Has anyone weighed a 265?

[SeaVee]

I have the brochure, and I figure I am at about 9000-10000lb wet. Has anyone weighed one? May have to look for a new tow vehicle and the Suburbans and Expeditions are are 9300 ish towing capacity. Only tow around town for service, hurricane haulout, occasional 2hr pull to OBX. She’s a plus sized model for sure when you’re pulling her. TIA, SeaVee

 

[family affair]

Looks like you should forget owning a SUV and rent truck for the 1.4% of the time you need a tow vehicle.
I haven't weighed a 265, but I'm confident when fully wet you will be north of 10k with the trailer.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'd start by emailing Grady White and asking for the Performance Bulletin for your particular vintage of boat as well as the vintage/horsepower of outboards on your boat on top of that. I emailed them a few years back when I bought my boat and they replied back within an hour or so, which I was wanting the Performance Bulletin because they didn't have the specs for 228 Seafarer with a single Yamaha F225 on their website anymore. Here's also a link to the Honda site where they've got an unknown year of Grady White 265 Express with twin Honda 225's on it and it says the test weight was 9,306 lbs. I'm not sure if that's including the trailer or not, I'd have to assume not, but with a dry weight of 5,360 lbs and then twin outboards, half a tank of fuel and so forth... I think you'll be close to that weight, if not over a bit over 10k lbs with a trailer. Brand new twin Honda 225's are a total of 1,250 lbs, plus the dry weight of 5,360 lbs and you're already at 6,600 lbs without any fuel, a trailer or anything else onboard. Depending on the year of your boat, it appears a standard 265 Express has a 250 gallon fuel tank, which a gallon of fuel is 6 lbs / gallon, putting you at an extra 1,500 lbs just for just the fuel, putting you now at over 8,100 lbs. Finally, a trailer for that size of boat is likely going to be around 1,800-2,000 lbs which will definitely put you at over 10k lbs just for the boat, full tank of fuel and the trailer. Now obviously you can reduce the total weight a bit by not having a full tank of fuel, especially on the 2 hour trip to where you could fill up the tank once you get there. That being said, even a half a tank of fuel is only going to cut about 600 lbs or so, and if you've got that much added weight in spare gear, food, ice, bait, water, etc... then it might not make that much of a difference. You could either rent the appropriately sized pickup truck or get something else with a higher tow rating for it.

https://cdn.powerequipment.honda.com/marine/pdf/props/Grady%20White%20265%20Express%20-%20BF225.pdf

 

[Ekea]

it sucks that you cant get a 3/4 ton suv anymore

 

[Ekea]

also, i did extensive research when i bought my boat and went OCD with specs and comparisons and made myself a nice nerdy spreadsheet. my estimation put the 265 around 10,300 lbs tow weight. that includes 1,700 for a trailer (if you are going tripple axle, it will be closer to 2k), 500lbs of options/batteries/gear, 1200 lbs for engines, and a full tank.

 

[SkunkBoat]

also, i did extensive research when i bought my boat and went OCD with specs and comparisons and made myself a nice nerdy spreadsheet. my estimation put the 265 around 10,300 lbs tow weight. that includes 1,700 for a trailer (if you are going tripple axle, it will be closer to 2k), 500lbs of options/batteries/gear, 1200 lbs for engines, and a full tank.

HAHAHA 500 pounds of gear.. Thats just the gear in the truck....

 

[SkunkBoat]

I would assume they don't include the hardtop in the listed dry weight. From experience i can tell you its heavier than you would think...

My estimation was "get a dock, call the guy to haul it twice." It really isn't a "trailerable" boat. For short 15 mile hauls, no hills, the marina is using a short bed 2500 dually and a giant hydraulic trailer.

 

[Ekea]

HAHAHA 500 pounds of gear.. Thats just the gear in the truck....

not everyone runs a heavy load

 

[SeaVee]

Thanks fellas- my current tow rig can tow 12.5k. It’s been a great rig since I bought it new 21 years ago . We love having a 3 row 4wd SUV, but we have grandkids on the way, and the Admiral likes the new Suburban and the Expedition is getting a redesign soon

 

[Peter A]

I’d be keeping that tow rig if possible!

