Its also important to monitor for seawater dripping onto drives. Use Volvo or Cummins zincs too, which arent zinc at all. Read the owners manual.) 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. But how much more, and how complex is pod maintenance? The ZEUS ArcPods have hit the 2022 market. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Over the years, Ive found online forums to be some of the most ready places for first-hand accounts of engine-related problems. is ryan bingham related to ken curtis. And while its hard to nail down the amount of that fuel-efficiency edge, everyone agrees it does exist and can compensate you for at least some of the additional maintenance costs. So the fact that pod systems are loaded with electronics actually makes them less prone to failureand unfortunately an unfathomable mystery to most mechanics. 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. And, if you preferred to stand, Viking built the helm so you could control the pods with traditional dual levers.. Sorry, but as an ex-Cummins and Merc dealer, I've lost all faith in the Zeus system. 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. Alas, the fact that electronics dont respond well to brute force may mean some service challenges, at least in the short term, which is why long-distance cruisers have, as a group, been wary of pods. The bottom line is, while pods are difficult or in many cases impossible to retrofit, the boat really has to be designed for the pod from the beginning, although some V- and stern-drive boats can handle pods, too. The biggest difference between IPS's and Zeus pods is the position of the propeller. Your are officially the first one to publish 4o% percent efficiency benefits for pods. I can do that on 200 gallons. 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. On the Cummins side, only two Cummins dealers on the Chesapeake have been to Pod school. Inboard fans argue that the pod-drives lack torque. 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. Pods from all manufacturers have proven reliable and trouble-free, when maintained correctly. Sounds like another good option to me. 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. Better fuel efficiency? By turning pods in opposite directions and running one in forward and one in reverse, the vessel can be pivoted more quickly and easily than in either outboards or inboards. All up, pod owners can expect to pony up something like an additional $2,500 for scheduled maintenance. Sophisticated diagnostics go with every engine now. Zirk fittings require grease in U-joints and at both ends of jack shafts that connect engines to drives. When you put a pod system in, you try to do more with less.. These versatile drive systems are not as popular as once thought. 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And maneuverabilitywell, any good sportfishing captain can put his ride wherever he wantswithout a joystick. 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). Inboard props slip in both forward and reverse. I simulated backing through a slalom course in reverse, moving faster than any angler could ever gain line. There are many reasons why everyones not on the pod bandwagon. Whats going on here? 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. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. No thrusters are required, saving more cash. How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. They have shafts, they have props, and they can get more if they need them. how to say hello we are blackpink in korean; hawaii energy issues. Using a ZF transmission, it could mate any marine engine (Yanmar and Caterpillar have been popular partners) to its pods. ZF also built far larger pods that could handle far more horsepower. Savings on a long haul might disappear when slowing to navigate a tricky channel or speeding up to avoid a storm. If I could afford em, Id get em. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. Pull into any port in the world, and theres probably a guy there who can fix it. Ignore it and you can forget about that edge in fuel efficiency over inboards. One described his skepticism like this: Its just too good to be true. Zeus ArcPods Lid pack filled with 50 paper lids for the Zeus ArcPods (sold separately). But now thats all gone away. First, hull efficiency was enhanced, because the props were always aligned with the direction of motion in the boat. At first no one trusted them; now you can hardly sell a car without one.. Months later, Mercruiser and Cummins joined forces to deliver Zeus pod-drives to boaters. Regardless of prop orientation, the first drives were a far cry from the watchlike beauties brought forth by Volvo Penta and, later, Zeus and ZF Marine. After the tests in Sweden, I then did a leg of the trip on that first Tiara Volvo demo boat, heading west in the New York State Canal from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes. 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. Arrogant factory leadership, poor parts fill, and high parts prices scared me off. Hes also got a lot of applications engineering in his background. Painting pods will cost a bit more too. Each pod turns independently of the other, giving remarkable maneuverability. Im a pessimist, however, and because of this Id budget $3,000, quite an upcharge from just replacing zincs. The 42 Convertible is up to Hull number 10 but we are up to 36 hulls for the Open version, he says. 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. Check the condition of the seals by inspecting the drained oil for water; the best way is to have the oil analyzed, said Petzold. 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 . Of course neither of these statements is true. Sacrificial anode maintenance is both cheap and easily performed by the average inboard boat owner. So how big is the pod market? (Power & Motoryacht once had a company boat powered by inboards with which the publisher at the time rammed a sunken fuel barge at a healthy clip. With SmartCraft innovation throughout, Zeus provides a seamless approach to propulsion technology, marine electronics, and on-board information management that makes boating safer and more enjoyable than ever. Zeus offers dramatically improved high-speed handling and delivers up to: 30% improved fuel economy 15% faster cruise speed Four different fluids just to service them. But not many boat owners ponied up the cash to switch to pods. Once offshore, I spun the boat in a complete 360-degree rotation on its own axis in less than 14 seconds. Within a year or two, Paul Spencer built a 43-foot express with IPS drives that we fished in a tournament. Pods have been pretty darn foolproof, he said. Featuring a patented design that provides the simplest solution for vaping on the go with your Zeus 3rd generation vaporizer. Outboards are easy. Thats opened up more opportunities and options for OEMS.. Initially, I too was surprised at the lack of trained techs in my area but once I realized you can use Mercury techs that have been to Mercury Diesel school, more options opened up. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. There is definitely more maintenance with pods, said John Siebert. I rarely say this but if your dead set on a pod option I would put Volvos in. Capt. Re IPS: Volvo is well regarded for their innovations with IPS. The owner of the boat spent almost 40k on the drives themselves and they were just under 8 years old. Its fun. 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. I have personally ruled out any boat with PODS, IPS or ZEUS, for those 2 main reasons. But how do you compare boats? are zeus pods still being manufactured. The sport-fishing world has seen builders such as Spencer and Winter Custom Yachts introduce several pod boats. If so, does anyone know whether they will continue to produce replacement drives/parts? In fact, shafts and struts have been driven through the hull by groundings and collisions with floating debris. All my personal experience to date is with 6BTA 370s in a conventional shaft drive arrangement. You put it in sport fish, and it locks the pods in opposite directions. When checking transmission oil level, give it a sniff. pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . Theyre the cleanest-burning motors Ive experienced. Thanks to all.just the practical advice I was looking for. Today, 250s are middle of the road: Triple and quad 300s are common, and 400s built for everyday use are available, too. Then with the joystick, it directs the transmissions to pivot or swivel. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Inboards require sacrificial-anode replacement, prop adjustment, cutless bearing repair, shaft alignment, and a method of controlling marine growth. 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. (Do the same with outboards and stern drives.) That gives customers a stronger comfort level than an offshore service hotline.. The pod-drive boats were clearly more maneuverable and accelerated more quickly than strut, shaft and -prop-drive inboards. They tasked ZF Marine to bring them a transmission that would mate with their Zeus pod, electronic controls and joystick steering. In standard shaft and prop boats, props lose their bite in close-quarters maneuvering, Smith says. 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. Cabos sport-fisher benefits from Cummins Mercruiser Diesels Zeus drive. 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. That said, I have heard good things. Here are both performance charts. Sabre Yachts, for example, first offered pods in 2008 as an option over straight shafts in the 42-foot express cruiser. And the Zeus pods also came with a joystick. But now that both Volvo Inboard Propulsion System and Cummins MerCruiser Zeus drives have been spinning beneath boats for more than five years, its time to assess the cost of ownership of pods versus conventional shafts. 