280 or 260 fishin boat??

[90 5.0]

I know the question seems to have been done to death, but i'm still on the fence about which motor for a fishin boat.

I have some friends with 280's on their lake boats but they don't fish. Anyways they don't seem to have any issues with their motors when we are running around on the river.

Which one makes a better fishing motor? I suppose the 280??

I think i have seen it where people have 280's with 260 electrics? Or is it the other way around?

I haven't looked into this in a while and i'm about ready to buy a powerhead so I thought I would look into it again.

Also why are the 280 powerheads so much more, or so it seems than the 260's i see. It seems that there is a MAJOR price difference in the ones i see advertised from time to time??

What benefit do you get for the price difference besides 20hp??

Thanks!

 

[M-Wiggy]

This is my opinion: I have had two 280's on two different 2003's and Loved them. Only problem I had "with both of them" is that I seem to foul plugs often or that they would load up but when they ran, THAY RAN STRONG !!!!! I now have a 260 on a 2002 and I absolutely love it. I have yet to have an issue with it. I have had better luck with idiling long distances with the 260. As far as MPG, I couldn't give a fair comparison because of the different Hulls.

Matthew...

 

[90 5.0]

This is my opinion: I have had two 280's on two different 2003's and Loved them. Only problem I had "with both of them" is that I seem to foul plugs often or that they would load up but when they ran, THAY RAN STRONG !!!!! I now have a 260 on a 2002 and I absolutely love it. I have yet to have an issue with it. I have had better luck with idiling long distances with the 260. As far as MPG, I couldn't give a fair comparison because of the different Hulls.

Matthew...

I idle quite a bit watching my graphs looking for fish, interesting. i would have thought the 280 had better idle characteristics..

 

[suicidealli]

I think the 280 is better for a serious fishing rig. It charges better. They will load up, and foul a plug now and then. A 260 won't give much, if any real charge. With a little tweaking they can idle forever. The last production 260 was 98. So the 280's are a little newer, and with the charging system, more of a demand. Us speed guys, and fisherman use them. Supply & demand. I hate the 280 electronics, hard to figure out an issue, compared to the 260 style. You could go back and fourth all day..


Internal parts are pretty much the same. The exhaust port is different than a 260, and so is the exhaust chest.
It has a little more torq than a 260 IMO. Top pined pistons is a must for both. Stock in the 280 sometime in 2001.
Both have the same life span... Short.lol

I prefer a 260 with the drag cut exhaust. Makes for a great lake screamer, for pump gas. But for a serious fisherman the 280 would be my choice.
Roy

 

[M-Wiggy]

I idle quite a bit watching my graphs looking for fish, interesting. i would have thought the 280 had better idle characteristics..

Your 280 may idle clear all day long, i'm just speaking of my experience. When I put fresh plugs in the 280, it would run like a raped ape !!!!!

 

[MoodyAllison]

What is meant by the phrase "loading up"?

 

[suicidealli]

A little to much fuel at idle. Smoke heavy, or buck a little.. Happens most when the exhaust is is under water. When I idle for a long time, I trim up a little so the exhaust can breath easier... I have seen 280's foul a plug and have a dead cylinder. I have never had a 260/drag foul one where it didnt clean up when you get on plane. They are great engines.... Not pitting them down, just giving you info I have found...

Roy

 

[90 5.0]

A little to much fuel at idle. Smoke heavy, or buck a little.. Happens most when the exhaust is is under water. When I idle for a long time, I trim up a little so the exhaust can breath easier... I have seen 280's foul a plug and have a dead cylinder. I have never had a 260/drag foul one where it didnt clean up when you get on plane. They are great engines.... Not pitting them down, just giving you info I have found...

Roy

my supermag does that now, if i idle too far through a no wake zone with the motor trimmed down it loads up and comes on plane SLOW, but it always cleans up once on plane, so i already have to be careful of that even with my lightly modded super mag..



Depending on what i find running around, with the apparent price difference i'm seeing in used ph's the 260 might be a good choice?

The difference in cost alone would leave some money to go ahead and freshen whatever motor i got right off the bat and do a little work.

Can the 280 charging system or a supermag charging sytem go right on a 260??

 

[patches]

Eric Simon sells an alternator kit for the 260

 

[1-fastone]

Why not modify your supermag?

 

[suicidealli]

280 elect won't work on a 260, unless it is a 98 block. Then you will have to drill, and tap some holes. Also have to run the alien cowl.