New ones are very spendy and the 1/2-ton Suburban has unexpectedly low tow and overall weight carry capacity. A properly optioned new 1/2 ton pickup has a suprisingly high tow, GVWR and GCVWR. But if I was spending that much I’d probably just get 3/4 ton pickup.

I was looking at getting a good truck to tow my “little” 208 at over 6000 pounds with trailer. I am partial to Ford and would need at least the 2.7L ecoboost F150 with a max tow package to get to decent safety margin and load capacity. Plus you’ve been towing before and nothing is more unnerving for me than towing with a rig that gets pushed around by the payload even if it is rated to tow. A lot can happen during that two hour tow to the ocean.

 

[Saltyone]

HAHAHA 500 pounds of gear.. Thats just the gear in the truck....

I have 400 lbs just in ice when we go out for albacore.

I will say though, it honestly is a pretty easy boat to trailer. I don't moor my boat, and typically tow it about 200 miles round trip when i go out. Towing with a 2500 Duramax

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I've got a 2010 Toyota Tundra with the 5.7L v8 of which it tows up to 11k lbs and tows my 228 Seafarer quite easily and without any issues at all. Bought the truck used for less than $20k oh about 3-4 years ago now, as new truck prices are absolutely insane.

 

[seasick]

I’d be keeping that tow rig if possible!

New ones are very spendy and the 1/2-ton Suburban has unexpectedly low tow and overall weight carry capacity. A properly optioned new 1/2 ton pickup has a suprisingly high tow, GVWR and GCVWR. But if I was spending that much I’d probably just get 3/4 ton pickup.

I was looking at getting a good truck to tow my “little” 208 at over 6000 pounds with trailer. I am partial to Ford and would need at least the 2.7L ecoboost F150 with a max tow package to get to decent safety margin and load capacity. Plus you’ve been towing before and nothing is more unnerving for me than towing with a rig that gets pushed around by the payload even if it is rated to tow. A lot can happen during that two hour tow to the ocean.

How did you arrive at 6000 pound load for your 208?

 

[SeaVee]

I am hearing Chevy May bring back the HD Suburban in ‘25. Probably be 100k. I like the current diesel option in the Suburban but it’s a 1500 platform. Thanks for all the replies, I think we’ve settled on a 10.5k/11.5k weight range, which is too much for any current 3 row SUV.
This thing is pretty trashed inside after 2 kids/ 2dogs and 100’s of OBX trips, but mechanically it has a Jasper 8.1 with 20,000 miles on it and everything works well mechanically. Assessed at $4200 for taxes. Might have to keep it a little longer.

 

[Peter A]

How did you arrive at 6000 pound load for your 208?

Well that’s a lot less than a 265 as pictured! Maybe a little over-estimated but stuff ads up to fast.

Boat is 2900, engine around 500, full fuel around 500, hardtop 250?, water 50, anchors (2) and windlass/radar/livewell (on deck, not the fish box)/spare prop/tools/safety gear/10 rods+reels+tackle maybe 300, trailer 1300. That’s around 5800. I ballparked the trailer between what an Alu and steel trailer would be (since I have not bought a trailer yet, could be heavier or lighter). All that stuff is in the boat right now.

I guess could be up to 1000 lbs lighter with no fuel/water and unloaded gear, Alu trailer. So rough estimate between 5000 and 6000 works for me. Would buy/prep any tow vehicle for max weight scenario of trailer load plus passengers and personal gear, cooler, ice etc. plus a big safety margin.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Well that’s a lot less than a 265 as pictured! Maybe a little over-estimated but stuff ads up to fast.

