. Its docking. If I could afford em, Id get em. International service is also a concern for pods. Today, pod-powered boats are common in any yacht yard, and qualified service and repair technicians are easy to find along the waterfront. The tank has a 24mm diameter (0.94 inches) and measures 50.5mm tall (2 inches tall). x 33 ft.), SMX Bronze Freshwater Flush Cap for Groco ARG Series Strainers, Bronze Tee Adapter and Freshwater Flush System, Military Style Top Post Battery Terminals, Heavy Duty Marine Grade 316L Stainless Steel Washers, Cummins Marine Diamond Performance Series Engine Sticker, ZF Marine Transmission Sales & Current Inventory, ZF 45-85 A/IV Shift & Troll Cable Bracket, ZF Marine Transmission Oil Drain Line Kit, Suredrive Coupling for Borg Warner & ZF 220A, Suredrive Coupling for ZF 301 & 302 VLD/IV with Vulkan L, Marine Flex Plate (Velvet Drive, SAE 11.5), Vulkan Vulkardan-E (2K3411S004) SAE No. Nevertheless, pods are making inroads. Okay, the last bit is trueas if running over a submerged jetty or grounding hard on a shell bank wouldnt damage conventional props. Were still trying to sort through the answer to that one. For more information and/or quote, please complete the contact form below. The pods require yearly maint that is beyond what regular trans, shaft and prop systems require. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. When a 42-foot pod boat can replace a 46-footer, savings add up fast. Pods operate independently of one another to provide vectored thrust in any direction, which makes the vessel incredibly maneuverable. Then with the joystick, it directs the transmissions to pivot or swivel. Most pods require service after a short break-in period at 25 hours or so. Using a ZF transmission, it could mate any marine engine (Yanmar and Caterpillar have been popular partners) to its pods. Thats not me talkingits Bob Petzold, who has as much experience as almost anybody selling, servicing, and repairing pod drives. (Stranded in Guaymas, Mexico, I watched a guy true up a dinged prop using just a single jack and anvil. Savings on a long haul might disappear when slowing to navigate a tricky channel or speeding up to avoid a storm. Sociability is another huge advantage to pods. For those first 25 hours, we use a break-in lube, said David Fessenden, a marine applications engineer with Cummins Atlantic. However, I think the best application I have run to date was a 39-foot SeaVee with pod-drives. Nor did I want to. Great Product. Can anyone speak to when there were evolutionary changes in the Zeus pods? Sea Ray sells the 460 Sundancer with twin 550-horsepower Cummins diesels, with either V-drive or Zeus drives; the Zeus option adds $113,333 to the $1,004,768 price, according to Sea Ray. With the joystick, my 12-year-old docks the boat.. . 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. What customers are choosing is maneuverability. Zeus Transmissions are available at ZF Marine! Controlling wind, waves and current. Pod performance has inspired outboard and stern-drive builders to develop similar control systems that can be retrofitted to existing boats, something not practical with pods. However, the 48 Fly is offered with the engine you mention or with the IPS 700. 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. Over the years, Ive found online forums to be some of the most ready places for first-hand accounts of engine-related problems. Featuring a patented design that provides the simplest solution for vaping on the go with your Zeus 3rd generation vaporizer. Pods are something new, he said. In the past decade, high-tech pod drives have changed the face of powerboating, and for the better. (I know you're supposed to replace each use for both the other companies, but it is possible to get more than one sesh out of each pod). 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. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine. 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. A Bonnier LLC Company. 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. In addition, I enjoy the added efficiencies Tony mentions above. Spencer Yachts was one of the first to embrace pod-drives, including Volvo Pentas IPS and ZF Marines pod-drive system with Caterpillar engines. Robin Buckley captains a SeeVee 39 with IPS 600s, named Kimbuktu. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. Estimating the yearly cost isnt easy either, since yard rates vary and some pods need more upkeep than others. Finger pointing is worse in any situation when it is out of warranty, then you are left on a deserted island. Theyre a whole different animal, Siebert said. You cant take the grate off to clean or paint in there. His solution is to spray Interlux Trilux 33 or Pettit Alumaspray Plus from aerosol cans inside the seawater intakes. With IPS Ill run out to the Corner and fish the tide for wahoo, then head over to Gingerbread and get some yelloweye before heading home. More interior room? I love these things, they are super convenient to load, insert, and clean. We only go around once anyway, so pay the money, grab the joystick, and have some angst-free enjoyment. All told, figure $500 per engine annually, plus haul-out fees. (Depending on the pod, there might be internal anodes, too. Theoretically. The ZS-3000 is Snell M2005 certified in the small shell size (XS to M). ZF Marine entered the pod fray when its exclusivity agreement with Zeus expired. 