I am sorry that I have not explained what I am trying to do more clearly, I was using my phone and was trying to be brief. I have no experience with pontoon boats at all even though we have owned a variety of motor boats from 8 to 36 feet long and did all our own mechanical work and repairs. I am as adamant about boat reliability and safety as anyone, but this is an unusual situation that is already very dangerous and sitting on top of a rickety boat with a less than reliable engine is not appreciably more dangerous.
If you lived on an island a few hundred yards from the mainland and waded across everyday to go to work, and carried your groceries perched on your head when you returned each evening, you would feel any boat was better than what you were doing. If you tied some logs together and made a raft, you could push it along with a stick, better than wading. If you got lucky and got a motor for your raft, you wouldn't be concerned about it leaving you stranded because you still had your previous options of pushing with a stick or walking. If you fell of your raft you would only be slightly wetter than wading.
I have seen small outboards on pontoon boats used as work platforms, I just never paid and attention to what size or whether or not it was a tiller steer. I have no intention of driving this boat. I am going to drop it off at the neighborhood and let them organize some volunteers to operate it. If the motor breaks they can use poles, it would be infinitely better than what they are doing now.
In Texas, boats with title problems are relatively useless because of the difficulty in getting a title and can be acquired cheap or free sometimes. I have my contacts scouring the city looking for a free or cheap boat. My best hope is to find a big aluminum boat with a hole in the hull that my welding buddies can just weld up. This of course would be the simplest solution since even a 2 horse outboard will push an 18 foot john boat in a sheltered area. By the way, these "canals" are 30 to 60 feet wide, maneuverability is not an issue, loading is not an issue, just put the bow against the bank so they can step off.
It seems that if the only boat I can get is a pontoon boat, I will either have to find a motor that can be operated from the helm or let them pole it along.
There is not currently a good solution for any of these folks unless each can purchase their own 14 foot boat with a trolling motor. While there is a lot of help available once they leave their neighborhood, there is little or no help getting in and out.