I have a 2013 Sabre 42 with the Cummins/Zeus pod units. 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. The pods combine transmission, steering, and propulsion that would otherwise entail separate trans, shaft/prop, thrusters, and rudders. 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. All up, pod owners can expect to pony up something like an additional $2,500 for scheduled maintenance. Simply pop in a pod and enjoy your herbs. The owner of the boat spent almost 40k on the drives themselves and they were just under 8 years old. Many boatbuilders have installed Zeus in existing designs as we did with the Sabre 42 Express. Some really nice high tech features that most will never use. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Especially if you plan on going on extended trips Pretty much wherever you ventured you would have always found someone to get you out of trouble with your 6BTA 370s and conventional drive line but if things go wrong your odds of getting the help you need and having anything left in your wallet (or hairs left in your head) could be less than favorable. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. Pods also expand morning fluid checks to include the lazarette. Thats the biggest attraction and why [pods] gained acceptance among a lot of enthusiasts, who wanted a certain size of vessel and want to move from a 28 to a 34 to 40 but were not comfortable with maneuvering inboard boats. Sorry, but as an ex-Cummins and Merc dealer, I've lost all faith in the Zeus system. Naval architects have also gotten better at maximizing the efficiencies of pods at all speeds. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Your are officially the first one to publish 4o% percent efficiency benefits for pods. Sabre Yachts, for example, first offered pods in 2008 as an option over straight shafts in the 42-foot express cruiser. (A complete maintenance schedule, including annual and longer-term items, is in the owners manual, so pay attention to it.). 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. Nonetheless, pods are not going away and I hope more marine techs will learn them. The bill to undo the resulting carnage came to $46,000, a figure that couldnt have been much worse if pods had been involved.). Weight kills the speed on pod-drives, compared to shaft-drives, Smith says. I have personally ruled out any boat with PODS, IPS or ZEUS, for those 2 main reasons. I also feel they will continue to loose market share to Volvo. pathfinder kingmaker river's justice . 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. Take the props off, grease the shafts, and check the seals, Fessenden said. 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 are often second- or third-told tales with a questionable provenance and few verifiable facts. Then forward-thinking builders (Tiara, Cruisers, Regal, and Sabre among them) redesigned their boats for pod power and the technology became mainstream. 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. But I usually run at 32 miles per hour and get 1.5 mpg, he says. We may request cookies to be set on your device. And once the numbers are crunched, are pods worth it? Sabre seems to be moving more and more towards the IPS units over Cummins especially since Cummins and Mercury parted paths several years ago (both still support Zeus drives). 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. Inboard fans argue that the pod-drives lack torque. Bottom Line. Everyone fears the unknown, especially boaters, many of whom still consider pod drives something alien. Each pod has 2 props and they are different. In effect, a sport-fisher fresh out of the factory may make 45 knots on pods, but by the time it is provisioned and ready to fish, its going to lose some speed. Sounds like another good option to me. Thats opened up more opportunities and options for OEMS.. 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. Great Product. 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. Zeus Arsenal has always made only reliable, well-performing devices that go beyond just being the perfect daily driver. I opted to avoid Volvo as my experience with them as a car dealer was poor. I am on the East Coast. Before, maneuvering required forethought, logic, coordination, and strategizing; after, it became mere intuition: Look where you want to go and point the joystick that way. Zirk fittings require grease in U-joints and at both ends of jack shafts that connect engines to drives. If one engine vibrates in gear and the other doesnt, its probably caused by fouled or damaged props. We backed around and spun both ways with speed I have only seen once or twice before. 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 390 with Volvo 600 IPS drives was absolutely one of the most fun and outrageous-performing boats I have ever driven. I had the opportunity to run several different boats at Volvos test center in Gothenburg, Sweden, during the companys international press launch, and there is no doubt I was intrigued by the system. 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. So the fact that pod systems are loaded with electronics actually makes them less prone to failureand unfortunately an unfathomable mystery to most mechanics. Anderson acknowledges that pods have advantages in some areas and disadvantages in others. These versatile drive systems are not as popular as once thought. In short, I love my Cummins 6.7 units and I am getting happier each day with the Zeus pods as I learn them and how to care for them. Pods operate independently of one another to provide vectored thrust in any direction, which makes the vessel incredibly maneuverable. They have the only tech here that will work on them. 