2001 225 Weekender

R

ras737

Member
Feb 7, 2010
32
Westerly,RI
Boat Info
2008 44 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins
Have a friend of mine thinking of purchasing this boat with the standard 5.0L Merc. Would appreciate any info you could give me on this model both good and bad ( ride, under powerd, outdrive corrosion,etc). Thanks.
 
I have an 05 215 Weekender which is the same as the 225 but without the swim platform. We really enjoy ours because it is large enough for big water and small enough to tow with a 1/2 ton.

I have the 5.0mpi. Good reliable motor. What really helps is the Bravo 3 outdrive if you have that option. Twin props get you out of the hole nicely.

Overall we love the boat. We take it Island hopping on Lake Superior and are River Rats by our house on the Mississippi.

The one option I wish I had, and what the 225 has, is the Swim Platform. I really wish I could get the OEM version. I can always add one from SP.com but they want $1800 with shipping.

Let me know if he has a specific questions and I'l try and check the site from time to time.
 
ollieC

Thanks for the info. This boat has the alpa drive and I believe in 2001 the 5.0L was carburated and put out 260hp. Thinking it might be a bit under powered. What do you think?
 
Double check the exact model and year - in 2001 it was likely the older style 215 (different than Ollie's). There were also engine options available, could have been a carb'd 5.0 with 220HP, an EFI 5.0 with 240HP and possibly even an MPI 5.0 with 260HP.
 
I have the 2002 225 WE225 with 5.0L MerCruiser BIII. For me it is a great middle ground between a speed/ski boat and small comfortable cruiser. It is quick and fast, tops out at close to 40 knots, performs similarly whether there are two or six people on board, and handles chop extremely well for a boat this size. It is also comfortable for a long cruising day and even overnight on the hook, except for the porta poddie head, which should have been a small real head. That is my main complaint about the boat. We have had the boat for seven years, and no one has ever used the head, myself included (and we bought new one just so we wouldn't have to look at the old one, which had obviously been used). But others on this forum seem to be fine with the porta poddie, so take that for what it's worth. As with all Sea Rays around that time, there are some shortcuts in manufacturing, but they are more on ancillary or accessory issues (crappy horn, dinghy size cleats, cheap aluminum bimini frame) than construction. The BIII has its own set of issues with corrosion depending on what water you are in and what you do about it. I have solved most of the issues in my situation by using the right sacrificial anodes, maintaining the Mercathode, and keeping all the wires of the continuity circuit intact. Overall, I think it is a great boat for this size if you want to do some speed boat type things but also want some comfort. I didn't think about it at the time, but if I could have gotten it with the larger engine I would have done that, but I don't think it is underpowered, and as a practical matter I don't think there are many out there with the bigger engine option anyway.
 
I had a 225 Weekender with 5.0MPI (260hp) and Bravo 3. Trying to judge whether it will be underpowered or not will be hard to advise on until we know how your friend plans to use it. For putting around it should be fine. If he plans to do any kind of watersports or carry more than 2 adults regularly, I recommend the 260hp/B3 as a minimum.

I think the Express Cruisers were a little lighter for some reason so a 240hp option might be OK there. Not sure.
 
lawn doctor - All great points and I agree about the shortcuts. My fender lines need to be smaller than my dock lines to share the same cleat. I replaced the horn because I thought there was something wrong with it.....there was nothing wrong with it:smt009 I re-ordered a full camper package and chose the aluminum frame as opposed to SS which was more $$. On mine, the ladies use the port-potie and they like that better than a bucket. I actually bought a 5 gallon tank and replaced the 2.5 for the pottie. I do not use it, I have my own device.

ras737 - as Lazy mentioned, I think those are the listed horsepower ratings. Mine is an 5.0mpi at 260hp. It suits our needs pretty well. I am not sure what type of performance an Alpha 1 and 5.0 carb'ed 225 would be like. Maybe ask the captains on the Official 215 Express thread - http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/16955-Official-215-Express-Thread - they may have that type of engine and outdrive setup. I believe the Weekender was the Express's evolution.
 
jason78 said:
I had a 225 Weekender with 5.0MPI (260hp) and Bravo 3. Trying to judge whether it will be underpowered or not will be hard to advise on until we know how your friend plans to use it. For putting around it should be fine. If he plans to do any kind of watersports or carry more than 2 adults regularly, I recommend the 260hp/B3 as a minimum.