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 . 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. At first no one trusted them; now you can hardly sell a car without one.. Petzold said the most common problem he sees with pods is owners not maintaining the corrosion protection. Not on the pods. Simply pop in a pod and enjoy your herbs. Shafts, Props and a good ole thruster or 2 can have you handling your boat like a POD boat. They have shafts, they have props, and they can get more if they need them. Theyre the cleanest-burning motors Ive experienced. Check the condition of the seals by inspecting the drained oil for water; the best way is to have the oil analyzed, said Petzold. We back it up with a concierge service. On the other hand, touching bottom only hard enough to bend the propellers will likely cost more on pods, because they have two props to repair on each drive. All with a simple push or twist of the joystick. Rob makes a very good point about service network and availability of skill in your intended cruising area. Whether you have pods or conventional props, if your anodes have short life spans, have a pro check for stray current, problems with the marinas shore power, etc. 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. 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. I am on the East Coast. Plan on replacing the anodes at least annually, using the correct alloy: Most pods use aluminum anodes, not zinc. The Zeus system propellers are on the back of the pods, as opposed to the Volvo IPS, which are on the front. I rarely say this but if your dead set on a pod option I would put Volvos in. Unless you get the boat at a knock-down price, I mean really low, I wouldn't touch one without a full service history or a late model. The bill to undo the resulting carnage came to $46,000, a figure that couldnt have been much worse if pods had been involved.). The other issue was when the owner sold the boat they did a oil sample and found water and both lower units had to be resealed and a main shaft had to be changed. To determine which, run the throttle up slowly on one engine and then the other. 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. Id guess none. maritime ships for sale near vienna; octagon mirror feng shui; does zwift work with proform How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. Zeus ArcPods - The 3rd Generation of Vaporizers is Here! These versatile drive systems are not as popular as once thought. Cummins Marine Diesel Repower Specialists Forums Cummins Marine Engines Zeus Pods: Good, Bad, Ugly?? 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. Most yards will repaint a pod for $300. Prior to heading out with the boat, there was a lot of talk on the dock about whether the new drives would raise fish or scare them away. I am looking for a larger boat in the same size range as you. are zeus pods still being manufactured. 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. Like most everything, making the decision to go conventional or pod is a personal choice. The Arc GTS is no . The owner of the boat spent almost 40k on the drives themselves and they were just under 8 years old. ZF Marine entered the pod fray when its exclusivity agreement with Zeus expired. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. (Volvo Penta soon followed suit.) Also, you dont know how often the shaft seals will need replacement. The 42 Convertible is up to Hull number 10 but we are up to 36 hulls for the Open version, he says. 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.. To me the unit as a whole is way to complex than it needs to be. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. 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. Volvo Penta officially introduced IPS (Inboard Performance System) pod drives at the 2005 Miami Boat Show; Cummins and ZF Marine followed, one and four years later, with their own versions. One benefit of pod drives is joystick maneuverability. But its also highly dependent on the application of the vessel. If one engine vibrates but the other doesnt while in neutral, the problem is likely in the always-turning jack shaft. I can do a 180 in about a second and a half. Cummins says you dont 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. Arrogant factory leadership, poor parts fill, and high parts prices scared me off. 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. 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. Are there particular production years that performed better than others. The transom stays clean and nobody is complaining of fumes.. 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? Like was said before I mirror there thoughts. 