when I used to use my mechanical I used to leave it on, in fact I got it out to make sure it still runs and it still had the walking foot on. I have all brothers and don't find it cumbersome to take on and off only takes a minute and its really simple so can't see the point in leaving them on unless you have machines you use less and just want one available. Now that I have a muvit foot haven't used my walking foot since, it operates smoother. I might leave it on for a project like bags have a lot of layers of batting and thick seams so I might use it for that, but for normal piecing I just use my 1/4" foot