re: Got some mud motor + jon boat questions. Thinking of building one.

They're heavy and noisy, hard to steer with, not great for open water, and much slower than an outboard of comparable hp.

All that being said, they're easy to build and maintain and flat out irreplaceable in certain situations. They'll get you into and out of places that an outboard wouldn't dream of going to.

For your particular situation, I would recommend keeping an eye out on the Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for a small outboard for a couple hundred bucks.

And why are you talking in meters? Are you in a foreign country? If so, you can probably find some super lightweight 2 stroke outboards on the cheap. They don't pass USEPA regs anymore, but they're still manufactured and sold elsewhere.