Patent ID: 8011983

Claim:
A marine drive for propelling a marine vessel, including a marine propulsion device extending from said vessel and having a water-engaging propulsor for propelling said vessel through a body of water, said marine drive comprising a first section mounted to said vessel, a second section supporting said water-engaging propulsor for rotation, and a break-away mount mounting said second section to and supporting said second section from said first section and breaking-away in response to a given underwater impact against said second section to protect said first section and said vessel, wherein said first section comprises a mounting plate mounted to said vessel and supporting a steering assembly supporting a steering kingpin and a rotary driveshaft, and said second section comprises a driveshaft housing receiving said driveshaft and having a gearcase rotationally supporting said propulsor and translating rotation of said driveshaft to rotation of said propulsor, and an adapter plate mounting said driveshaft housing to said steering kingpin, and wherein said driveshaft housing is mounted to said adapter plate at said break-away mount.