The weight of the 252 with a full tank of gas and the trailer is 6638#. So if you are not willing to upgrade your tow vehicle the decision has already been made.
The weight of the 222 with a full tank of gas and the trailer is 5427#, leaving 1173# of towing capacity but as
@zpaul has illustrated that’s only part of the equation.
Something I learned a while back from
@biffdotorg is that other than the wake series boats, all of the other boats in a given hull length use the same hull, just the top cap and accoutrements are different.
We need to know where you intend to use the boat, how you intend to use the boat and how many people you expect to take out on the boat regularly to give you an accurate answer.
Short of that information and based on the usage of my 210 FSH, and if I was going to upgrade I would go with the 252 FSH. You can have extra space and not use it, so those times where I’d have extra people on board all of space on deck and storage would be there. I recently learned that the 222 FSH has a smaller trolling motor battery shelf, good for two batteries, where as the 252 (and my boat) has a battery shelf that will easily hold three batteries with room to spare. The fuel tank on the 222 is 75 gallons compared with the 252’s 100 gallons, and in at least three different tests, two from boating magazine and one from boat test, the 222’s fuel consumption was shockingly high and therefore a surprisingly short range for the 222. While sadly neither boat test or boating magazine has done a test on the 252, one can extrapolate mpg / range numbers from the other 25’ boats, (perhaps
@Zackdadams can chime in with real world fuel consumption and range information from his 252) and the range is significantly greater than the 222, with the new 1.9L engine ( both the 222 and the 252 have the 1.9L engine) and the reported four bladed impellers on the 2024 models mpg / range may have improved noticeably, preliminary reports on the 1.9 engines are more power and quieter operation as well. The live well on the 222 and the 252 are in the aft starboard corner, the 222‘s live well
appears to be too small for my usage which is keeping fish alive and not just bait, while the 252’s appears larger, as well, the 252’s has the port forward aquarium live well, and all of these live wells can serve double duty as ice chests, but be advised, unless the aft starboard corner live wells are filled with water these boats will list a bit to port, my 210 is the same. Free board on the 252 is higher than the 222 as witnessed by the 252’s four horizontal under gunwale rod holders and the 222’s three, depending on the waters you boat in, this higher free board could be very important to you. The 252 has the five across bench seating just behind the helm with the center section that folds down after removing the cushions which creates a large flat casting deck, whereas the 222 has two built in hide away jump seats that fold down to make a casting deck, again something to consider based on your use and crew size, and this aft passenger seating is going to be the smoothest and driest ride when conditions get real, and if you’re like me and my fishing friends, some wind and rough water are not going to keep us off the water.
The 222 Sport E has push button start / stop, fly by wire throttle, engine synching and single throttle operation as well as electrically controlled shift gates compared with the 252’s cable actuated throttles / shift gates and key switch operated start and stop. For me, and based on what my needs are I would take the 252’s cable actuated controls, because with the cable actuated shift gates thrust is infinitely adjustable at low speed. From everything I’ve read thus far the electronically actuated shift gates are either in TDE (thrust directional enhancer-both the 222 & 252 have this) ahead, reverse or neutral with no in between. When I’m slow trolling I need to be able to adjust the speed down to 1-1.8 mph and the electronic shifting will not allow that. Being able to infinitely adjust thrust is also a big advantage over an outboard engine or an I/O system.
Depending on the waters you boat in, the extra weight and length of the 252 would make handling waves or choppy water better as well.
The 222 FSH is fine boat indeed! But for me personally, given the choice between the 222 and the 252 I’d take the 252.
