270 Islander

kooch1221

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ROBERTH said:
Do you think they will bring back this walkaround? I just recently found one used and looked it over. I was so impressed I couldn't stand it. But, I can't go there yet. Maybe in about a year I can, so hoping that now that the 290 Chesapeake is out, they will bring back the 270 so that they will have one between the 25 and 29.
Of course, I will be looking for a used one if they don't come out with a new one, but would really like it new!

i know this a grady forum but if you want something similiarly equipped to the islander and new take a look at the hydra sports 2500 vx.
 

ocnslr

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ROBERTH said:
Great info ocnslr!

Also, I noticed you pic is on the water. Do you have bottom paint? If you are pushing 150's with bottom paint, those are very good numbers indeed. Assuming that you lose a mph or so with bottom paint.

One more thought....seems folks now are more comfortable with HPDI's? I just remember there were problems with them and everyone was trying to get away from them. Batteries were sensitive to capacity, fuel pump issues, etc. Don't remember all the details, but thought the larger engines were more problems such as over 200hp?

Should I consider the 200 hpdi or 225's if I happen to come across them?

Yes, we have bottom paint, and the boat is in the water year-round. So all those numbers are with a painted bottom.

The 150 and 200HPDI engines have a fantastic reputation. The 250 and 300 had some issues, as far as I have read.

An Islander with F150s or 150HPDIs or 200HPDIs is a great platform.

IMHO, F225s are overkill on this boat - but I'm also not interested in running over 50mph on the water.

Brian
 

Tunacious D

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The 250 and 300 HPDIs have a bad history. Not sure about the 150 HPDIs. Yamaha is re-releasing the HPDIs in a big block version meant to take on the ETECs in the bass boat world. They only come in 20 inch lower units so no good for the big offshore boats.
 

Gmanoffshore

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My 2001 268 has the extended running surface and is rated for 500 HP. It came factory equipped with 200 HPDI's, I do not know what changes Grady made with the 2002 270 but the running surface was extended before they changed it to the 270 Islander.

BTY, I love mine and twins is the only way to go on this boat IMHO.
 

Gmanoffshore

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Gmanoffshore said:
My 2001 268 has the extended running surface and is rated for 500 HP. It came factory equipped with 200 HPDI's, I do not know what changes Grady made with the 2002 270 but the running surface was extended before they changed it to the 270 Islander.

BTY, I love mine and twins is the only way to go on this boat IMHO.

As far as speed with a full load of fuel(200) gallons, fully loaded ready to fish and full curtains I can bounce all over 45/46 MPH. I think I could hit 50 with a lite load and no curtains but I never run that way.
 

Islander268

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My 1999 268 is the last year with the stepped hull. 2000 and later have the extended hull. The 270 added cosmetic features like the rounded windows and other features but the hull is the same as 2000. I have twin 150 OX66's and am very happy with them. At the time when I was looking I found 2 boats a 1999 and a 2000, thats how I know about the running surface, I chose to buy the 1999 because the 2000 268 had 150 HPDI's that had two rebuilt powewr heads, that gave me the creeps so I bought the 1999 with the stepped hull instead.
 

wilson

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i repowered my 252g sailfish with twin 200 hpdi's...forget about all the rest these engines are solid rocket boosters!! my boat is now a full-on bad ass battle wagon.
 

dduflo

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My 270 Islander came with twin Yamaja F225s and I'll never go back to a single engine. 6 adults, full bait well and cooler, 117 lb Chessie, about 20 gallons short of a full tank of fuel and about 25 gallons of water and I get 49.9 mph on the gps in fresh water and no current. I also get slightly less than 14 MPG at 27 mph. We are very very pleased. I was told that Grady discontinued the 270 because sales were lagging a little and they needed the production capacity for their newer, and much much more expensive, introductions. Sure, I'd like something even larger but then I might not be able to launch and retrieve it alone.
 

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The 268 transom/swim platform functions like a motor bracket on the earlier Grady's. It puts the motors furthur back in cleaner water. Grady doesn't recommend anything more than 150 hp twin four strokes on the 268 hull.

The 270 brings the hull all the way back to provide more flotation and running surface for the larger 4-strokes.

As far as plaining on one engine I can tell you you can't do it with F150's. I doubt it would work with the larger engines. Your going to have to get on the one engine pretty hard. You will not be propped right and will be overloading the engine.

Lastly is speed. I can cruise all day at 25 to 29 knots conditions permitting. If you want more speed your going to want a 270 with 225's.
 

chrisA.

