Engine Position: To Lock or Not

[wpguillot]

I have a 40 hp hand controlled Mercury and the manual tilt is operated by switching to an "unlocked" position and adjusting the engine and moving the lever to "lock" to hold the engine in place (specifically when tilted up).

My question is, what position should the lever be operated in under normal running conditions?

The engine falls to the lowest setting in the unlocked position, should I leave it there to allow it to pop up if I hit something? Or should I move the lever to "lock" for running, even though it is at the lowest setting?

Just don't want to do more skeg/prop damage than necessary, as I do tend to run in the shallows quite a bit.

Thanks

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Engine Position: To Lock or Not

Helps to know what motor exactly, but 99% of the motors I've seen, the unlock is for raising the motor up all the way. You use the pin for the best angle when running, and in forward, there is a auto mechanism for releasing the lock, so the motor can kick up. The lock comes back into play neutral and reverse, so it it don't kick up in reverse. Least that how my Johnsons work