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. IPS followed with its own, and ZF ponied one up too. The problem vs. Volvo is that the Zeus Cummins combinations are limited by Cummins engine sizes and that limits them on larger boats. 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 . I worked on a boat with Zeus pods for about three years. The 42 Convertible is up to Hull number 10 but we are up to 36 hulls for the Open version, he says. Then realized it was a conversation which I figured was private so I reposted here. 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. There support network is much better and to me is a better product. 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. Marlin Magazine may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. Zeus ArcPods Lid pack filled with 50 paper lids for the Zeus ArcPods (sold separately). Charleston. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. Down sides were in the San Francisco Bay Area there is only one person that can work on them. ZF also added a trick that has less validity in the United States than in the European Union; ZF pods can be mated with both electric and diesel motors simultaneously, allowing them to run on electricity to meet the European Unions emissions standards when in port. To me the unit as a whole is way to complex than it needs to be. Corrosion can cause expensive damage, and quickly, too. Nevertheless, pods are making inroads. 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. 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. He too is in love with the sport-fish mode and its maneuverability. Cabos sport-fisher benefits from Cummins Mercruiser Diesels Zeus drive. 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. Volvo includes neither a water alarm nor a clear reservoir, so check the single transmission and gear oil dipstick for signs of water. Okay, the motors cost about $80,000 and $90,000, respectively. vs. 0.8 nmg pods @ 16.2 kts.). Theyre a whole different animal, Siebert said. How to Manage Boat Finances During a Recession, Gamefisherman 43 Express on the Drawing Board, Marlin Expeditions Offers Light-Tackle Paradise in Guatemala. Youre going to ruin more with a straight shaft than with IPS.. Plan on replacing the anodes at least annually, using the correct alloy: Most pods use aluminum anodes, not zinc. Theres no free lunch, so there must be a hidden cost that no ones factored in.. Around here most mercury dealers wont take it on. I had seen massive tugboats using a similar pod-drive system for their tight-quarters work, pushing huge container ships into the wharf. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. When one of Sieberts clients hit a sandbar, it happened so smoothly that he didnt even realize hed lost drives until he revved the engines and the boat didnt respond, Siebert said. 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. 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. If the outer seal is damaged by debris, fishing line or rope, only the inner seal separates the pods innards from seawater. The first boatbuilders installing pod-drives in the early to mid-2000s werent putting them on sport-fish boats. This is our premium store warranty and only select units are covered under this program. 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. It might save the cost of a divorce on cruelty-while-docking grounds, too, a way bigger budget-breaker than pod drives. It turns out that if I went with the new Cummins 550s and straight shafts, the IPS is a little cheaper., Sport-fish mode. The props themselves are patented. No thrusters are required, saving more cash. Ongoing maint costs and difficulty of changing/replacing props over time. But conventional wisdom no longer applies. Yes, BM, thanks for all the info and posting your actual experiences always adds a lot of value to any discussion. Somewhere in between the cost of straightening conventional shafts and rudders, and possibly even repairing transmissions, the advantage shifts back to pods. Not a lot of guys know pods yet. All diesels need TLC, but pod systems need a bit more. Like was said before I mirror there thoughts. Cummins expert Rob Mirman gives an overview of the Cummins Zeus pod drive system at the 2013 Miami International Boat Show. All told, figure $500 per engine annually, plus haul-out fees. Discussion in 'Engines' started by JamCruiser, Jun 20, 2020. Pull into any port in the world, and theres probably a guy there who can fix it. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. 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. Ariel Pared is the president of SeeVee, which has built about 20 Volvo Penta IPS-drive boats. We back it up with a concierge service. When checking transmission oil level, give it a sniff. Internal bonding issue and corrosion and a bunch of internal parts had to be changed. Still, many boaters werent convinced. Volvo doesn't offer the option of in-water service. As Mercury continues to grow its diesel business, Zeus support will grow. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery, Zeus ArcPods are finally here! Capt. Joystick control? 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) .