Roy

 

[Lotus 50]

Two hypothetical questions

1. Would a 245 carb be a better choice for prolonged idling than a 260? No fuel injection to draw current.

2. Could any of a 245/260/280 handle an hour low speed cruise through a long low speed zone? I've always assumed no.

Hypothetical because I don't plan on buying any of these. If I ever repower it would be a 225 promax or a new DI engine.

 

[90 5.0]

Why not modify your supermag?

I need it to fish tourneys that don't allow 250+ hp motors and or modified motors

I'm probubally already technically legal with the small mods I have to my supermag in bigger tourneys as it is, if I stuck some serious parts on it I m ow I'd get protested

And I want a motor I don't have to be scared to spin up on a river run and put me out of a tournament because I don't have a back up ph.

I'm in 12th overall for my series right now and missing a tourney with a blown motor, or missing getting back to the weigh in on a series championship(40k on the line) because I modded my motor to much isn't a good idea.

 

[90 5.0]

280 elect won't work on a 260, unless it is a 98 block. Then you will have to drill, and tap some holes. Also have to run the alien cowl.

Roy

Good to know, I am running an alien cowl already though

Two hypothetical questions

1. Would a 245 carb be a better choice for prolonged idling than a 260? No fuel injection to draw current.

2. Could any of a 245/260/280 handle an hour low speed cruise through a long low speed zone? I've always assumed no.

Hypothetical because I don't plan on buying any of these. If I ever repower it would be a 225 promax or a new DI engine.

Isn't the 245 carbed a 2.4 Bridgeport?? I would need adapter plates if so.

I actually thought about the 245 Bridgeport for a 20xd for fishing B.A.S.S. tourney's ( those bastages won't allow my ally!!!!!!), it would stay under the 250 rule, but hey a 250xb runs good on an xd anyway.....

And no, the long low speed cruising won't hurt the 260/280 motors, we go on river runs 100 miles and longer at 2800-3200....

Unless you mean long idling or putting along in gear but off plane, and thats what I was curious about.

 

[patches]

The 245 is a carb version of the 260

They won't allow your Allison? Whats the deal with that

 

[90 5.0]

The 245 is a carb version of the 260

They won't allow your Allison? Whats the deal with that

If i had a 150 on it they would, it's the whole "recommended 90-150 hp for maximum efficiency" line on the safety plate that throws ally's with anything bigger than 150's out of any of the really big tourneys like B.A.S.S. etc..

Interesting i didn't know they made a 245 2.5, i always assumed when people talked about the 245 carb they were talking about the 245 hp carbed bridgeport.

So technically on some of the tourney i fish i could run the 245 carbed, just not sure if i would want to, there is only a hand full a year i fish that are 250 max, not the "you just can't be overated" max..

 

[h2oskiier30]

The "carbed bridgeport" motors as everyone calls them were actually rated 220 hp from mother Merc. Some also called them Mod VP's.

True Bridgeport motors are 2.4 EFI's with 240 hp.

The carbed 2.5 hi-po's are rated at 245 hp, but the same block as an EFI 260.

I've always heard that the carbed 245's put out about the same horsepower as the 260's, but Merc advertised them at 245 due to the price difference would make many go for the 245 instead of the more expensive EFI 260. Don't know how true that is, though.

 

[90 5.0]

The "carbed bridgeport" motors as everyone calls them were actually rated 220 hp from mother Merc. Some also called them Mod VP's.

True Bridgeport motors are 2.4 EFI's with 240 hp.

The carbed 2.5 hi-po's are rated at 245 hp, but the same block as an EFI 260.

I've always heard that the carbed 245's put out about the same horsepower as the 260's, but Merc advertised them at 245 due to the price difference would make many go for the 245 instead of the more expensive EFI 260. Don't know how true that is, though.

i've heard the same about the 245 carbed and 260 now that you mention it, i completely forgot about that.

guess i used to know there was a 245 2.5 i just forgot. It's not a motor you here alot about these days...

 

[90 5.0]

Buddy of mine has talked me into selling him my drag car, so as soon as I get back to the us from this hitch and he picks it up I'm think I'm going motor hunting.

Boats just too slow with my little super mag.

Full tourney load, fish in live well etc I could only get it to 76 this weekend running back to weigh in.

That's just embarrassing for an ally!! Although I was rolling by the other boats like they had their anchors out, it's still too slow for an ally!!!

 

[DragAlly02]

I Think Someone in texas on FastBass WasThinking of selling there 280 Sport

Mike