330 Express vs 360 express

[Mwskeetman]

I'm in the market for my next offshore fishing boat. I fish off the east coast (Oregon & Hatteras) I've owned several boats over the years but never a grady. Fished off several grady white and now find myself interested between the 330 & 360 express. I've read the previous post but wanted to state some of my concerns and get honest opinions from both current and past owners , not brokers(no offense). Having experience fishing out of both inlets, I've made my decision I absolutely want at least a 32/33ft, sporting at least a 10ft beam. Since we live almost 6 hours away I'm about 90% sure I want to(prefer to) dry store the boat. I'm not a fan of leaving a boat in the water for several reasons, the most being the distance between me and the vessel. I have seen/found several 330 express on trailers(not concerned with permits as the boat will be stored at or near marinas) but yet to see a 360 on a trailer. So here are some of my questions, hopefully you guys can "shed some light"
1- Is a 360 express able to be trailered? Or is it even logical to consider ?
2- Besides the obvious(more room in the head, bigger cabin) what are some noticeable differences? From driving ability, to fishing ability does one really shine over the other?
3- What are the desired motors for both the 330 and 360? I've seen as little as twin 225 on a 330 to as much as 350 on them. I've seen twins on 360 and Trips on 360. So what packages seem to produce best rides, fuel economy and which motors have the best longevity?
4- Did the 330 or 360 have any problem years I should stay away from or be concerned with. I've seen a few listed that stated "moisture found in hull" or "during survey moisture found in transom" . I've seen this on several 330 models listed. Just curious if this was poor ownership or a "problem year" with the boat?

Thanks for anything you can add or want to bring up that maybe I didn't ask. I plan on taking my time to find that "right" GW. Want to make sure I educate myself as much as possible and I feel no better way than to talk to previous and current owners!

 

[glacierbaze]

4- When you see one listed that has a problem, write down the year, the model, and the problem. Start your own little spreadsheet to add to what info others give you.

 

[doug228]

Seen reports of wet hull cores in the 330s, mostly to do with the side vents near the back of the hull. Seemed to be a thing for the earlier year 330s. The big Grady's have/had balsa cores in the sides. Not sure if they changed the core material for the sides on the newer ones.

 

[kirk a]

In my opinion, the 330 is not a trailerable boat. Mine gets moved 5 miles 2x a year, and it takes an 18 wheeler and large trailer to do it. Even at that, it dwarfs the truck and looks enormous coming down the road.

I have a crew whose family has the 360, and he was very impressed at the lower fuel consumption on the 330 (crusing at 25/26 GPH) His numbers on the 360 were in the 30's to low 40's per hour.

Lot has been written here about the best engines for a 330, but a lot of that is contingent on the year - over time, GW has improved the transom, to allow the larger motors to be hung. General consensus is the boat comes alive at twin 300's or better, but I'm not unhappy with the real world performance of my 225's.

 

[Mwskeetman]

4- When you see one listed that has a problem, write down the year, the model, and the problem. Start your own little spreadsheet to add to what info others give you.

I thought about doing just that(boats & motors) to see if I can find any correlation. Thanks for the response!

 

[Mwskeetman]

Seen reports of wet hull cores in the 330s, mostly to do with the side vents near the back of the hull. Seemed to be a thing for the earlier year 330s. The big Grady's have/had balsa cores in the sides. Not sure if they changed the core material for the sides on the newer ones.

It's only been on the 330s that I've noticed any moisture issues. I figured it had to be some " bad" years. I assumed they corrected it, was just curious to what year they got around to changing that design? I know I've seen similar issues with other manufacturers through "certain years" Thanks for the reply!

 

[Mwskeetman]

In my opinion, the 330 is not a trailerable boat. Mine gets moved 5 miles 2x a year, and it takes an 18 wheeler and large trailer to do it. Even at that, it dwarfs the truck and looks enormous coming down the road.

I have a crew whose family has the 360, and he was very impressed at the lower fuel consumption on the 330 (crusing at 25/26 GPH) His numbers on the 360 were in the 30's to low 40's per hour.

Lot has been written here about the best engines for a 330, but a lot of that is contingent on the year - over time, GW has improved the transom, to allow the larger motors to be hung. General consensus is the boat comes alive at twin 300's or better, but I'm not unhappy with the real world performance of my 225's.

Ideally I would love to find a slip with a lift, no such luck thus far. So I've reached out to several marinas about dry storage. My trips are far enough planned that even if the boat is pulled and launched and the weather didn't allow us to fish, no harm no foul. I've seen several 330s listed with trailers and thought the same thing. I've pulled 31" fountains, 32' regulators but even that was capped at a 10' 5" beam(I think?)

I'm not "overly" concerned with the fuel burn numbers if they are between 25gph- 40gph esp if we are talking about a bigger, wider, heavier boat. The runs out of Oregon/Hatteras isn't like MD/NJ. Now, if you're talking like 60+ gph vs 25pgh, yeah that could be different.

