A Bonnier LLC Company. I am looking for one that has been treated well and run as close to the ideal as possible. Those meridians are not as over propped as other boats in the Brunswick family, based on my reading of boattest.com performance tests, but you will need to change out the prop set eventually and that means 4 different props for the ZEUS. A racing motor with a warranty? Pods operate independently of one another to provide vectored thrust in any direction, which makes the vessel incredibly maneuverable. Its hard to tell if sport fishermen will take to it. They get people excited about buying a new boat.. Read the owners manual.) Click on the different category headings to find out more. But this was a first for the recreational segment of the marine industry, and there was a lot of buzz and excitement. Once you go to 3 or 4 engines or pods, I'd rather have shafts as the fuel efficiency with triples is only 10% better and not worth the maintenance cost and in a 4 engine/pod installation they tend to burn the same amount of fuel AND much more maintenance of 4. Zeus propeller shafts use a double-lip seal. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Pods have more parts, both mechanical and electronic, and conventional wisdom says that means more problems. These versatile drive systems are not as popular as once thought. And joystick piloting? That said, I have heard good things. Like long-distance cruisers, sportfishermen have been slow to accept pods, in this case not because of perceived deficiencies but rather a reluctance to try anything that might reduce chances of success. But who cares, really? If we can go straight to them and safely lift them into the boat, most tow boat operators are going to charge an hourly fee or a flat fee, and not claim salvage. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. The first American company to install the Volvo Penta Inboard Performance System was actually Tiara. One issue that early pod adopters discovered, usually to their financial surprise, was the necessity of checking the shaft seals regularly, and replacing them on a scheduled basisevery five years is about right for most folks. $44 MediaLight Mk2 Flex 4m D65 6500CRI98 Bias Lighting USB powered ComputersTablets & Networking Laptop & Desktop Accessories USB Lights & Gadgets Vessel Systems Considerations for Marine Repower, ZF Marine Propulsion Systems Miramar, LLC. The aft placement of pods has added to usable space on board. Marlin Magazine may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. It is so nearly parallel to the boats keel that it enables pod-drives to lighten the vessel with smaller engines that still provide ample thrust to plane and power the now lighter boat. Sure the stories are one-sided, but as an aggregate source of information, theyve led me to conclude that pods are no more prone to failure than inboards but that when a pod breaks, the repair bills going to be higher. (Do the same with outboards and stern drives.) I have personally ruled out any boat with PODS, IPS or ZEUS, for those 2 main reasons. Also, you dont know how often the shaft seals will need replacement. Care should be taken prior to using a vaporizer, as vaporizing will not necessarily eliminate any and all toxins found in vaporized blends. When a 42-foot pod boat can replace a 46-footer, savings add up fast. The Zeus ArcPods are the convenient method of preparing, loading, and transporting your dry herb for use with your, Fashioned out of high quality aluminum, the Zeus ArcPods are designed to hold up to 0.3 grams of dry herb and work perfectly with the. Plan on replacing the anodes at least annually, using the correct alloy: Most pods use aluminum anodes, not zinc. "Cummins says you don't have to haul, but it takes a lot more time to suck that heavy oil out than to just drain it from the bottom," Siebert said. When checking transmission oil level, give it a sniff. Goes without saying: Its got ZF Smart Command 5000 drive-by-wire. Only thing is, outboards burn gas, and more of it than diesels of similar power. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. Finally theres antifoulant for the drive. Over the years, Ive found online forums to be some of the most ready places for first-hand accounts of engine-related problems. Corrosion can cause expensive damage, and quickly, too. Can anyone speak to when there were evolutionary changes in the Zeus pods? Simply pop in a pod and enjoy your herbs. Zincs every year, costing a few bucks, a new Cutless bearing every once in a while, and a couple of brushfuls of paint for the struts and rudders. If that aint enough, Seven Marine builds a 557- or 627-horsepower small-block V-8 configured as an outboard motor. Outboards give you the pod advantage, but without the esoteric technology. Most pod boats burn roughly the same per mile through a wide range of cruising speeds; conventional shaft boats typically have a narrow sweet spot. The noise and smell from a diesel goes away with pods, said Bentley Collins, Sabres vice president of marketing and sales, and with joystick control, you dont have to worry about crashing into the dock.. Down sides