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. Goes without saying: Its got ZF Smart Command 5000 drive-by-wire. While there has not been a flood of acceptance in the sport-fishing market for pod-drives, the cruising market has seen a larger number of owners making the transition away from conventional shaft-and-wheel boats. Most pods also require periodic removal and inspection of prop sets and seals, and re-greasing of the propshaftsfigure $250 per . On the Cummins side, only two Cummins dealers on the Chesapeake have been to Pod school. I simulated backing through a slalom course in reverse, moving faster than any angler could ever gain line. 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. If you dont like the look of outboards, hide em, like Pursuit does in its SC 365i Sport Coupe, with twin outboards concealed by a transom hatch. If water is suspected inside any pod, get a mechanic aboard right away or risk internal damage. Being new to power boating, I selected this configuration for ease of docking and it has been fabulous. It gets all the bubbles out of the wake, he says. Inboards require sacrificial-anode replacement, prop adjustment, cutless bearing repair, shaft alignment, and a method of controlling marine growth. In the beginning of pod development, there was a huge surge of interest. Pods also expand morning fluid checks to include the lazarette. But now thats all gone away. Those anodes shouldnt dissolve like zincs do, but both systems should be checked annually. His experience tells him a similar grounding with conventional shafts would have been much worse, perhaps even damaging rudder or strut supports badly enough to flood the boat. 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. You must be at least 19 years from Canada and 21 years from USA to buy and/or use this website. A frequently overlooked benefit of IPS is this new stateroom, made possible by the compact power installation. I am looking for one that has been treated well and run as close to the ideal as possible. There support network is much better and to me is a better product. Look for signs of corrosion. Zeus has two zincs attached to each trim tab. Stephen Smith is the southwest sales representative for Caterpillar. To get a good hole shot, Zeus countered with automatic trim tabs and matched the pods with tunnels to reduce draft. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. And hitting something hard at speed would strip the pods off the bottom as neat as you please. All in all saves a lot of cleaning hassle and maintenance costs- cleaning is primarily focused on the mouthpiece and associated parts with a quick wipe of the chamber. IMO, Zeus, or any POD drive, would not even be a close 2nd. (Volvo Penta soon followed suit.). Eager to fish with them, I was along with Ed Szilagyi, then Volvos boatbuilder installation liaison and company captain, on that same Tiara demo. Its also hard to put a price on joystick control, which completely changes dockside handling. Fuel savings can be weighed against additional maintenance, but economy varies with each boat and depends on how its used. Big-game fishing is a pursuit rife with tradition and time-proven tactics. If the outer seal is damaged by debris, fishing line or rope, only the inner seal separates the pods innards from seawater. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. Heck, Mercurys Verado 400R comes with a two-year warranty, even though its got Racing painted on the cowl. Ask to see the service records for the boats first year. Sophisticated diagnostics go with every engine now. We created Lids for you to reuse your Aluminum ArcPods. But not many boat owners ponied up the cash to switch to pods. The lower units (gear housing) will need to be resealed and I expect to have to do this every 5 years or so. Cummins expert Rob Mirman gives an overview of the Cummins Zeus pod drive system at the 2013 Miami International Boat Show. It wasnt so long ago that a pair of 250-horsepower outboards was as much power as any non-raceboater could hang on the stern. Still, many boaters werent convinced. Check them just like you check zincs on a shaft, Petzold said: Swim down and have a look. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Most new boats developed in the 35- to 45-foot class were pods. . There are a lot of traditionalists in that market.. And maneuverabilitywell, any good sportfishing captain can put his ride wherever he wantswithout a joystick. Pod drives, including the Volvo Penta IPS, Cummins Zeus, ZF Marine POD 4000, and CAT Three60 POD 650 have taken the recreational boat market by storm during the recent past. Indeed, were approaching if you have to ask territory here, and although a magazine writer like myself has about as much chance of buying a pod-driven anything as he does scoring a date with Sofia Vergara, I still think the benefits of pods far outweigh the extra initial and maintenance costs. The 390 with Volvo 600 IPS drives was absolutely one of the most fun and outrageous-performing boats I have ever driven. Seaboard Marine delivers Guaranteed Better Than Factory