Most pods require service after a short break-in period at 25 hours or so. Zeus propeller shafts use a double-lip seal. 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. 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. Obviously, you have run over fish to get a bite, but we proved that pod-drives were no fearsome thing. 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. Sophisticated diagnostics go with every engine now. Volvo doesn't offer the option of in-water service. Theyre a whole different animal, Siebert said. We had a few bugs in my first IPS boat. (Changing engine oil at least yearly is a good idea, too, even if you dont hit the hour limit.). We get a lot of oyster growth inside the drive intakes, Siebert said. Thats not me talkingits Bob Petzold, who has as much experience as almost anybody selling, servicing, and repairing pod drives. The vaporizers displayed on this website are not intended for or made to prevent, treat or diagnose any illness. Also, you dont know how often the shaft seals will need replacement. Theyre the cleanest-burning motors Ive experienced. And often, pods do have less torque than shaft-driven boats. Copyright 2023 Marlin Magazine. They get people excited about buying a new boat.. Use of Cookies: ZF Friedrichshafen AG uses cookies to continuously improve the website and optimize its design. The pods require yearly maint that is beyond what regular trans, shaft and prop systems require. In that case, its not the pod; its our joystick-maneuvering system that does this, and we offer a joystick in a traditional shaft boat. Pods require drive-oil changes every 250 hours or annually. To start with, Zeus and IPS boats have to be hauled after their first 25 engine-hours. The lower units (gear housing) will need to be resealed and I expect to have to do this every 5 years or so. But, the lids. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Fortunately the 42 Express cockpit is well laid out for Zeus . FREE shipping on orders of $100.00 and above. What customers are choosing is maneuverability. With no compromise on taste or experience, as well as Zeus' guarantee that all liquids are mixed, tested and approved in the UK, the new disposable pod will carry users from A-Z of their vaping journey knowing that the premium flavour will not fade, fault or fail on the road to being smoke free. You get a little cavitation but nothing close to the noise from shaft-drives, he says. 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. 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. Petzold said he thought that was about right, even almost four years later. Check them just like you check zincs on a shaft, Petzold said: Swim down and have a look. Its like a orange and all they work on is apples. And often, they are recoverable and repairable. Petzold said the most common problem he sees with pods is owners not maintaining the corrosion protection. And if you have to ask about price, you really dont need one. Volvo Penta introduced the first pod-drive system in 2004. Are they worth it? But not many boat owners ponied up the cash to switch to pods. are zeus pods still being manufactured. However, most sport-fishers rarely operate at wide-open throttle. You can also change some of your preferences. These are often second- or third-told tales with a questionable provenance and few verifiable facts. Are there particular production years that performed better than others. Exhaust fumes are emitted into the prop wash. 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. While Buckley gets an impressive 50 mph with his pods, quad outboards would likely get another 5 to 10 mph. Four different fluids just to service them. (And when the struts rip out, they can take parts of the hull with them, something that probably wont happen with pods.) Full details on our program can be found here. One described his skepticism like this: Its just too good to be true. Not cool to open two threads on similar subjects, yup, definitely my bad, rookie mistake, thought I was posting in the forum the first time around. Everyone fears the unknown, especially boaters, many of whom still consider pod drives something alien. Long term cost of ownership based on 5- 10+ years of use, cruising long distances at economical wine & cheese hull speeds, ease of service (or just getting service or support) any time/any place. Ongoing maint costs and difficulty of changing/replacing props over time. Plan on replacing the anodes at least annually, using the correct alloy: Most pods use aluminum anodes, not zinc. Such tales are grist for boaters imaginations, as is the mere idea of components made of expensive, finely machined alloys dangling below the boat, protected by neither keel nor shaft. Both throttle and steering. Each pod has 2 props and they are different. Most yards will repaint a pod for $300. Outboards give you the pod advantage, but without the esoteric technology. I have personally ruled out any boat with PODS, IPS or ZEUS, for those 2 main reasons. When pods shear off, their recovery might cost a huge percentage of their value. I was surprised by how light and long lasting these were. Zeus ArcPods are finally here! ZF also built far larger pods that could handle far more horsepower. Some had forward-facing propellers. There support network is much better and to me is a better product. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery, Zeus ArcPods are finally here! Thanks to all.just the practical advice I was looking for. All diesels need TLC, but pod systems need a bit more. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. . 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. We created Lids for you to reuse your Aluminum ArcPods. Most pods also require periodic removal and inspection of prop sets and seals, and re-greasing of the propshaftsfigure $250 per pod. From a long term maintenance perspective you are better off with a conventional drive line. For those first 25 hours, we use a break-in lube, said David Fessenden, a marine applications engineer with Cummins Atlantic. Zeus Arsenal has always made only reliable, well-performing devices that go beyond just being the perfect daily driver. For nearly a decade, pod propulsion looked like it would render inboards obsolete. KISS Keep It Simple Sailor. The drive can be simultaneously connected to electric propulsion too. 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. That smooths out some of the minor gear asperities and grinding marks, improving the life of the gears. After break-in, pods are serviced every 250 hours or 12 months, whichever occurs first. Its also important to monitor for seawater dripping onto drives. The ZS-3000 is Snell M2005 certified in the small shell size (XS to M). Pods, on the other hand, need annual TLC, and this means skilled work. How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. But then outboards are more powerful and more economical than ever. Goes without saying: Its got ZF Smart Command 5000 drive-by-wire. When Volvo Penta took the industry by surprise with the IPS, it had patented the forward-facing counter-rotating propellers, patented new propellers for the design and also sent the exhaust out the back of the pod, not through the hub of the props. Smooth, incremental low-speed control. Some really nice high tech features that most will never use. I am considering buying a Meridian 441 flybridge motor yacht, which is 47 LOA and 31,000lbs. Warranty concerns may shorten the list of service providers. It gets all the bubbles out of the wake, he says. But now thats all gone away. And the Zeus pods also came with a joystick. Make sure theyre specifically trained, or at least have several years of experience, Siebert said. It seems that the Zeus pods have evolved over the years and later systems are more reliable than earlier ones. Pods also expand morning fluid checks to include the lazarette. Bottom Line. Some captains claim that the pods are too tall, requiring a higher deck to cover them. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. With it, fingertip operation of any vessel became possible. Sorry, but as an ex-Cummins and Merc dealer, I've lost all faith in the Zeus system. Mark their location any way you can, with a waypoint or a buoy, said Steve Little, president ofTowBoatU.S. Siebert puts annual maintenance for pods roughly $2,000 above what straight shafts cost, not including extra haul-out fees for boats that exceed 250 engine-hours per year. That said, the pods are a bit more in annual maintenance. 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. 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. Our best guess is it will take a significant chunk of the market. 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. Pods have more parts, both mechanical and electronic, and conventional wisdom says that means more problems. Vessel Systems Considerations for Marine Repower, ZF Marine Propulsion Systems Miramar, LLC. 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. Dont cheap out on anodes, Petzold advised. Review Images (jpg, jpeg, png) Max 3MB file size allowed. The company didnt invent them, but it made pod a household word among boaters. Sacrificial anode maintenance is both cheap and easily performed by the average inboard boat owner. However, I think the best application I have run to date was a 39-foot SeaVee with pod-drives. He ran the boat down to sell it down there. Looking at other online sources, people seem to be in Love or Hate camps.what are the facts please? 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. I liked the ZF right away. Were still trying to sort through the answer to that one. When pods vibrate, propellers or jack shaft bearings are the likely causes. Its also hard to put a price on joystick control, which completely changes dockside handling. 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. 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 uses aluminum-gallium anodes to best protect bronze drives. To me the unit as a whole is way to complex than it needs to be. For more information and/or quote, please complete the contact form below. 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. I agree with Rob. Many boatbuilders have installed Zeus in existing designs as we did with the Sabre 42 Express. I had seen massive tugboats using a similar pod-drive system for their tight-quarters work, pushing huge container ships into the wharf. 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. Neither Health Canada nor the FDA have evaluated the vaporizers, blends and/or statements displayed on this website. 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. Using a ZF transmission, it could mate any marine engine (Yanmar and Caterpillar have been popular partners) to its pods. Zeus allows for simple control o.