Eager to fish with them, I was along with Ed Szilagyi, then Volvos boatbuilder installation liaison and company captain, on that same Tiara demo. Were still trying to sort through the answer to that one. Ariel Pared is the president of SeeVee, which has built about 20 Volvo Penta IPS-drive boats. But the rest? Check them just like you check zincs on a shaft, Petzold said: Swim down and have a look. Martin Meissner of ZF Marine says engine makers still dont have a handle on the potential volume. Make sure theyre specifically trained, or at least have several years of experience, Siebert said. 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. The pod-drive boats were clearly more maneuverable and accelerated more quickly than strut, shaft and -prop-drive inboards. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. 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. One described his skepticism like this: Its just too good to be true. He ran the boat down to sell it down there. 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. But its also highly dependent on the application of the vessel. Re IPS: Volvo is well regarded for their innovations with IPS. Inboard props slip in both forward and reverse. 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. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Great Product. If you get to know these pods and keep regular checks on fluid levels, they will treat you well. Oh, and if youre a do-it-yourselfer, youll discover that a lot of pod maintenance requires specialized tools and training. 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. vs. 0.8 nmg pods @ 16.2 kts.). For more information and/or quote, please complete the contact form below. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. Cleaning also maximizes efficiency of the pods contrarotating propellers. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. 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. 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. There support network is much better and to me is a better product. He gives even higher praise to the Clean Wake exhaust feature. Pods are something new, he said. The company didnt invent them, but it made pod a household word among boaters. Lets have a look. With the joystick, my 12-year-old docks the boat.. I want to comment on how well Mercury backs their products. And often, pods do have less torque than shaft-driven boats. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. Zeus Transmissions are available at ZF Marine! "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. Still, many boaters werent convinced. Thats a hard question to answer, due to the past 15 months, Meissner says, referring to the economic recession. At Volvo Pentas IPS rollout in Mallorca de Palma, identical inboard and pod-drive boats were pitted against each other. The counter-rotating propellers and large rubber grommets the engine is mounted on means reduced vibration and engine noise. But conventional wisdom no longer applies. Can anyone speak to when there were evolutionary changes in the Zeus pods? But pods makers thought just a few years ago that one limiting factor of the pod market is speed. ZF also built far larger pods that could handle far more horsepower. 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. 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. When I troll, I can turn it on and the exhaust bypasses the pod and comes out just above the water. The inboard has simplicity and ubiquity. Dont compare them to stern drives. There arent many external mechanicals, no rubber bellows or other components to fail, he added. 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. 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. They bite hard and wont let the engine spin up.. Volvos Active Corrosion System, which is standard on IPS 800 or larger drives, is similar. All my personal experience to date is with 6BTA 370s in a conventional shaft drive arrangement. You can also reach us at +1 (833) ZF WRENCH. The 42 Convertible is up to Hull number 10 but we are up to 36 hulls for the Open version, he says. Everyone fears the unknown, especially boaters, many of whom still consider pod drives something alien. 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. I am looking for a larger boat in the same size range as you. Disappointing, but then again whens the last time you worked on your car? The aft placement of pods has added to usable space on board. (Volvo Penta soon followed suit.) International service is also a concern for pods. The most remarkable performance advantage was one that sent every propulsion and boatbuilding engineer to the drawing board to imitate: the joystick control system. Imagine a 44-footer with three cabins, two heads, and inboards priced $20,000 less than an identical 44-footer with pods that, thanks to its aft-engine placement, has one more cabin or head. Plus factors and quiet fuel efficient. 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. You need go no farther than your marina to hear a list of suspects. 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 . (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. Around here most mercury dealers wont take it on. Shafts, Props and a good ole thruster or 2 can have you handling your boat like a POD boat. Although hes well versed in the care and maintenance of inboards, Anderson was still anxious to run a pod boat. 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. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. If I could afford em, Id get em. are zeus pods still being manufactured. The Zeus system propellers are on the back of the pods, as opposed to the Volvo IPS, which are on the front. Cummins expert Rob Mirman gives an overview of the Cummins Zeus pod drive system at the 2013 Miami International Boat Show. 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. If the outer seal is damaged by debris, fishing line or rope, only the inner seal separates the pods innards from seawater. Fifty dollars per prop should do it. Pod access aboard the Riviera 43 is through the cockpit sole. All with a simple push or twist of the joystick. The biggest thing marketed to promote the system was its efficiency compared to a regular shaft and prop system, as well as joystick maneuverability. I was surprised by how light and long lasting these were. 