Why are manuals not available for free download?

[Sniggle]

I was refering to owners manuals, not service manuals.

I too can understand the need to charge for service manuals.

End the Tyranny...make a .pdf copy of your owners manuals and email them to those who need them.
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Kubota B7800, LA402, Woods 6 ft LR, RB, 5 foot BB, Speeco PHD, Toothbar, filled rears, bought used with 432 hours on 2/2/2008


Kubota G1900 4S, 60 inch deck, front blade, 1180 hours

 

[Sniggle]

Owners manual scanned and sent to the person who requested it.

Now if we all could just scan one owners manual, soon we would have a repository for those who lost/did not get a manual.
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Kubota B7800, LA402, Woods 6 ft LR, RB, 5 foot BB, Speeco PHD, Toothbar, filled rears, bought used with 432 hours on 2/2/2008


Kubota G1900 4S, 60 inch deck, front blade, 1180 hours

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Having worked for a factory branch of a major equipment dealer, I can tell you why this info is not free.
Every "gypsy" and their brother would get every bit of free info they could and go out servicing everyone elses equipment for less than what the dealer charged. The factory took the time to write these, they should be compensated. Anyone involved in the business knows what a gypsy is.
I know of a manufacturer that charges about $500 for a service manual. This keeps other dealers and the independents from working on their equipment. This manufacturer is also one of the tops in their industry. Almost every other factory would give their right arm to have what this company does.
I would be careful about offering this info for free over the internet. There are copyright laws.

 

[Sniggle]

Having worked for a factory branch of a major equipment dealer, I can tell you why this info is not free.
Every "gypsy" and their brother would get every bit of free info they could and go out servicing everyone elses equipment for less than what the dealer charged. The factory took the time to write these, they should be compensated. Anyone involved in the business knows what a gypsy is.
I know of a manufacturer that charges about $500 for a service manual. This keeps other dealers and the independents from working on their equipment. This manufacturer is also one of the tops in their industry. Almost every other factory would give their right arm to have what this company does.
I would be careful about offering this info for free over the internet. There are copyright laws.

I am NOT encouraging sharing service manuals....just owner manuals. Owners manuals empower no one except the owner of the equipment to understand basic operations and maintenance.

Owner's manuals should be provided free as a download.

 

[Hedgy]

I understand "The factory took the time to write these, they should be compensated" but weren't they compensated enough when the customer handed over $15k for the tractor?

I'd like to see it as a searchable PDF file. It could be given on a CD at time of purchase if the idea of unlimited downloads is unacceptable to Kubota. Thus the owner can reprint it when lost, and can print and laminate selected pages to hang in the workshop for easy reference.

To avoid the perils of copying, perhaps we should each re-type one page of a manual into a combined Microsoft Word document. Or just type the text into the BX Wiki

And much of the manual is safety-related. That should be freely available, one would think.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

I am NOT encouraging sharing service manuals....just owner manuals. Owners manuals empower no one except the owner of the equipment to understand basic operations and maintenance.

Owner's manuals should be provided free as a download.

OOps, sorry. Some were referring to service manuals. Many companies I worked for provided owners manuals free for asking just from a safety standpoint. On powered industrial equipment (farm use excluded) It is not lawful to sell a piece of equipment which is lacking an owners manual. This is as per OSHA. Farms have a completely different set of rules which are almost non-existent.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Just a word of caution on the eBay manuals. There have been a few minor revisions to the B7800 thoughout its years in production. The newer print manuals reflect this, just make sure you know what you are buying. Your friendly Kubota dealer has these for $21.50.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I am in complete agreement that owner's manuals should be free downloads from the company website, and I understand that the service manuals can be justified as something you have to pay for. I can't understand why Kubota can't put owner's manuals online. Deere does so, and in fact the Deere online manual for my 5105 has somewhat clearer photos than the paper manual I got with the machine. Totally apart from customer service, it's a safety issue - any tractor maker should give the manuals out free so someone who gets the product later on can find out how to operate it correctly without having to track down and pay for a manual. I realize it's a different product, but nearly all decent gunmakers provide their manuals online or will send you a print copy for free (or both, for Ruger and probably others).

 

[Stoweski]

I'd like to see it as a searchable PDF file. It could be given on a CD at time of purchase if the idea of unlimited downloads is unacceptable to Kubota. Thus the owner can reprint it when lost, and can print and laminate selected pages to hang in the workshop for easy reference.

Hmm. Hate to say this but my father has a Deere lawnmower and I easily found a BASIC service CD for sale on ebay. It was only $15 and came in very handy on troubleshooting the engine problem he had. Obviously tractors are a lot more complex than a ride-on lawnmower but it sure beat taking it back and forth to the shop... which obviously would be a problem and a costly option for a lot of tractors too. A search for 'Deere CD' on ebay turned up several repair/service manuals for smaller tractors & lawnmowers.

With the way technology is in this day and age, one would think that the service manuals and/or owners manuals could be available on CD to make it easier for us to troubleshoot our own tractors. I wouldn't be looking for a breakdown of every piece of the tractor, just the stuff that any 'normal' person would be able to tackle themselves to save the hassle and expense of bringing it to the shop. By now there must be a list around of common problems that have fairly easy solutions to them. Maybe Haynes or Chiltons can get into the business! God knows they have saved me time and money with repairs on my truck!

Keith

 

[PitbullMidwest]

I purchased a service manual on CD for my John Deere riding mower off of ebay. The description stated that it was an authorized dealer's manual that had been superceded by a newer version. What I received was a burned copy of the manual with a home made inkjet label.

Piracy is probably their biggest concern, it's much easier to burn a copy of a cd than it is to scan a manual.