lastcowboy32
Well-known Member
This question has to do with a modern tractor brand (which I won't name) and a web-based dealer/franchise of that brand (which I also won't name).
Yet. I won't name yet... because I want to see if my story is specific to one brand/dealer, or if this is the norm nowadays.
Anyway, I needed a shop manual for our four year old tractor, as I wanted to track down where some of the wiring goes.
I go online, and I find that I can get a pdf of the 600 page shop manual for 42 bucks.
Good deal.
I order the manual. When I get the file, I can't search it for words (which means that the file is essentially a bunch of images, not a written file). This isn't a big deal, as I have a .pdf OCR (optical character recognition) utility. I process the file, so that it looks through pixel by pixel and turns any set of pixels that looks like an english letter...into an english letter.
Great... now I can search the document. I can use <CTRL><f> and search any word that I want... and it will find it.
BUT... the entire chapter of wiring diagrams? No matter how much I zoom in, I can't read the names of the signals on the wires and other information.
I notice that every page has "buttons" on it, which look like what a dealer would see, when logged into the manufacturer's maintenance system.
So... are dealers just doing mass screen dumps of their service system, regardless of image quality and charging customers a nominal fee for a pdf file?
Is this authorized?
Because I sent an email to the dealer that I bought the file from, to highlight this issue and... crickets.
OK... so maybe you get what you pay for... and if I want readable electrical diagrams, I'll have to buy the hardcopy of the manual from the OEM.
But... what a waste of trees.
Yet. I won't name yet... because I want to see if my story is specific to one brand/dealer, or if this is the norm nowadays.
Anyway, I needed a shop manual for our four year old tractor, as I wanted to track down where some of the wiring goes.
I go online, and I find that I can get a pdf of the 600 page shop manual for 42 bucks.
Good deal.
I order the manual. When I get the file, I can't search it for words (which means that the file is essentially a bunch of images, not a written file). This isn't a big deal, as I have a .pdf OCR (optical character recognition) utility. I process the file, so that it looks through pixel by pixel and turns any set of pixels that looks like an english letter...into an english letter.
Great... now I can search the document. I can use <CTRL><f> and search any word that I want... and it will find it.
BUT... the entire chapter of wiring diagrams? No matter how much I zoom in, I can't read the names of the signals on the wires and other information.
I notice that every page has "buttons" on it, which look like what a dealer would see, when logged into the manufacturer's maintenance system.
So... are dealers just doing mass screen dumps of their service system, regardless of image quality and charging customers a nominal fee for a pdf file?
Is this authorized?
Because I sent an email to the dealer that I bought the file from, to highlight this issue and... crickets.
OK... so maybe you get what you pay for... and if I want readable electrical diagrams, I'll have to buy the hardcopy of the manual from the OEM.
But... what a waste of trees.