but I’ve never owned one. I like that the Mercury 250 is a V8 instead of a V6. It’s also much quieter. The specs seem like it’s lighter but some discussions say that Mercury weighs its engines without cowlings or fluids but Suzuki includes those things so they’re closer than they seem.

It’s hard to find a quasi-scientific head to head test but this boat builder in Australia did a back to back test of Mercury vs. Yamaha 300s in the same river, same boat, same prop, etc. I was surprised to see the Yamaha is faster and more fuel efficient at any given speed.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I looked into the Mercury after your post. I admit I have a negative impression of the brand due to reliability issues I heard about in the past, but I’ve never owned one. I like that the Mercury 250 is a V8 instead of a V6. It’s also much quieter. The specs seem like it’s lighter but some discussions say that Mercury weighs its engines without cowlings or fluids but Suzuki includes those things so they’re closer than they seem.

It’s hard to find a quasi-scientific head to head test but this boat builder in Australia did a back to back test of Mercury vs. Yamaha 300s in the same river, same boat, same prop, etc. I was surprised to see the Yamaha is faster and more fuel efficient at any given speed.

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I'm not trying to push Mercury or anything, just trying to give a few options... that being said, I imagine the fuel economy thing has a bit to do with what you mentioned above in that I believe all Mercury 250's are going to be a v8, vs the Yamaha F250 which is a v6. So, I imagine that is where you're going to get better fuel economy with the Yamaha F250's. In terms of top speed, I don't know enough about boat testing and props or anything like that, but I imagine it could be something as small as having the wrong pitch/size of prop on there. Considering they used the same props for the v6 Yamaha F250's and the v8 Mercury 250's. I don't know, and admittedly didn't watch the entirety of the video you linked, but it could be a small reason why the Mercury didn't perform as well as the Yamaha. Another option would be the Mercury 225, which I believe is going to be even slightly lighter yet at 475 lbs and they're a v6 as opposed to a v8. With regard to the weight, I believe most every manufacturer lists the dry weight of the motor without any fluids or anything else in it. I haven't heard about Mercury or anyone else removing the cowling or anything like that, but I do know that on their website they do say "lightest model available" next to the weight. So, if you needed a 30" shaft outboard and they had a 20" shaft option as well, the weight would be for the 20" shaft option. Probably not a huge issue as I can't imagine a 25" or even 30" shaft would be much more than 15-30 lbs extra over the 20", but it is I guess something else to think about. Again, not trying to push Mercury or anything like that, as mentioned above if/when I were to repower it would almost certainly be with the Suzuki DF250AP at this point... just trying to give some other options, especially if it can save some weight in the process.

 

[family affair]

Mbuna, why do you desire the 250s over the 200s?
The additional weight of the engines and larger gear cases will likely not net you more than 2-3 mph on the top end for most brands. Merc 250s might net you 4-5. Fuel economy will be worse with a V6 or V8 over any i4.
A properly set up 275 with 200s will be a 49-50 mph boat. The huge benefit over the 350 will be maneuverability.

 

[mr_mbuna]

Grady's performance test with twin 200s on the 275 shows it's a 30 mph cruise and 49 mph top speed. That is exactly the same as their test for a single 350, so there is really no reason to repower at that point. (In the real world with gear and bottom paint, my 275 actually has a 42-44 mph top speed, which is about 10 mph short of "exciting" for me.) Twin 250s take the boat to a 55 mph top speed according to Grady's tests and that sounds more fun.

I imagine the resale of the boat would improve either way (twin 200s or twin 250s) but I am never going to get all of my money back on a repower.

 

[family affair]

Like we tell everyone considering a bigger engine(s), put at least the amount of weight from the bigger engines in the back of the boat - water, sand, human, etc and see how she sits and handles. Keep in mind the actual weight will be the difference plus a couple people aft.
Or, to play it safe, get the Merc 225s with a set of Eco Enertias. You will then have the lowest weight, the most power, and nearly the highest top end speed.

 

[brdawg2001]

I have a 2002 273..Grady did change the buoyancy in some way as that was the first year 4 strokes were offered. I ran f225s for 16 years and now have f250 zukes...would not recommend less power..mine are pretty flawless....2500 hours now on my boat

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

The best prices I've found are $50K rigged for twin Yamaha F250XCBs (or Honda BF250s) with 5 years of warranty, $37K rigged for twin Suzuki DF250s with 7 years of warranty

Then the Suzuki DF250, it's a very good engine and you save alot of $$$ to use for other upgrades or simply in fuel for many years.
I would not recommend the DF200 I-4 as it's the DF150 brought to 200HP while the DF200-300 V6 models are a different beasts and all 3 i had (11 DF200 V6 with about 4000 hours and twin DF300AP with about 1000 hours) no problems at all.
The boats were not on a GW, but the twin DF300AP on my Venture 34 what is a big, heavy and wide boat i frequently loaded with 12-14 persons for charter work.

The Suzuki's 250 should be able to turn 2" more pitch and a 16" wide prop than you have now what is a nice benefit

Chris