:thumbsup: +1. We had an earlier 220 OV with the carbed 5.7 Magnum and Alpha 1. It was fine for just two people putting around but we sure could have used more torque for water sports. I don't know how the weights compare but if we were still into the water sports I would be looking for at least a 5.7 MPI with a Bravo 3. Our dock neighbor has one that puts out 300 hp and we find it to be just fine with that power set up. It pulls big boys on wake boards and slalom skis with no trouble at all AND it gets reasonable fuel economy if you keep a fairly light hand on the throttle. IMHO the 5.0 would be a very good choice for an economical commuter type vessel that wouldn't be required to be doing anything more than casual tubing and skiing. We do casual water sports behind another friend's 4 cyl B-, B-, Ba-, Ba-, Bay,,,,,,,,,, oh you know what I'm trying to say. Anything will work to a point if you prop it right but some of the folks who take their water sports really seriously do need lots of hp and torque. Good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...
 
OllieC said:
ras737 - as Lazy mentioned, I think those are the listed horsepower ratings. Mine is an 5.0mpi at 260hp. It suits our needs pretty well. I am not sure what type of performance an Alpha 1 and 5.0 carb'ed 225 would be like. Maybe ask the captains on the Official 215 Express thread - http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/16955-Official-215-Express-Thread - they may have that type of engine and outdrive setup. I believe the Weekender was the Express's evolution.
Click to expand...

IIRC the 215EC is around 800 - 1000 lbs lighter than the 215WE / 225WE even though the layouts of the boats are almost identical.....my 1998 215EC has the carb'd 5.7L with 250hp and the Alpha outdrive and it performs well overall....pulls skiers out of the water fine and planes and cruises well with a full load of people....i don't have personal experience with the WE models but due to the extra weight and the less torque of the 5.0 engine it may be marginally powered...you can make up some of the performance difference with trim tabs and a lower pitch prop and adding a hydrofoil to the outdrive....

cliff
 
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I just traded my 2001 225 Weekender on a 2005 240 Sun Deck.
The Weekender is a great boat. Had the standard 5.0 engine with 260 HP and the Alpha 1 drive. Plenty quick, handled nicely. Good boat for hanging out on the bay, yet perfectly fine for tubing etc.
The reasons I sold the 225 and moved to the Sun Deck had to do with how we use our boat. We like to take friends out on the bay, usually hit a restaurant, and occasionally tube. So we did not need the cuddy cabin, which honestly became a collector of excess crap. We were happy with 8 pax capacity, but happier with 12.
Never overnighted. The swim platform is a must. Great boat, but we like the sundeck better.
 
Not to derail this thread but what is the difference between the EC and the WE?
 
Newman said:
Not to derail this thread but what is the difference between the EC and the WE?
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Up until 2001, the 215EC was made. Then it was redesigned (looks pretty much identical and is almost exactly the same overall size, but heavier) and it became a 225WE in 2002 (although there may have been a few late-production 2001 WE's). A few years later, a stripped down version of the 225WE was introduced as the 215WE.
 
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Thank you Dennis. That explains why pictures didn't enlighten me.
 
Yeah, some of this stuff gets confusing.

How 'bout this one... EC stands for Express Cruiser, WE stands for WeekEnder, so SD must stand for SunDancer, right? Nope. DA is for Sundancer and SD is for Sundeck... even though the Sundancer terminology was around before Sundeck. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
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