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Hookup, FYI, Grady probably only recommends the Yamaha 150 four strokes on the 268 as four stroke replacement,however,I repowered my 1995 268 with a pair of 175 suzukis,more power at the same weight as the 150's.You wouldn't want anything less than 300 total hp on that boat but you surely do not need twin 225's either as on the 270
 

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chrisA. said:
Hookup, FYI, Grady probably only recommends the Yamaha 150 four strokes on the 268 as four stroke replacement,however,I repowered my 1995 268 with a pair of 175 suzukis,more power at the same weight as the 150's.You wouldn't want anything less than 300 total hp on that boat but you surely do not need twin 225's either as on the 270

Oh yeah...or 200 E-tec small blocks!!

Zuki 175 = 474lbs.
E-tec 200 = 433lbs.
Yam F150 = 483lbs.

Even a pair of take-off 200hpdi's would probably work great, maybe get for half or less of new motors. The four strokes are a little cleaner though, no smell when trolling or harbor cruising.
 

ROBERTH

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Interesting, I had looked at the option of Suzuki 175's in comparision to Yamaha 150's to get maximum HP for weight ratio. Haven't been able to get any feedback from anyone, so how do you like them? Feel free to bragg or complain!

Not sure why Yamaha hasn't closed that gap on 175's from the 150 block and weight. But, lots of folks are happy with the strong Yamaha 150's so not sure the gain from a 175.

My thoughts were that if a 175 was built and on the upper side of the horsepower percent allowance like the Yamaha 150, then they would be like a lighter 200!

CJBROWN, the Etec's are mixed knowlege right now. From my area, only one dealer at the boat show even has them and I never see any on the water in the NC area I fish, so they are not an option at this time. Not sure what is up with that. One dealer that I talked to that used to have them pulled from his line due to lack of factory representation when needed, so figure they are still in growing pains.

I would also really like to go with 4 strokes if possible, but would not deny the HPDI's as others have claimed good results from the 200's.
 

CJBROWN

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ROBERTH said:
>SNIP

CJBROWN, the Etec's are mixed knowlege right now. From my area, only one dealer at the boat show even has them and I never see any on the water in the NC area I fish, so they are not an option at this time. Not sure what is up with that. One dealer that I talked to that used to have them pulled from his line due to lack of factory representation when needed, so figure they are still in growing pains.

>SNIP

I see a lot of e-tecs out here and have not heard complaints other that a few stirring the pot on THT. There are just a couple of upset owners over there and all of it suspect. All and all I have heard nothing but good on them. I had a 75 horse on a RIB that was fantastic, but we only put about 40 hours on it so couldn't get a good read for long term.

BTW, the dealers for e-tecs at the shows out here are the only ones that can run their motors in a tank indoors at the show. If they weren't clean enough, there's no way in hell the CA Air Resources Board would let them do that. Talk about an uptite governing board out here. Also, the winterizing and flushing process for them is way ahead of everything else, and with no valve train or oil sump, maintenance is cut way down. I ran Amsoil HPi synthetic in mine and you could never see smoke, and only a whiff of 2-stroke exhaust very occasionally if you were idling with a tail wind. And that was at the richer oil setting, not the 100:1 lean burn setting.

An awful lot of dealers that got burned by the ficht disaster simply refuse to carry the line because of that. Unfortunately Bombardier is having a difficult time getting a good distribution network setup because of it.

My Grady buddy's cousin is an outboard tech and service depot on the island out here and he swears by them. I have another acquaintance that owns a multi-million dollar houseboat-rental empire here in western states, and they also swear by them. They simply wouldn't use them if they were trouble to them.

But you're right, there's still a lot of people holding their breath on this one. One thing to know, if anyone can do two-stroke it's Bombardier. They're an industry leader with their Rotax engines for experimental aircraft, and with their Sea-doo and Ski-doo products, as well as Polaris offroad products. Hard to knock that kind of success.

I would not hesitate one bit to go with them on a repower, but I have no prejudice on the brand, and was not boating during the 'rude melt-down. Gee, people buy Tohatsu/Nissans in hoards, talk about junk.
 

Capt Bill

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>snip...
I would not hesitate one bit to go with them on a repower, but I have no prejudice on the brand, and was not boating during the 'rude melt-down. Gee, people buy Tohatsu/Nissans in hoards, talk about junk.

Chris, while I might agree with you on your comments on Bombardier, I gotta ask you, where in the world did you come up with that about Tohatsu? They have a solid reputation for being some of the most reliable engines ever made. No frills, but reliable engines. If they made higher HP models, they would no doubt give Yamaha and others a run for their money.
 

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Capt Bill said:
Chris, while I might agree with you on your comments on Bombardier, I gotta ask you, where in the world did you come up with that about Tohatsu? They have a solid reputation for being some of the most reliable engines ever made. No frills, but reliable engines. If they made higher HP models, they would no doubt give Yamaha and others a run for their money.

LOL. Sorry...
I just have never liked them. But you're right, they are popular and people seem to like them.