Performance, Parts, Design, and Engineering for Cummins and other Marine Diesel applications. No more packing on the go, just pop in and enjoy. (Do the same with outboards and stern drives.) With the pods, there is only a very slight, nearly unnoticeable change in the amount of flavor in the vapor, but it's a very small trade-off for the level of convenience that they deliver. Its a whole new world of boathandling out there, one all of us can enjoy. Just add a bracket and bolt them on, install the digital controls and joystick and youre set. Click on the different category headings to find out more. (A complete maintenance schedule, including annual and longer-term items, is in the owners manual, so pay attention to it.). All my personal experience to date is with 6BTA 370s in a conventional shaft drive arrangement. And, if you preferred to stand, Viking built the helm so you could control the pods with traditional dual levers.. A very hard grounding is also likely to cost less with pods, since theyre meant to shear off and then go right back onto the boat with just a thorough service and new bolts. Youre going to ruin more with a straight shaft than with IPS.. Outboards are, in my opinion, the most interesting. Using a ZF transmission, it could mate any marine engine (Yanmar and Caterpillar have been popular partners) to its pods. It turns out that if I went with the new Cummins 550s and straight shafts, the IPS is a little cheaper., Sport-fish mode. Whats going on here? To start with, Zeus and IPS boats have to be hauled after their first 25 engine-hours. 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. Joystick control? Marlin Magazine may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. Yet catastrophic groundings are rare for all boats, although again, the financial consequences for the pod owner are usually steeper. As one broker told me, Its like automatic transmissions. When pods shear off, their recovery might cost a huge percentage of their value. are zeus pods still being manufacturedbest air quality cities in arizona 27 avril 2022. are zeus pods still being manufacturedaluminum upright bass for sale 16 avril 2022; are zeus pods still being manufacturedwooden postcard postage 24 mars 2022; Pods cost more, period. Grant Bentley captains Home Run, a 60-foot Spencer. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. We didnt have to touch it until we got back to San Diego.). One hardly noticed the greatest benefit to the end user: The engine systems were so compact, many boats could gain an aft cabin or at least a sleeping berth where diesel engines once thrummed away. 2023 Active Interest Media All Rights Reserved. ArcPods were made to be reliable and convenient, allowing you to pre-pack up to 0.3 grams of dry herb in each capsule using the Xtruder. Outboards are easy. Our drives are made to stand up to a light freshwater rinse, Fessenden said, but dont blast them with the hose. Fessenden suggests a light coating of Mercurys corrosion spray. Cleaning also maximizes efficiency of the pods contrarotating propellers. A failed shaft seal lets water into the pod, with unfortunate and expensive results. by | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo You get a little cavitation but nothing close to the noise from shaft-drives, he says. I liked the ZF right away. Martin Meissner of ZF Marine says engine makers still dont have a handle on the potential volume. are zeus pods still being manufactured. Anderson acknowledges that pods have advantages in some areas and disadvantages in others. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Sensors and things like that. If one engine vibrates in gear and the other doesnt, its probably caused by fouled or damaged props. Then forward-thinking builders (Tiara, Cruisers, Regal, and Sabre among them) redesigned their boats for pod power and the technology became mainstream. 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. Pods, on the other hand, need annual TLC, and this means skilled work. Its important to maintain good antifouling. Pods have water intakes, exhausts and other places that are inviting to marine critters, and keeping them out is important. We have a strong global network, says Robert Mirman of Cummins, who leads the charge for Zeus. Watch on Description Patented and designed for use with 3rd generation vaporizers such as the Zeus Arc GTS and Arc S, Zeus ArcPods make it easier and more convenient than ever to take your vaporizer and herb with you. The transmission and steering units are quite robust and I dont expect any serviceability issues from them. Instead, Zeus pods came with traditional aft-facing props and the traditional exhaust-through-hub design. The counter-rotating propellers and large rubber grommets the engine is mounted on means reduced vibration and engine noise. In many ways, fishermen a nongendered term that embraces both sexes trust what weve learned over decades of personal experience and the experience of our mentors. Neither Health Canada nor the FDA have evaluated the vaporizers, blends and/or statements displayed on this website. Its more maneuverable than an outboard, and you dont have any engines on the back.. By using a vaporizer, you understand that inhalation is inadvisable as it may be harmful, and use of a vaporizer is done at your own risk. Volvo Penta has 16,000 pod-drive boats in the marketplace right now. But conventional wisdom no longer applies. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. Sabre Yachts, for example, first offered pods in 2008 as an option over straight shafts in the 42-foot express cruiser. If so, does anyone know whether they will continue to produce replacement drives/parts? Disappointing, but then again whens the last time you worked on your car? Part of that comes as a side effect to the benefits of the props angle of attack. I agree with Rob. With quad outboards, Id get about 0.7 miles per gallon. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. I have personally ruled out any boat with PODS, IPS or ZEUS, for those 2 main reasons. And often, pods do have less torque than shaft-driven boats. Hes also found them to be extremely reliable. Today electronics are inextricably entwined with every aspect of our lives, and whether its commercial jet engines, cars, home appliances, or chartplotters, we expect and receive virtually bulletproof reliability. Our white marlin came in hot on the teasers we fished up close to the boat. All diesels need TLC, but pod systems need a bit more. The biggest difference between IPS's and Zeus pods is the position of the propeller. I had SeaVee owner Ariel Pared with me when we pulled away from the dock sideways, crabbing away briskly from our side-to moor. But how much more, and how complex is pod maintenance? pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . Also demanding periodic attention are hydraulic steering, transmission, and lower-unit oils. Bottom Line. Naval architects have also gotten better at maximizing the efficiencies of pods at all speeds. But downward-pointing conventional shafts lift sterns, negating, or even reversing, that fuel-economy advantage at slower speeds (0.92 nmg shafts @ 15.9 kts. 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. When checking transmission oil level, give it a sniff. While builders debated the benefits of the different pod designs, many new boaters were simply seduced by the joystick maneuvering system. Thats not chump change, but neither is it likely to produce heart palpitations in the owner of a million-dollar vessel. Zeus Pods need to be placed within a specific distance from the transom for a lot of performance reasons and because they include the automatic trim tabs as part of their standard offering. Ariel Pared is the president of SeeVee, which has built about 20 Volvo Penta IPS-drive boats. Marlin Magazine may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. Simply pop in a pod and enjoy your herbs. 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) . Its the joystick maneuvering system that sells it. Charleston. The engines are in their normal spot, but then you jackshaft to pods, so you lose space in the lazarette, he says. However, the patent on forward-facing props a feature that Volvo Penta claims gives its drives better traction by letting the broad blades and narrow hubs of their counter-rotating props turn in clean water well below the surface was not utilized. I opted to avoid Volvo as my experience with them as a car dealer was poor. lost surfboards santa cruz. As we have seen many times with sailfish, I am certain one of the marlin swam along with us between the teaser and the boat, looking at the wheels and not at the bait we had moved into position to switch him over to. If you arent happy with the local dealer, you can call the concierge and get a tech in Tennessee. We get a lot of oyster growth inside the drive intakes, Siebert said. I want to comment on how well Mercury backs their products. You put it in sport fish, and it locks the pods in opposite directions. 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. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. Instead of having to jog throttles and shift levers to effect a maneuver, simply push, pull or twist the joystick and the boat follows the -directions, pivoting in place or crabbing sideways say, into a slip thats just long enough to fit your vessel. Add to Cart. Internal bonding issue and corrosion and a bunch of internal parts had to be changed. Its also important to monitor for seawater dripping onto drives. We had a few bugs in my first IPS boat. The Zeus ArcPods are the convenient method of preparing, loading, and transporting your dry herb for use with your Zeus Arc GTS or Arc S vaporizer. Along with Volvo, who now makes the IPS drives from 260 to 1,000 hp, Cummins and MerCruiser partnered to join the fray with their Zeus pod-drive system, complete with SmartCraft monitoring and system management that integrates the vessels electronics, propulsion and onboard systems. vs. 0.8 nmg pods @ 16.2 kts.). Its like a carnival ride. You must be logged in to reply to this topic. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance.