Going to look at a used mud buddy mini tomorrow has an 18 horse briggs and Stratton motor with 167 hours on it... Just looking for a few quick pointers to check out before buying. I've always owned a long tail this would be my first surface drive. Would like to check the motor to know whether it has been torn down before and a quick way to check the gears belts and so on, any information or quick references would be a big help.

The unit was run primarily in salt water, there is some minor corrosion on the belt/gear housing. Any thougts?

Personally, I would hold off and look for a 23 hp. The 18 is a dog.