Reef
Reef… Can you snag some pictures of your mount that you made? I’m curious to try something like this as well, but i’ve got an old 70s Red Coleman HDPE canoe, but at the moment i dont believe my gunwales are even close to the needed width to be able to attach the wood in that fashion.
As for the center of gravity issue, all I can think of is to either balance it out on the other side with say 5-10lbs… or whatever your trolling moter + mounting block weighs =/
That… Or get crazy with your mount and add an piece of wood, or pieces, to form a T at the stern of the canoe in the middle. The top of the “T” would hang off the back and would be where the motor clamps… only problem with that is your motor handle is directly behind you and you would need an extension for the throttle :x
Trolling motor mount
I read all the post here and I was thinking IF you did decide to add a way to have the motor be able to flip up out of the way of rocks / stumps etc. and you were determined to make a mount like the one shown. Why can’t you just put a hinge (Door Hinge) on the piece of wood the motor attaches to. Now as for me I have had a Minn Kota trolling motor for a few years now . It is a 150# Minn Kota and the shaft is flexable enough to move . It is one of the reasons I went with the motor I have. It advertized right on the box that the fiberglass shaft will flex out of the way of stumps and the such.