Kia's and Hyundai's are selling like hotcakes too :wink:
 

Capt Bill

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Hey Chris, no need to say sorry. You aren't stepping on my toes. But I think your analogy to Kia/Hundae doesn't quite fit. Tohatsu is a Japanese engine manufacturer, not Korean. That in itself is an important distinction, but Tohatsu also is used almost by more commercial Japanese fisherman than all other brands combined. As has for a long time.

A short blurb about the company:

The Tohatsu motor business began in 1932, building reliable motors for commericial Japanese fishermen. They needed a motor that could run for days on end, no matter what the weather requiring ocean-tested engineering that enables motors to work under the demanding and often harsh conditions.

Amazingly enough, Tohatsu holds the world record for the smallest outboard motor ever used to cross the Atlantic Ocean. You would never guess this task was accomplished with a 2.5 hp engine!

Tohatsu has manufacturered outboard motors from 140 hp all the down to 2.5 hp. These include both the classic 2-strokes as well as the newer 4-stroke engines.

For years, the U.S. distributor for Tohatsu was Marubeni Engine and Power Corporation of Carrollton Texas. In May of 2002, Tohatsu purchased Marubeni and selected a new name for the distribution company - "Tohatsu America Corporation." According to Tohatsu, the new president will be Nobuo Ikegaya."

But, to each his own. :D
 

chrisA.

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well to be quite honest,it was a toss up between the suzukis and a pair of 200 e-tecs,one of the the most deciding factors was the fact that my suzi dealer is 10 minutes from the house and the e-tec dealer is about an hour.After getting used to the different power band of the suzis over the johnson175's I can say that the suzis are fantastic! Smooth,quiet,lots of torque and while I do not measure my fuel use,it is considerably less with the suzis.Whereas the OMC's cruised at 38-4000,the suzis like 42-4500.I am not sorry one bit that I picked them over the e-tecs but I would have liked to feel the boat with a pair of 200's on it!If anybody wants to see for themselves,let me know and we will go for a test ride.
 

BobP

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The suzie 150 is the same as the 175.

The Yamaha F150 will never be any more, per Yamaha factory reps at show, year after year same story since day 1.

Yamaha abandoned the 4 stroke 175 and 300 HP market. Suzie to the rescue. Verado has it covered too. Forget Honda.

If you want to come close to two stroke V6 200 HPDIs, you can forget any 4 stroke inline 4 cylinder except the Verado supercharged.

To come close to matching 12 cylinders of two stroke 200HPDI x 2 = 400HP in a throw down, you will have to go to V6 F225s as a minimum.

Twin 200HPDI vs. F225s
On Fs, don't think you will save any fuel, will pay more for motor purchase, have to rebore transom 8 holes and refill existing 8 holes (added rigging costs), 200+ lbs heavier payload at transom forever, 1 star better CARB on Fs, and yes to savings on TCIII oil, and yes also to higher maintenance needs on Fs.

The 150 and 175 HPDI is same motor as 200 HPDI.

If anyone is interested in 200 HPDI, calls Eds, they no longer list on website, last time I called they can be ordered and gave me a quote on phone.
 

ocnslr

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When we were ready to repower in October 2005, the DF175s had just been announced and I was very interested in them to replace the single 250HP OX66.

The local Suzi dealer has a lot of experience and a great reputation, but he could not give me a firm price, or any idea WHAT MONTH he would be able to get a pair of the DF175s.

There was a local dealer with a pair of 2006 F150s in hand, and we negotiated a deal that was satisfactory for both of us. The EPA tests on the F150s have consistently produced 160HP, and they are know to be strong. With 665 hours on them now, we are completely satisfied.

But the DF175s would have been a great option, if they were available at the time.

Brian
 

BobP

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Brian, I think the suzie 150/175s have more dislacement than F150s. Suzie was obviously looking for an advantage from design day start with the target 150 HP market.

The 25HP may not make much of a difference, but just like same block F225/F250s, Grady doesn't bother anymore with F225s.

No such option with F150s, if there was a same block F175, I think we'd never see Grady use another F150 on anything 20 ft and larger.
Grady is basically stuck with what Yamaha offers 4 stroke wise, so they make good with it.

The first 275 at the NY show which I believe was the same hull being lugged around show to show with Joey attached, was equipped with twin F150s.

The Islander and it's offspring CC and DC genders, have wide range of both single and twin options, 2 and 4 stroke, all can work, way more than the heavier wider Sailfish. Even the F350 works now. The F250 single may cut mustard as well. The F350 doesn't look likely on 290 as single or twin, only on 700Hp rated recent Marlin.

Being the the 290, is just 600 lbs ligher than the Marlin with it's much higher rated 700 HP hull, you know what I'll be asking Grady factory reps at NY Show! In addition,, this may be last show to ever see a Marlin, hope not.

Back to Islanders, the Islander must have left the dance hand in hand with the yamaha product line manager, should be profiled in match.com TV ads!