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. Then realized it was a conversation which I figured was private so I reposted here. In the beginning of pod development, there was a huge surge of interest. If one engine vibrates in gear and the other doesnt, its probably caused by fouled or damaged props. And if you have to ask about price, you really dont need one. And what of resale? Eager to fish with them, I was along with Ed Szilagyi, then Volvos boatbuilder installation liaison and company captain, on that same Tiara demo. The props themselves are patented. A Bonnier LLC Company. More interior room? And hitting something hard at speed would strip the pods off the bottom as neat as you please. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. 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. Not on the pods. Okay, the last bit is trueas if running over a submerged jetty or grounding hard on a shell bank wouldnt damage conventional props. ZF Marine entered the pod fray when its exclusivity agreement with Zeus expired. Reply To: Cummins QSB Low Battery ECM Voltage, Marine Age the REAL age of a Marine Diesel Engine, Propellers Move Boats, Engines Just Turn Them, Everything you Need to Know About Marine Exhaust Systems, Continuous Duty A Different Perspective, This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated. Also demanding periodic attention are hydraulic steering, transmission, and lower-unit oils. But then outboards are more powerful and more economical than ever. To get a good hole shot, Zeus countered with automatic trim tabs and matched the pods with tunnels to reduce draft. Id guess none. Phone: 1-844-858-8273 Email: [emailprotected].com. Big-game fishing is a pursuit rife with tradition and time-proven tactics. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. 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. 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. When a 42-foot pod boat can replace a 46-footer, savings add up fast. 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. The pods combine transmission, steering, and propulsion that would otherwise entail separate trans, shaft/prop, thrusters, and rudders. Some really nice high tech features that most will never use. Buckley dismisses the fear of forward-facing props. Wouldnt accommodations be the more relevant yardstick? Finally theres antifoulant for the drive. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. And once the numbers are crunched, are pods worth it? His company, Siebert Yacht Management commissions and maintains most new Sabre boats delivered to Palm Beach County, Florida, giving him considerable experience with Volvo IPS drives on Sabres 38- and 54-foot models and with Cummins Zeus drives on Sabres 42- and 48-footers, as well as those same hulls with conventional shafts. Copyright 2023 Marlin Magazine. Its like a carnival ride. They bite hard and wont let the engine spin up.. I liked the ZF right away. Volvo Penta introduced the first pod-drive system in 2004. Volvo includes neither a water alarm nor a clear reservoir, so check the single transmission and gear oil dipstick for signs of water. Fuel savings can be weighed against additional maintenance, but economy varies with each boat and depends on how its used. Thats pretty good., Buckley also likes the IPS investment and isnt concerned about the sticker shock. Zeus ArcPods - The 3rd Generation of Vaporizers is Here! Around here most mercury dealers wont take it on. 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 vessel's electronics, propulsion and onboard systems. Featuring a patented design that provides the simplest solution for vaping on the go with your Zeus 3rd generation vaporizer. Everyone fears the unknown, especially boaters, many of whom still consider pod drives something alien. You can also change some of your preferences. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. 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. 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. The tank has a 24mm diameter (0.94 inches) and measures 50.5mm tall (2 inches tall). I want to comment on how well Mercury backs their products. Zeus allows for simple control o. If you arent happy with the local dealer, you can call the concierge and get a tech in Tennessee. The 390 with Volvo 600 IPS drives was absolutely one of the most fun and outrageous-performing boats I have ever driven. Both throttle and steering. When you back down an inboard, the rudder posts start vibrating, and the boat sounds like its coming apart. This is our premium store warranty and only select units are covered under this program. Our white marlin came in hot on the teasers we fished up close to the boat. Pod access aboard the Riviera 43 is through the cockpit sole. 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. IMO, Zeus, or any POD drive, would not even be a close 2nd. 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. Caterpillar also offers a pod configuration with its CAT Three60 Pod 650, which is essentially a pod-drive married to a C8.7 engine. 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. I often hear stories about Mercury paying for expensive replacement parts when their Zeus units need work out of warranty. 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. The transom stays clean and nobody is complaining of fumes.. I had one of the first triple-outboard SeeVees made, but I was sick of buying the gas, and Ariel was gonna try the IPS.