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. All with a simple push or twist of the joystick. We had a few bugs in my first IPS boat. Yet the pod makers are quickly closing that gap, and captains who have run them for several years indicate that the reliability has been very good. When checking transmission oil level, give it a sniff. The first pod-drive was invented in 1955 and went by the generic name azimuth thruster. They were either diesel- or electric-powered, and some were large enough for a man to walk around inside the machinery housing. Zeus ArcPods - The 3rd Generation of Vaporizers is Here! All up, pod owners can expect to pony up something like an additional $2,500 for scheduled maintenance. So the fact that pod systems are loaded with electronics actually makes them less prone to failureand unfortunately an unfathomable mystery to most mechanics. That boat was an agile-handling rig for sure. 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. For a ballpark number, Im deferring to a well-researched article written by our late friend, Capt. The problem vs. Volvo is that the Zeus Cummins combinations are limited by Cummins engine sizes and that limits them on larger boats. Rob makes a very good point about service network and availability of skill in your intended cruising area. The company has built exactly one 42-footer without pods since, versus a dozen boats with the pods option and another 50 of the new, pod-only 42-footer. Todd pauses thoughtfully before answering: We didnt run into that problem., While nobody can predict the ultimate size of the pod market, as more and more people experience them, the polarity between love and hate is apt to change. Yes they are neat and intriguing as to handling, fuel economy and socialability but all at the price of a steep servicing regiment, a potential for high costs and high stress trying to get the proper qualified servicing or repairs and more computer technology to troubleshoot and stay on top of as to firmware updates, gremlins, etc. How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. The IPS-drives fit well in our boats, and our owners love their maneuverability, Pared says, and he has customers who can back up his word. Petzold said the most common problem he sees with pods is owners not maintaining the corrosion protection. Can anyone speak to when there were evolutionary changes in the Zeus pods? Pods are comprised of some very costly components, but theoretically, their modular design should yield some countervailing savings in labor costs. 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. Ill bet everyone whos read this far is asking, How much does all this cost? Maintaining pods is a lot more involved than maintaining conventional running gear, and therefore more expensive. Featuring a patented design that provides the simplest solution for vaping on the go with your Zeus 3rd generation vaporizer. And often, they are recoverable and repairable. Volvo doesn't offer the option of in-water service. 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. Cabos sport-fisher benefits from Cummins Mercruiser Diesels Zeus drive. 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. Hes also got a lot of applications engineering in his background. (Have they also reduced the docking-related divorce rate among powerboating couples? The first American company to install the Volvo Penta Inboard Performance System was actually Tiara. Diamond Steel > Blog > Uncategorized > are zeus pods still being manufactured. "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. nonprofit grants for financial education; wire harness in solidworks; brooklyn, crime news today; alkaline breakfast smoothie; utsa football national ranking; Although there are claims of 30 percent efficiency gains in cruise and top-end speed as well as fuel savings, the results vary from boat to boat when compared to straight shaft and prop configurations. Its better to do it at haulout, when the oil can be drained by gravity, rather than sucking it out with a pump. These are often second- or third-told tales with a questionable provenance and few verifiable facts. The aft placement of pods has added to usable space on board. It seems that the Zeus pods have evolved over the years and later systems are more reliable than earlier ones. The transmission and steering units are quite robust and I dont expect any serviceability issues from them. Blades, pitch etc Read some of the posting by Tom Bartolomei about what he has been doing with his Sabre to tune the prop sets on his pods. The biggest thing marketed to promote the system was its efficiency compared to a regular shaft and prop system, as well as joystick maneuverability. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. I was surprised by how light and long lasting these were. 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. Running the boat for too long on break-in oil can shorten the life of the pods innards. A failed shaft seal lets water into the pod, with unfortunate and expensive results. 2023 Active Interest Media All Rights Reserved. Controlled at low speeds by a joystick rather than wheel, shifts, and throttles, pods take most of the angst, the apprehension, and, sometimes, the sheer terror out of close-quarters maneuvering. No more packing on the go, just pop in and enjoy. 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. Copyright 2023 Marlin Magazine. A Valid Government issued Identification is required to receive product. Todd Anderson recently ran a 50 Viking powered by ZF 4000 pods. Look for signs of corrosion. Zeus has two zincs attached to each trim tab. Im a pessimist, however, and because of this Id budget $3,000, quite an upcharge from just replacing zincs. 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) . Zeus offers dramatically improved high-speed handling and delivers up to: 30% improved fuel economy 15% faster cruise speed 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. Zeus allows for simple control o. And there are computer-controlled, straight-shaft systems that can juggle shifts, throttles, and a thruster or thrusters with a joystick, too, using traditional split-shift techniques. Controlled at low speeds by a joystick rather than wheel, shifts, and throttles, pods take most of the angst, the apprehension, and, sometimes, the sheer terror out of close-quarters maneuvering. Maybe.) 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. But this was a first for the recreational segment of the marine industry, and there was a lot of buzz and excitement. Featuring a patented design that provides the simplest solution for vaping on the go with your Zeus 3rd generation vaporizer. 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. Allow $450 per IPS pod, $350 per Zeus. Its a whole new world of boathandling out there, one all of us can enjoy. What customers are choosing is maneuverability. I am liking the Searay 44 Sedan Bridge of the ~2009 vintage as those have QSC500s with conventional drives. In fact, shafts and struts have been driven through the hull by groundings and collisions with floating debris. Within a year or two, Paul Spencer built a 43-foot express with IPS drives that we fished in a tournament. Simply pop in a pod and enjoy your herbs. 