Yes power wise you will be fine for a season or two. The most common complaint I get when teaching someone to ride (usually girls I'm dating

) is that there is too much torque...and I'm riding a stock 650.
The sloppy steering is from lack of tray time. Do not worry about that one bit! Eventually you will be able to decide to slide or hook up on the tightest turns. Superjets will not turn for you...you have to turn them.
A pole spring will make the pole weightless and this will help a lot. There are 2 schools of pole tightness. Some like the pole to be very tight so its hard for it to move. You can run it like this without buying a spring. Others (like me) like a loose free flowing pole with the spring holding it up for you.
As far as getting chit in your pump you just need to learn to avoid those areas of your waters unfortunately. Nothing is going to stop artifacts from going through. A trick I learned from a buddy is when your cavitating due to crap in the pump rev the engine really high, hit stop, then start again right away. No this is not great for your plugs!
I have to advice against the pre cut mats especially if using underpadding. From what I understand from research is that they don't always line up that well. It will look better and be cheaper to buy a sheet of turf and a can of weldwood and cut the turf to your tray. Molded black diamond is the most popular turf and sometimes you are waiting on hydro turf to have more made.
Do not f*** with the bright colored turf because it will fade. Red becomes pink after a season, there are pics around this site for proof.