Boat is 2900, engine around 500, full fuel around 500, hardtop 250?, water 50, anchors (2) and windlass/radar/livewell (on deck, not the fish box)/spare prop/tools/safety gear/10 rods+reels+tackle maybe 300, trailer 1300. That’s around 5800. I ballparked the trailer between what an Alu and steel trailer would be (since I have not bought a trailer yet, could be heavier or lighter). All that stuff is in the boat right now.

I guess could be up to 1000 lbs lighter with no fuel/water and unloaded gear, Alu trailer. So rough estimate between 5000 and 6000 works for me. Would buy/prep any tow vehicle for max weight scenario of trailer load plus passengers and personal gear, cooler, ice etc. plus a big safety margin.

I think you might be a little bit heavy in regards to your estimates. Per the Cannons website, a 208 Adventure with a Yamaha F250 on it weighed "4,373 lbs (including persons, fuel, water, gear, engines & accessories)". Now obviously that's probably a bit low for most as they likely had as little fuel or extra weight in the boat to be able to get the best fuel economy numbers possible. I'm also not exactly sure how much of that weight contributes to persons, as it says that weight includes persons in it. So, that could be around 400 +/- lbs as well well added into that numbers. I'm also not sure exactly what kind, or size, of trailer you have but the aluminum I-beam trailer for my 228 Seafarer weighs 975 lbs per the registration. I think you'll likely be closer to the 5k lb- 5,500 lb range depending on how heavily you load your boat down. I'd also save the information on the Cannons site before it gets deleted, if you're at all interested in the performance numbers for your particular boat. I'm kind of surprised with the new 218 Adventure that the numbers are still even posted on their website.

Grady-White Adventure 208

Grady-White’s heritage and expertise in the design of 20-foot walkaround cabin boats began over 40 years ago with the company’s pioneering walk around designs. The Adventure 208 brings the full measure of walkaround style and a SeaV2® ride to today’s new boat market. Solid, secure platform for...

cannons.com

 

[SkunkBoat]

I am hearing Chevy May bring back the HD Suburban in ‘25. Probably be 100k. I like the current diesel option in the Suburban but it’s a 1500 platform. Thanks for all the replies, I think we’ve settled on a 10.5k/11.5k weight range, which is too much for any current 3 row SUV.
This thing is pretty trashed inside after 2 kids/ 2dogs and 100’s of OBX trips, but mechanically it has a Jasper 8.1 with 20,000 miles on it and everything works well mechanically. Assessed at $4200 for taxes. Might have to keep it a little longer.

Assuming you own it...I would be inclined to keep the old ride for towing/trashing about, and let the Admiral spend on a blinged up smaller SUV.
I have a boat and a slip and a 2 seat Transit Connect utility van. The Admiral got this..

 

[Peter A]

Assuming you own it...I would be inclined to keep the old ride for towing/trashing about, and let the Admiral spend on a blinged up smaller SUV.
I have a boat and a slip and a 2 seat Transit Connect utility van. The Admiral got this..

Nice Mustang. Yeah it’s hard to beat an 8.1L engine with an Allison or a Gearstar 4L80 for real work, unless it a diesel. I’d be keeping that Suburban as well.

My current boat car…not so powerful but suprisingly useful and reliable. On dry land I am an Alfa Romeo driver. Good for the drive from Madison NJ to Waretown on Barnegat Bay.

 

[Ekea]

I am hearing Chevy May bring back the HD Suburban in ‘25. Probably be 100k. I like the current diesel option in the Suburban but it’s a 1500 platform. Thanks for all the replies, I think we’ve settled on a 10.5k/11.5k weight range, which is too much for any current 3 row SUV.
This thing is pretty trashed inside after 2 kids/ 2dogs and 100’s of OBX trips, but mechanically it has a Jasper 8.1 with 20,000 miles on it and everything works well mechanically. Assessed at $4200 for taxes. Might have to keep it a little longer.

sweet setup. i used to have an 01 suburban and i loved that thing. those years were really nice trucks, super comfortable and great reliability.

where did you hear about a HD suburban in 2025? that would be amazing