Kicker motor

[Jbob]

Do you leave the kicker tied in to the main motor all the time or do you take off the connecting rod when not using the kicker? If you take of the connecting rod do you strap the kicker in place? I run a 200 Merc and a 9.9 4 stroke merc. On my last boat I left them connected all the time with out problems. On this boat I left them connected and the connecting rod bent and now I need to replace it.

[Sunshine]

I leave mine on all the time. I'm concerned that if I took the connecting rod off the kicker would/could bounce and/or shift toward my big motor causing facial damage to either motor. I have this concern even though I'm using a panther w/ a strap. I have a friend that removes his connecting rod and the cowling to his main motor looks really bad.

[crawlerman]

I agree with Sunshine. I leave my kicker connected to the main engine for the same reasons. I use a Panther Martin mount with an EZ Steer setup.

Carl