Shop Manuals, worth the money or not ?

[CanadianBeaverS370]

Inspired by Kernopelli's scan in the post about the timing marks, I got thinking about getting the shop manual for my Beaver ... until I saw the price they go for on ebay and other supplier that offer reprints! is it really worth paying 10-15% of what I paid for the tractor for the parts and service manual??? I am seasoned in mechanics and there is not much I haven't taken apart and put back together over the years. I just like how some important details like tolerances and torque specs are usually listed in these manual. Any feedback from you guys that forked out the $80+ per manual your be appreciated.

Al

 

[murphy1244]

If you can get your info online I would not bother. I would of not bought a parts book if I'd known about MIE online parts.

 

[PILOON]

Well I have a MT180D and all the manuals and admit that they sure have helped at times. Mine are factory originals.
Torque specs are basically standard to the size and grade of fastener and not specific to the tractor.
Since new parts are hard to find, part #s are of little use as you rely on re cycle yards for sourcing.
Most of the info I need to service is actually in the owners manual and auto parts generally match filters etc.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Glad I have one for my Kioti, and have one for just about any vehicle I own. I do all my own work, so worth it for the little details like you said.

 

[CanadianBeaverS370]

So i see its 50-50, Piloon brings up a good point that the parts manual is pretty much useless now days. I too usually track down service manuals for everything i own. thanks for the feedback guys :thumbsup:

 

[techwrtr2]

I'm probably going to buy one of the reprints soon. I'm rather irritated that the company selling them doesn't offer a PDF version, I'd rather have that and print whatever pages I need when I need them. I find there's always stuff I don't know about that while it may be common sense to others, for me it's unknown.

 

[CanadianBeaverS370]

Techwrtr2 , im with you on the PDF version. Im in Canada so think of it this way. not only am I getting raped on the price of the reprint but I get dinged on shipping and duties... At lease woods e-mailed me a copy of the service/owners manual for my mower free of charge. I just went on the website, filled the form and in 10 minutes it was in my inbox! now that's what I call good service.

 

[Kernopelli]

I am surprised to see that Beaver service manuals are about $50U.S.. Not "cheap" compared to most of the other Mitsubishi models. I consider myself a pretty capable mechanic and yet, as many times as I've referred to mine I can't imagine not having one. A lot of my referral has been to "confirm" what I suspect/ thought but I still consider it a must have. I'll admit it's a lot easier to buy a $15-$20 manual that covered every model I've owned than $80 for a manual I'm not sure I "have to have".

 

[doxford jim]

Having the manual beats guessing and/or relying on memory. Having the manual gives you everything there at your finger tips. I shudder to think what a tractor mechanic would charge nowadays - hourly rate, probably around $100 an hour! There you have the manual more than paid for.

 

[skylarkguy]

I agree that the manual has come in very handy, for specific details. Sometimes the translations a kinda funny and occasionally hard to figure out, but overall pretty useful.