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. However, the 48 Fly is offered with the engine you mention or with the IPS 700. How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. Fortunately the 42 Express cockpit is well laid out for Zeus . Also, you dont know how often the shaft seals will need replacement. Volvo Pentas IPS drive features patented forward-facing props, which lets them bite into clean water. Corrosion can cause expensive damage, and quickly, too. But, the lids. SeaVee no longer builds inboard boats, but that was a neat one. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. The result is a perfectly consistent amount of dry herb in each of your ArcPods each and every time, meaning you get the same great results with every session. 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. However, I think the best application I have run to date was a 39-foot SeaVee with pod-drives. by | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo Pull into any port in the world, and theres probably a guy there who can fix it. Great contribution Blue Magnolia..that rings true and honest. When pods vibrate, propellers or jack shaft bearings are the likely causes. 2875 Jupiter Park Drive Suite 1700, Jupiter, FL 33458, All the Benefits of a Garmin Yacht System, 5 Romantic Destinations for the perfect Valentines Day, A Buyers Guide to the Intellian v240MT Satellite Antenna, Extended Warranty for Your Marine Leisure Products, Follow These Best Practices for Safe Boating, Essential Navigation Equipment and Tech for Your New Yacht, Keep Your Yacht Secure with a State-of-the-Art Security System, 3 Pieces of Tech Every Yacht Owner Should Invest In. Theoretically. are zeus pods still being manufactured. Volvo Penta has 16,000 pod-drive boats in the marketplace right now. 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. pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . Some could be rotated 180 degrees and run adequately facing either fore or aft. how to say hello we are blackpink in korean; hawaii energy issues. Obviously, you have run over fish to get a bite, but we proved that pod-drives were no fearsome thing. Will Pod-Drives Overtake Conventional Shafts and Struts? 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. Hes also got a lot of applications engineering in his background. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. All rights reserved. And joystick piloting? Volvo uses SAE 75w140 oil for both the transmission and lower unit. Some pods require draining. Over time, fishing line will damage the seal, and it can score the shaft, too. Are they worth it? Outboards give you the pod advantage, but without the esoteric technology. Its like a carnival ride. is ryan bingham related to ken curtis. The problem vs. Volvo is that the Zeus Cummins combinations are limited by Cummins engine sizes and that limits them on larger boats. 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. Docking is super easy with joy stick controls. 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. At first no one trusted them; now you can hardly sell a car without one.. Cummins uses aluminum-gallium anodes to best protect bronze drives. Pods, on the other hand, need annual TLC, and this means skilled work. If they dont increase the odds of hooking up, who cares? 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. By turning one engine pod at a sharper angle than the other in a turn, they could narrow its radius. Its more maneuverable than an outboard, and you dont have any engines on the back.. 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. As one broker told me, Its like automatic transmissions. Interestingly, the most notable early prop-forward applications were in ice-breaking ships launched in 1990 an interesting defense to the argument that forward-facing props were too vulnerable to debris. 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. Nevertheless, pods are making inroads. Richard Thiel, in February 2014. Its a whole new world of boathandling out there, one all of us can enjoy. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Goes without saying: Its got ZF Smart Command 5000 drive-by-wire. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. That said, I have heard good things. are zeus pods still being manufactured how did lesley sharp lose weight julho 1, 2022. jack the ripper documentary bbc . All told, figure $500 per engine annually, plus haul-out fees. Todd Anderson recently ran a 50 Viking powered by ZF 4000 pods. Running the boat for too long on break-in oil can shorten the life of the pods innards. Whats going on here? 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. Thats not chump change, but neither is it likely to produce heart palpitations in the owner of a million-dollar vessel. 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. Its docking. From a long term maintenance perspective you are better off with a conventional drive line. The drive can be simultaneously connected to electric propulsion too. Im all about new technology. Each pod has 2 props and they are different. I am looking for one that has been treated well and run as close to the ideal as possible. To me the unit as a whole is way to complex than it needs to be. Most pods require service after a short break-in period at 25 hours or so. The first boatbuilders installing pod-drives in the early to mid-2000s werent putting them on sport-fish boats. Marlin Magazine may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. 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. Discussion in 'Engines' started by JamCruiser, Jun 20, 2020. . 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. Change the fluids annually, or every 250 hours of operation. In addition, I enjoy the added efficiencies Tony mentions above. We back it up with a concierge service. Yes, you need to be concerned about steering and propulsion fluids (lower unit) but you are not dealing with shaft irregularities, cutlass bearing maintenance, and thruster maintenance. 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. 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.