Get Old Farm Manuals ASAP From "Farm Manuals Fast"

Get Old Farm Manuals ASAP From Farm Manuals Fast SPECIALTY/SERVICES If you need an old tractor manual fast you may be able to get it in minutes thanks to Tyler Finchum The college freshman’s Farm Manuals Fast website is already well established with an ever-growing number of farm equipment manuals in electronic form He only carries older manuals that are off copyright so they can be legally reproduced “I have around 600 now most of the popular models scanned in and available for download ” says Finchum “About 75 percent are operator manuals with the rest parts and service manuals If there’s a lot of demand I try to purchase a service manual to go with the operator manual ” Visitors to Finchum’s website pay a fee to download them immediately If internet service is slow manuals can also be ordered on CD’s or flash drives Most manuals are priced at less than $20; however larger manuals are more expensive For example the complete 1 900-page technical manual for Deere’s 6620 Sidehill 6620 7720 and 8820 combines is priced at $99 99 Paper versions are not available Eventually he hopes to be able to add that option At this time printing copies of manuals would be too time consuming and costly for his one-man company Anyone who wants a hard copy manual can print their own after buying the electronic version “The majority of our customers just download to their computers ” says Finchum “Usually they need it as soon as possible ” Finchum got the idea for his website listening to his father and uncle describe the need for a manual for an older tractor When he found one online it cost $87 Then a high school junior he figured there had to be a better way to get a manual After buying a used book scanning system he got busy collecting and scanning older farm equipment manuals Initially he focused on IH and Deere and not that much on Massey Ferguson or Allis Chalmers “Most manuals can be scanned and converted to the right format in about an hour ” says Finchum “Service manuals take longer as ones for larger equipment like combines can run 1 200 pages Implement manuals are more popular than tractor manuals Baler manuals are really popular and I’m always looking for them ” Finchum has sold manuals to customers in 25 countries and every state in the U S He recently set up a foundation to provide manuals free to farmers in Third World countries While that effort hasn’t been as successful as he had hoped he is still building awareness He encourages FARM SHOW readers with manuals they would like to donate for use by his foundation to contact him directly via his website Contact: FARM SHOW Followup tylerfinchum@tylerfinchum com; www farmmanualsfast com

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