Roger,

You've asked a lot of questions, and there's lots of options available.

First off, I'd be wary of any motor that 'needs work'. That could set you
back a few bucks, or hundreds, or be a total loss, depending; and it's hard
to determine in advance without being an experienced motor mechanic
yourself.

I've had pretty good luck with a hand control trolling motor on a Jon boat.
The way I mounted it was to make a small platform of plywood and 1x2" boards
for a underframe, about 26" deep from the bow back, and the width of the
bow. This was mounted with stainless steel screws to the handrail on the
boat. If I were mounting a foot control motor, at this point I would be
done with the platform, as you could bolt the motor mount directly to the
platform.

The platform is easy to build with simple tools, and little outlay of cash.

Batteries get heavy, so I would stick to a 12 volt system.

Regards,

Jim
"RogerN" wrote in message
ink.net...
I've been trying to fish out of my jon boat and find myself trying to
juggle
boat positioning with the trolling motor while trying to fish. I thought
a
possible solution would be to use a foot control trolling motor. The
problem is that my jon boat isn't setup for a bow mount trolling motor and
I
haven't seen anything else available in foot control trolling motors. I'm
looking for the best solution to mounting a foot control motor on my jon
boat. Or would I be better off to buy an old bass boat and not mess with
my jon boat?

My ideas so far are to make a bow mount either out of aluminum or plywood
and mount it to the front of the boat. Or make a transom mount to fit the
trolling motor.

Another idea is to buy an older bass boat, the lake I fish has a 10hp
limit
and I've seen some bass boats for $1k or less with motors that need work.
I
have a 9.9hp Mercury that I use on the jon boat. Thought perhaps my 9.9hp
motor on an old bass boat with a foot control trolling motor might be a
better solution than modifying my jon boat.