Junkman,
forgive me for asking a silly question - Did you give the books enough time to load? The loader book is 76 pages, the backhoe is 74 pages. Even though .pdf files are highly compressed compared to regular .doc files, they still have to come to you one page at a time. Depending on your hookup speed, they might need several minutes each ("your mileage may vary") As far as printing them out, I never do. Instead, as soon as the acrobat reader loads and the first page appears on my screen, I click on the little diskette icon and save a copy. Once the save process starts, walk away and get a bit of your favorite beverage (or whatever) It takes just as long to save as to load, but you just have to do it one time. Then you have a permanent copy of your own that you can look at whenever you want. If you need a hardcopy of a page (or a range of pages), you can print just that piece out as needed. I carry a USB pen drive with me everywhere I go. My partsbooks are on it, in case I need them.
I looked at the books just now, it seems that they have passed the links off to a streamer service (streamload.com) Didn't wait for anything beyond the initial page, since I already have a copy. Maybe this sidestep takes a little longer? Give it another try. If it doesn't go past page one after, say 5 minutes, I'd drop tractorsmart.com a note and ask them about it.
To me, this is an excellent public service and a good business move. Not on their payroll or anything, but I know I am more likely to order parts from them because they are offering it.