tractor manuals for free

[twodogs]

Sorry, but I don't condone theft.

jb

You can download manuals for other products for free. Some companies would rather that you have the abilitiy to download a free copy than risk injury or damage. It doesn't cost the company much to pdf a document and make it available for download. I downloaded a manual for a rototiller (from the company).

 

[john_bud]

Let me expand on my brief point.

A lot of effort goes into the creation of the manuals for a tractor like a MF 1010, the creator of the manuals feels that they have value and has placed a mark, called a Copyright on it. That means it is the property of the creator. It is a CRIME to copy that material both in the USA as well as in Canada -eh?

"Some companies" may indeed feel that providing the value from the manuals to the customers for free is a good thing. I appreciate them for that service. Others don't, if I need a manual from them, I PAY for it. Readneck Randy posted the current prices for manuals from $29.95 to $148.95. Asking for a "free download" is no different than taking that $148.95 manual from a store, stuffing it down your pants and walking out without paying. It's theft. Just because you do if from your house using a computer, doesn't make it any less of a theft.

jb

 

[bloody_peasant]

A lot of effort goes into the creation of the manuals for a tractor like a MF 1010

You could fool me by the quality of my MF 1010 manual LOL (in all seriousness, asking $30 for that low quality operators manual is quite outrageous)

It is a CRIME to copy that material both in the USA as well as in Canada -eh?

Correct (not counting fair use limits) unless the owner has given permission for the material to be copied (as JD has).

Maybe a better way for tractorshawn to have stated his original request should have been, "does MF offer their manuals for free and if so how do I get them."

Also of interest is that some older manuals (pre-1964) may have had their copyrights expired and are now in public domain, but you would have to research the specific manual to see if the owners applied for extensions. Also any work published prior to 1978 without a copyright notice on it is in public domain as well and anything prior to 1923 is in public domain.

Any work published from 1978 forward is automatically protected for the life of the creator plus 70 additional years (or if a corporation either 95 or 120 years).

 

[knute_m]

Wow, where do I start?

First, I have many manuals that I have legally downloaded.

For instance, when I had a Hinomoto C174, I was able to go to the Simplicity website and download the maintenance, operators, and parts manuals for the Allis Chalmers 5015/ Simplicity 9518. They were essentially the same tractor as my Hinomoto. They were FREE, with the blessing of Simplicity / AGCO. See the Simple Tractors website for more info.

I have the latest manuals for my Husqvarna chainsaw -- right off their website, and it is more up-to-date, and more complete than the manual that came with the chainsaw. Same with my Echo brushwhacker. I could go on and on.

I work for a company that builds very sophisticated electronic test equipment. The various pieces cost about the same as new tractors. The original purchaser, usually a really big company or a government agency, gets one set with the equipment when they buy one of our products. But, our equipment is used by field technicians around the world. If they could even get access to the manuals, who in their right mind would carry the manuals when they go out to repair a big radar or communications system on a mountain top? But, now-a-days they all carry computers with access to the Internet.

Many of our manuals are on-line for easy downloading. We don't want to be in the printing business.

It is far better for customer relations to post our manuals on-line than to have users calling us for manuals we really don't want to take orders for, that we don't want to print, and that were paid for early on in the production process.

Yes, there are lots of free manuals out there -- and it is legal to download them. Just don't print them out and try to sell them on ebay. That gets people nasty angry.

Good luck hunting,

Knute

(Is anybody else having trouble posting after they log in? It keeps wanting me to log in, and then dies. I apologize if this shows up three or four times.)

 

[Soundguy]

From what I've seen.. many smal appliances, and even implements have a good amount of free manual and user guide download support. When you get to the tractors... it tends to taper off to only a few that have downloadable manuals.

However.. you can find many 'cheap' manuals on ebay and the internet. Many people have negotiated or outright bought or licensed the reprinting rights from the original company, and then offer them in pdf format on cd. Buying a copy to use is leagel.. thought as pointed out.. if you duplicated that cd and/or printed it out to sell.. that would be illegal... etc.

Soundguy

 

[tractorshawn]

Wow,Guess I really shook it up huh. Lots of different opinions,It is good that we are not all the same or life would be boaring. Have you ever taken 2 mints from the jar on the way out of the resturant? Was there a sign there saying free mints, probably not. Is that stealing? Are you allowed to have just one or the whole jar? There just there for the taking they would put them there if your not suppose to take them, right or wrong? Guess its all inturpertation.This is a whole different toppic. So back to my manual.I have searched the MF site, and I have found nothing so far.So I e-mailed someone from the contact us area. Hopefully I will have a answer soon.I will keep you posted to how I have made out.

 

[firemanpat2910]

Knute M you really made me smile, my company sells printing equipment,and almost all of our manuals are available online. One of the things in life that makes me go Huh??? They dont expect us to carry reams and reams of pages to fix the machines that make the reams and reams of pages. Like was said earlier dont copy and resell and I have no problem with it.

 

[zeuspaul]

I have hundreds of *FREE* manuals downloaded directly from manufacturers. I don't recall ever having to pay for any of them.

I have made numerous purchase decisions based on free downloaded manuals. High on my priority list is good customer support and available user manuals is a big plus.

I can't imagine a tractor manufacturer trying to make a profit on manuals! More likely they are not up to the times or just perhaps the manuals are not that good and if read by a prospective buyer would not help sell the tractor or perhaps the competiton isn't there yet so they are taking their time.

Put me in the huh! or you've got to be kidding category

JMHO

Zeuspaul

 

[Soundguy]

Would it make a difference if the dealer gave you a free 'paper' manual. vs having downloadable ones available?

Soundguy

 

[tractorshawn]

Update on my massey ferguson manual, dont seem to be having any luck with finding anything on there site.The e-mail in reply was contact your local dealer.Guess Im gonna have to use e-bay or just buy off the dealer.I thought it was worth a try to find a downloadable version somewhere.I guess if i bought a new manual for 15 thousand dollars I would have got a tractor for free.Thanks for your help guys.