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. Arrogant factory leadership, poor parts fill, and high parts prices scared me off. For more information and/or quote, please complete the contact form below. 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. Pods run quieter, cleaner, and more efficiently than traditional props. Parts for them now have to go through mercury. Most pods also require periodic removal and inspection of prop sets and seals, and re-greasing of the propshaftsfigure $250 per . Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. Of course neither of these statements is true. If they dont increase the odds of hooking up, who cares? 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. With it, fingertip operation of any vessel became possible. Looking at other online sources, people seem to be in Love or Hate camps.what are the facts please? They dont cavitate and they dont ventilate. 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. Theoretically. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. However, I think the best application I have run to date was a 39-foot SeaVee with pod-drives. Best of the old and the new.maybe. To determine which, run the throttle up slowly on one engine and then the other. Also demanding periodic attention are hydraulic steering, transmission, and lower-unit oils. 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. Its also important to monitor for seawater dripping onto drives. ZF Marine entered the pod fray when its exclusivity agreement with Zeus expired. Stephen Smith is the southwest sales representative for Caterpillar. Cummins uses aluminum-gallium anodes to best protect bronze drives. 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. Its also hard to put a price on joystick control, which completely changes dockside handling. Most new boats developed in the 35- to 45-foot class were pods. Volvo uses SAE 75w140 oil for both the transmission and lower unit. 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. Cummins Marine Diesel Repower Specialists Forums Cummins Marine Engines Zeus Pods: Good, Bad, Ugly?? FREE shipping on orders of $100.00 and above. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. There is definitely more maintenance with pods, said John Siebert. Thats not me talkingits Bob Petzold, who has as much experience as almost anybody selling, servicing, and repairing pod drives. 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. are zeus pods still being manufactured. Is there some X Factor or Factors that negates the pods proven advantages? Re IPS: Volvo is well regarded for their innovations with IPS. 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. Comfort Onboard comfort is improved too. He too is in love with the sport-fish mode and its maneuverability. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Sorry, but as an ex-Cummins and Merc dealer, I've lost all faith in the Zeus system. 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. 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. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery, Zeus ArcPods are finally here! Then realized it was a conversation which I figured was private so I reposted here. Pods from all manufacturers have proven reliable and trouble-free, when maintained correctly. Siebert removes all loose paint from the drive, sanding down to shiny metal with 100-grit sandpaper, and then applies primer and two thin coats of Trilux 33 or Pettit Vivid copper thiocyanate anti-fouling paint. 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. And often, pods do have less torque than shaft-driven boats. One drive had a. Pods are the ne plus ultra of propulsion, but it costs a little extra to keep them spinning. Also demanding periodic attention are hydraulic steering, transmission, and lower-unit oils. Id guess none. Add to Cart. Not on the pods. Then forward-thinking builders (Tiara, Cruisers, Regal, and Sabre among them) redesigned their boats for pod power and the technology became mainstream. Dont cheap out on anodes, Petzold advised. For nearly a decade, pod propulsion looked like it would render inboards obsolete. Over the years, Ive found online forums to be some of the most ready places for first-hand accounts of engine-related problems. A little cheaper because it was in SoCal. We only go around once anyway, so pay the money, grab the joystick, and have some angst-free enjoyment. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. 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. Your are officially the first one to publish 4o% percent efficiency benefits for pods. Pods are robust.. I agree with Rob. But pods makers thought just a few years ago that one limiting factor of the pod market is speed. Four different fluids just to service them. Inboards require sacrificial-anode replacement, prop adjustment, cutless bearing repair, shaft alignment, and a method of controlling marine growth. 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. The inboard has simplicity and ubiquity. Review Images (jpg, jpeg, png) Max 3MB file size allowed. 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. Having the ability to move sideways, spin and dock raises the comfort level, especially for an inexperienced boater who wants to weekend but doesnt want to train on an 18-foot vessel, Meissner says. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . One described his skepticism like this: Its just too good to be true. The props themselves are patented. ZF also built far larger pods that could handle far more horsepower. A Bonnier LLC Company. Weight kills the speed on pod-drives, compared to shaft-drives, Smith says. We didnt have to touch it until we got back to San Diego.). Each pod turns independently of the other, giving remarkable maneuverability. That means a haulout to remove the break-in lube and replace it with the normal lubricant. 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. Internal bonding issue and corrosion and a bunch of internal parts had to be changed. Superior to bow thrusters, which can drain your battery and leave you stranded - Zeus Joystick Piloting for Pods is integrated with the pod drives, without relying on battery power. But its also highly dependent on the application of the vessel. 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. Plus factors and quiet fuel efficient. We are not early adopters. Charleston. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. Caterpillar also offers a pod configuration with its CAT Three60 Pod 650, which is essentially a pod-drive married to a C8.7 engine. The counter-rotating propellers and large rubber grommets the engine is mounted on means reduced vibration and engine noise. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Zeus and ZF have only a few thousand pods in use. It gets all the bubbles out of the wake, he says. IPS followed with its own, and ZF ponied one up too. That gives customers a stronger comfort level than an offshore service hotline.. Autor de l'entrada Per ; Data de l'entrada ice detention center colorado; https nhs vc hh cardiac surgery a are zeus pods still being manufactured a are zeus pods still being manufactured Martin Meissner of ZF Marine says engine makers still dont have a handle on the potential volume. Here at TVAPE we offer free shipping on every order above $100.00 inside Canada and USA.