were in the San Francisco Bay Area there is only one person that can work on them. I'm concerned that I won't be able to get my hands on a replacement drive if one were to sheer off 5-7 years from now. If the outer seal is damaged by debris, fishing line or rope, only the inner seal separates the pods innards from seawater. Pods have taken certain segments of the cruising-boat market by storm, and now big-game charter captains who were once fixed-shaft aficionados are embracing this new technology. Okay, the last bit is trueas if running over a submerged jetty or grounding hard on a shell bank wouldnt damage conventional props. With it, fingertip operation of any vessel became possible. But pod-drive engines use counter-rotating props. We are not early adopters. How much of the additional initial cost will you get back at trade-in time? We do a lot of high-speed trolling for wahoo at around 16 knots, and all the exhaust is under the water, so you dont smell diesel fumes.. All told, figure $500 per engine annually, plus haul-out fees. The new props dont ventilate, and their position alignment with the keel gave them a decided advantage by leveling the keel on the hole shot. If we have to go searching or put divers in the water, thats another story. To prevent later claims of piracy, come to an agreement beforehand, Little said. You need go no farther than your marina to hear a list of suspects. For a ballpark number, Im deferring to a well-researched article written by our late friend, Capt. To get a good hole shot, Zeus countered with automatic trim tabs and matched the pods with tunnels to reduce draft. The pods synthetic oil is dark, making it hard to see the telltale oil discoloration of a slipping transmission, but it will likely have a burnt smell. The inboard has simplicity and ubiquity. All told, figure $500 per engine annually, plus haul-out fees. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Pods are robust.. I see the cummins split from Zeus around here was not a good thing myself. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. are zeus pods still being manufactured. Sorry, but as an ex-Cummins and Merc dealer, I've lost all faith in the Zeus system. The pods require yearly maint that is beyond what regular trans, shaft and prop systems require. I am liking the Searay 44 Sedan Bridge of the ~2009 vintage as those have QSC500s with conventional drives. Sociability is another huge advantage to pods. Dont compare them to stern drives. There arent many external mechanicals, no rubber bellows or other components to fail, he added. Its better to do it at haulout, when the oil can be drained by gravity, rather than sucking it out with a pump. The first boatbuilders installing pod-drives in the early to mid-2000s werent putting them on sport-fish boats. Our white marlin came in hot on the teasers we fished up close to the boat. In addition, I enjoy the added efficiencies Tony mentions above. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. Each IPS has anodes as well, one up inside the exhaust tunnel (the other is on the transom); both Zeus anodes are on the trim tabs where theyre easy to reach. And with good reasonthese propulsion systems offer several major-league advantages over traditional inboard power, so once a few savvy boaters got their hands on 'em . Im a pessimist, however, and because of this Id budget $3,000, quite an upcharge from just replacing zincs. Much more service options down there. Fuel savings can be weighed against additional maintenance, but economy varies with each boat and depends on how its used. I agree with Rob. (Changing engine oil at least yearly is a good idea, too, even if you dont hit the hour limit.). Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. Weight kills the speed on pod-drives, compared to shaft-drives, Smith says. But how much more, and how complex is pod maintenance? by | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. Disappointing, but then again whens the last time you worked on your car? Volvos Active Corrosion System, which is standard on IPS 800 or larger drives, is similar. Trawlers dont benefit much from pods. The biggest fear boaters have is not about running out in the open water. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Comfort Onboard comfort is improved too. Partly because of their angle of attack and partly because of their slightly forward position under the hull, pods gave more speed, better acceleration and more miles per gallon on the same horsepower. Pods cost more, period. We get a lot of oyster growth inside the drive intakes, Siebert said. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. (Have they also reduced the docking-related divorce rate among powerboating couples? Docking is super easy with joy stick controls. Cleaning also maximizes efficiency of the pods contrarotating propellers. They bite hard and wont let the engine spin up.. They dont cavitate and they dont ventilate. That could make billing a fish tough if you have to strain to reach the water. Zeus service includes changing 0w30 SAE transmission oil, hydraulic steering oil and filters inside the hull as well as 90-weight gear oil outside the hull. I understand in order to get pods cheap they had to use this cardboard-like substance, so seeing how you can't even try to clean it because of the material makes the company seem like they are fishing for my money every month unlike Healthy Rips and Storz and Bickel with their "pods" (IDK what to call them). The Arc GTS is no . Pods are the ne plus ultra of propulsion, but it costs a little extra to keep them spinning. Sabre seems to be moving more and more towards the IPS units over Cummins especially since Cummins and Mercury parted paths several years ago (both still support Zeus drives). Savings on a long haul might disappear when slowing to navigate a tricky channel or speeding up to avoid a storm. The props themselves are patented. Its fun. Using a fresh arcpod lid enables you to visibly see which one of your pods is used and which ones have been depleted. If you get to know these pods and keep regular checks on fluid levels, they will treat you well. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. Using a ZF transmission, it could mate any marine engine (Yanmar and Caterpillar have been popular partners) to its pods. As you will find by reading the articles on this forum about prop load and engine life, the resulting need to swap out your props with the Pods is expensive when compared to regular shafts and props. Weve been serving local Ventura County, California since 1980 as a custom boat builder, repower specialist, designer, and supplier of equipment to builders, commercial fishermen, and recreational users. And, if you preferred to stand, Viking built the helm so you could control the pods with traditional dual levers.. pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . Whats going on here? Caterpillar also offers a pod configuration with its CAT Three60 Pod 650, which is essentially a pod-drive married to a C8.7 engine. Copyright 2023 Marlin Magazine. how to say hello we are blackpink in korean; hawaii energy issues. They also dont have cutlass bearings or shaft seals to monitor and replace, nor separate rudders and steering systems to maintain, saving money on those items over the long haul. Within a year or two, Paul Spencer built a 43-foot express with IPS drives that we fished in a tournament. The ZS-3000 is Snell M2005 certified in the small shell size (XS to M). It seems that the Zeus pods have evolved over the years and later systems are more reliable than earlier ones. There is definitely more maintenance with pods, said John Siebert. When pods vibrate, propellers or jack shaft bearings are the likely causes. My experience is that they will work with their Cummins/Mercury dealers to lend a hand in unusual situations. Most new boats developed in the 35- to 45-foot class were pods. Will Pod-Drives Overtake Conventional Shafts and Struts? Once hes inspected everything and put it all back together, Petzold paints the pod. But conventional wisdom no longer applies. 2023 Active Interest Media All Rights Reserved. While Buckley gets an impressive 50 mph with his pods, quad outboards would likely get another 5 to 10 mph. The New York State Canal is just one of the many great scenic boat trips North America has to offer, and the numerous locks create a lot of tight-quarters maneuvering. Richard estimated an average annual cost of about $2,500 for scheduled maintenance on twin pod drives. Gear, people, supplies, fuel and water lug a boat down, and the more it settles in the water, the more impact it has on your speed. All diesels need TLC, but pod systems need a bit more. Volvo Penta has 16,000 pod-drive boats in the marketplace right now. Units that under our Hassle-Free Warranty program are covered directly by TVAPE and do not require you to deal directly with the manufacturer. Other than checking anodes, Petzold said the most important thing to do is change the fluids per the maintenance schedule, and use the recommended gear oil, or oils. For people who have been boating for 30 years, the quiet, smooth operation and the clean exhaust are really going to surprise them., But Collins thinks the pods advantages are even less quantifiable. Ignore it and you can forget about that edge in fuel efficiency over inboards. The biggest thing marketed to promote the system was its efficiency compared to a regular shaft and prop system, as well as joystick maneuverability. Heck, Mercurys Verado 400R comes with a two-year warranty, even though its got Racing painted on the cowl. But its also highly dependent on the application of the vessel. Petzold said the most common problem he sees with pods is owners not maintaining the corrosion protection. Theyre a whole different animal, Siebert said. There are many factors that go into all of this, not the least of which are service and technical expertise to repair the systems, parts availability and costs for purchase and maintenance. In fact, shafts and struts have been driven through the hull by groundings and collisions with floating debris. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. At Volvo Pentas IPS rollout in Mallorca de Palma, identical inboard and pod-drive boats were pitted against each other. First, hull efficiency was enhanced, because the props were always aligned with the direction of motion in the boat. The performance numbers on the IPS are slightly better. How many buyers do you think reconsider upgrading to pods because of the extra maintenance cost? Thats the environment marine propulsion engineers entered when they envisioned a new pod-drive system, a form of propulsion for boats that could change the way anglers pursue big game. The vaporizers displayed on this website are not intended for or made to prevent, treat or diagnose any illness. I guess you could say I'm a power user that vapes around 1-2 grams a day and after almost a week of use, I'm still on my first ArcPod. Right now, I cant talk anybody who wants pod-drives out of them, says Caterpillars Stephen Smith. Instead, Zeus pods came with traditional aft-facing props and the traditional exhaust-through-hub design. The boat had a set of outriggers, and fishing out of Beaufort, North Carolina, we caught the first billfish ever with an IPS drive system. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. Around here most mercury dealers wont take it on. While builders debated the benefits of the different pod designs, many new boaters were simply seduced by the joystick maneuvering system. However, the 48 Fly is offered with the engine you mention or with the IPS 700. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. Seaboard Marine delivers Guaranteed Better Than Factory Performance, Parts, Design, and Engineering for Cummins and other Marine Diesel applications. Shafts, Props and a good ole thruster or 2 can have you handling your boat like a POD boat. (Its not a bad idea to do the sameminus the sealsfor inboards.). For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. You get a little cavitation but nothing close to the noise from shaft-drives, he says. They said it was so easy a child could do it, and sure enough, it wasnt long before a lad barely out of kindergarten deftly maneuvered a 40-footer into a slip all by himself. Of course neither of these statements is true. Pods also increase fuel economy and decrease vibration. Everyone fears the unknown, especially boaters, many of whom still consider pod drives something alien. I had seen massive tugboats using a similar pod-drive system for their tight-quarters work, pushing huge container ships into the wharf. I am after some of Seaboards famous frank and honest advice: should I run away from pod drives.or go for them if they have a solid maintenance track record which I need to commit to maintaining.or go for them without hesitation because they really are the better technology? We may request cookies to be set on your device. Pods from all manufacturers have proven reliable and trouble-free, when maintained correctly. Some really nice high tech features that most will never use. And the Zeus pods also came with a joystick. is ryan bingham related to ken curtis. So how big is the pod market? But how do you compare boats? Ariel Pared is the president of SeeVee, which has built about 20 Volvo Penta IPS-drive boats. There are many reasons why everyones not on the pod bandwagon. Fashioned out of high quality aluminum, the Zeus ArcPods are designed to hold up to 0.3 grams of dry herb and work perfectly with the Zeus Xtruder which directly connects to, fills up, and automatically ejects the pod once the optimal amount of dry herb has been loaded. Todd Anderson recently ran a 50 Viking powered by ZF 4000 pods. I often hear stories about Mercury paying for expensive replacement parts when their Zeus units need work out of warranty. Thats not me talkingits Bob Petzold, who has as much experience as almost anybody selling, servicing, and repairing pod drives. Also demanding periodic attention are hydraulic steering, transmission, and lower-unit oils. IMO, Zeus, or any POD drive, would not even be a close 2nd. If you lose oil or get water in the lower unit, an alarm will sound before the problem becomes catastrophic, Fessenden said of Cummins drives. Cummins uses aluminum-gallium anodes to best protect bronze drives. Inboards require sacrificial-anode replacement, prop adjustment, cutless bearing repair, shaft alignment, and a method of controlling marine growth. Phone: 1-844-858-8273 Email: [emailprotected].com. KISS Keep It Simple Sailor. Use of Cookies: ZF Friedrichshafen AG uses cookies to continuously improve the website and optimize its design. I stay on top of the maintenance, oil and everything and never had a breakdown., Some people complain about the top-end speed of pods. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. For more information and/or quote, please complete the contact form below. But point and shoot was only part of it; IPS also claimed more speed and better fuel efficiency (the precise amount of each is still up for discussion), and thanks to its aft engine placement, more interior space and lower interior sound levels. Parts for them now have to go through mercury. IPS followed with its own, and ZF ponied one up too. Here at TVAPE we offer free shipping on every order above $100.00 inside Canada and USA. Buckley dismisses the fear of forward-facing props. More interior room? The 390 with Volvo 600 IPS drives was absolutely one of the most fun and outrageous-performing boats I have ever driven. Were still trying to sort through the answer to that one. Zeus Pod Drive Transmissions. Definitely good value for the price and performance these offer. Fortunately the 42 Express cockpit is well laid out for Zeus . A failed shaft seal lets water into the pod, with unfortunate and expensive results. Petzold pulls the props annually to grease the shafts, and to remove any fishing line or other foreign matter on the shaft or wedged into the seal. I am looking for a larger boat in the same size range as you. I liked the ZF right away. It seems like this new tech gadgetry would have been off-putting to the salty captains, and it was, particularly among the sport-fisher crowds, who already had their docking and fish-fighting skills well honed. The transom stays clean and nobody is complaining of fumes.. For the first few years pods appeared mostly on company demo boats tested by magazine writers, and received lots of press coverage, most of it extolling their handling advantages. Unless I lived/boated in the same area where existed the Mecca of Zeus Service Centers (wherever that may be) I would steer clear (no pun intended) . You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. And often, they are recoverable and repairable. Whats another three grand, compared to the cost of a boat big enough and upscale enough for pod drives? Siebert prefers Boeshield T-9. Internal bonding issue and corrosion and a bunch of internal parts had to be changed. However, most sport-fishers rarely operate at wide-open throttle. We have, on occasion, sent oil out with no visible sign of water, but it showed up on the test. Oil analysis is inexpensiveusually under $200and worth doing at every change; finding a bad seal early will save thousands of dollars in repairs. This takes the stress out of dealing with any warranty concerns, if your unit is covered by our Hassle-Free Warranty and has an issue, do not hesitate to contact our customer sales team. Both throttle and steering. Better fuel efficiency? In the past decade, high-tech pod drives have changed the face of powerboating, and for the better. I worked on a boat with Zeus pods for about three years. Are the Zeus drives still being produced today? Short term fun, handling / high end features, and higher speeds vs. shaft drives at the same total (no too heavy) weight Mostly yes to these parameters, ZEUS would come in 1st. With the joystick, my 12-year-old docks the boat.. Hes president of Petzolds Marine Center (petzolds.com) in Portland, Connecticut, a dealer for both Sabre and Regal, two boatbuilders that moved into pods early in the game. I liked the idea of being able to handle the boat from the helm seat instead of standing up all the time. Finger pointing is worse in any situation when it is out of warranty, then you are left on a deserted island. We backed around and spun both ways with speed I have only seen once or twice before. Please note that to purchase a vaporizer from this website you must abide by local laws and be a minimum of 19 years of age. (Depending on the pod, there might be internal anodes, too. Thats pretty good., Buckley also likes the IPS investment and isnt concerned about the sticker shock. You might not think of Cat as a pod company, but since ZF offered its pods to the market, hes helped several manufacturers build ZF or Zeus pod with Caterpillar engines. Cummins expert Rob Mirman gives an overview of the Cummins Zeus pod drive system at the 2013 Miami International Boat Show. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Spencer Yachts builds an 87-footer with ZF pods, and Smith was integral to the development process. The downside is that a boat with less horsepower is more easily burdened by loading the boat. Four different fluids just to service them. For those first 25 hours, we use a break-in lube, said David Fessenden, a marine applications engineer with Cummins Atlantic. He too is in love with the sport-fish mode and its maneuverability. The pods combine transmission, steering, and propulsion that would otherwise entail separate trans, shaft/prop, thrusters, and rudders. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. Sensors and things like that. Then Zeus offered Sky Hook, a station-keeping device that combined data from a GPS and an electronic compass to keep the vessel perfectly still within a yard or two. A frequently overlooked benefit of IPS is this new stateroom, made possible by the compact power installation. are zeus pods still being manufactured. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. You get similar handling advantages to pods, but with less maintenanceand its easy to find a mechanic certified on Yamaha, Evinrude, Mercury, and other brands. In standard shaft and prop boats, props lose their bite in close-quarters maneuvering, Smith says. Inboard fans argue that the pod-drives lack torque. If your zincs are gone, your warranty might be gone too, Siebert said, so all his clients boats with pods are cleaned and checked monthly by a diver.