So you have 225hp on your 330? How does it plane out? Does it struggle any with top end speed, say above 4800-5400rpms? I had 225hp on my fountain and repowered with 275hp and I know the difference was night and day.

Thanks for your insight, appreciate the reply!!

 

[HMBJack]

I'm into my 12th year owning my 330 (year 2006). We love the thing to death. Lot's to read (on this site) about engines. I re-powered from twin F250's to F300's. Yes, better with the 300's but I personally had no gripes about the venerable 3.3L F250's.
I also would stay clear from the F350's and their lifetime flywheel maintenance issue.

I also personally wouldn't think much about trailering a 330 or 360 but that's me. These boats are huge for any regular trailering routine.

No trend in my opinion about what year 330's had issues. I think it's mostly random. Transoms, hull sides, hard tops, etc. I think you'll want to invest in a good survey on any potential purchase.

Grady went to Diesel generators (Vs. Gas) in 2005 I think. Better choice in my opinion for safety, noise and overall reliability.

One consideration on the 360 - it will certainly have less range for your desired offshore fishing. So, I would steer you towards the 330 for that reason alone. For your trips, weather wise, it's not like you're gonna go out in a 360 that a 330 can't "do".
Good luck in your search. I hope the above helps you a bit...

 

[scott furman]

If you go with the 330, I would not even consider less power than 300s. When full of fuel and running in a head sea, you need the power to push through. It is a nice running boat with the 300s and better with 350s. I have two 336s and also fish with a friend who has the 330. His 330 has Yamaha 300s and they are just fine and pretty efficient. He runs at 24 knots in a headsea at 27 gph. In a following or beam sea, he seas 25.8knots at 27gph. On my 336s, I have one boat with duoprop Suzukis and one with B series Yamaha 350s. Of those power packages, the Suzukis are far more efficient. With the Suzukis I run 27 knots at 24 gph; with the Yamahas I am 27 knots at 32 gph. Note that these statistics are knots and not MPH (we are nautical after all). I have 685 hours on the Suzukis and they are really nice. I have 884 hours on the Yamahas and they run fine.

 

[grady33]

My ‘06 330 is in the water from April thru October then on the hard and shrinkwraped for winter! It has a pair of F250s and we cruise (fully loaded) at 4800 RPMs at 28-30 burning roughly 29-30 GPH. Just got back from a 36 hour offshore tournament and we burned 288 gallons trolling and drifting canyons. Normal trip 60 miles offshore trolling all day is around 170-180 gallons. F250’s are great engines and she moves fast enough for me. She gets lighter obviously as the day goes on due to fuel burn.

The last time she was on the road, we had to remove the radar as it was just barely hitting traffic lights. It’s a heavy boat loaded down.

I like the 360 but love my 330.

A buddy of mine has the same boat and ordered new Yam 300s. I’ll be courious on the performance difference between the two.

 

[HMBJack]

A buddy of mine has the same boat and ordered new Yam 300s. I’ll be curious on the performance difference between the two.

>>> Take it from me (I just re-powered from F250's to F300's on my 2006 330) - I'm running about 5 knots faster on the same fuel burn

 

[wspitler]

A buddy of mine has the same boat and ordered new Yam 300s. I’ll be curious on the performance difference between the two.

>>> Take it from me (I just re-powered from F250's to F300's on my 2006 330) - I'm running about 5 knots faster on the same fuel burn

Just repowered my 2007 with F300s, agree with you completely HMBJack!

 

[Tanzeelnawaz123]

I am new in this forum. I have some questions about this forum. These questions are shown below:

https://www.greatgrady.com/threads/grady-white-seafarer-228-live-well.35065/

If anyone has information about my question. Please give me answer below. I am very confused about this.

 

[ocdansar]

I was in the same spot as you when I bought my 330. I really wanted the 36 but I was afraid of the beam to trailer it. I keep my 33 in a slip but I trailer it back and forth from ft pierce to Orlando once or twice a year.
It is not that big a deal and does not require an 18 wheeler. My 2500 Chevy does a fine job .
On a side note I completely rehabbed mine a little over a year ago. I put 4.6 mercury 300 H.p. V-8’s. On it and absolutely love the performance and economy I see with them.

 

[rjriordan]

Our 2019 330 has the 425 XTO's, no complaints other than some minor (Yamaha) software glitches & growing pains. Have been on a 330 with the 250's, was tolerable at best. Would guess that the 300's should be the minimum, 350's better if you don't mind messing with flywheel replacement intervals. But I think the 425's are the right motors for a vessel of that heft.

 

[grady33]

Our 2019 330 has the 425 XTO's, no complaints other than some minor (Yamaha) software glitches & growing pains. Have been on a 330 with the 250's, was tolerable at best. Would guess that the 300's should be the minimum, 350's better if you don't mind messing with flywheel replacement intervals. But I think the 425's are the right motors for a vessel of that heft.

Unfortunately the older 330s like my 06 can’t take advantage of the new 425s. I still cruise 28-31 burning 29 GPH heading offshore on a good day! What you burning on the 425’s at cruise?