Is there a *real* service manual for XR series, and what are they selling on the web?

[strantor]

Hello, I'm strantor. First post here.
I'm a professional electronics nerd and a hobbyist mechanic & welder. First time tractor owner.

I bought an LS XR4140 two days ago and told the dealer I wanted every piece of technical documentation they had for it. They they told me that the owners manual should have all the info in it. It didn't. No electrical or hydraulic schematics, no exploded parts views with part numbers, nothing that satisfied my technical craving.

I got more specific. I said "I don't know what you guys would call it, but I'm looking for a 'shop manual' or 'service manual' or 'technical manual.' I want the book that YOUR technicians use to troubleshoot MY tractor when I bring it in with an electrical, hydraulic, or mechanical issue." They said that they use a computer system that only dealers have access to, but they would contact LS and get a service manual on order for me. 30+ minutes the service manager comes out and says he's made multiple calls to his LS contacts, and there is no such thing as a service manual for this tractor. It doesn't exist. ("Yet")

So I take my new tractor home, after I'm done playing with it I go inside and Google "XR4140 service manual" and this is the very first result:

'LS' Repair Manual, Shop/Service Manual for All 'XR' 3100 & 4100 Series Tractors

$300. I choked on that for a bit, searched around for a better deal or a downloadable PDF, couldn't find anything, so I went back and paid $300 for the manual.

This morning I left a 4/5 star Google review for the tractor dealership, praising their sales staff who were good to work with, but docked one star because the very first request I ever made of the service department they didn't come through, which makes me question the level of post-sales support and service I'm going to be getting on this machine in the future.

Couple of hours ago I get a call from the owner of the dealership, who had read my review, and followed up with the LS tractor company on my behalf. He said that LS confirms there exists no technical manual for this machine and the one for sale on the internet is not published or endorsed by them, and they have never heard of it. He said that the tech manuals that they do sell for other models, cost nowhere near $300, and I should be advised that this manual I have purchased could be a scam. He suggested I consider cancelling my order.

Now I don't know what to think. Has anyone on here ordered that manual, or anything from that company? It looked like a legitimate website to me. Would a dealership really go to such lengths to prevent me owning a service manual (keep me dependent on their service department)? That seems like a bit of a stretch that the whole sales team and half the service team would be united in a big tractorgate cover up of a tech manual. I'm inclined to believe that they are just relaying what LS is telling them.

So where does this manual come from? Is it a 3rd party publication like Haynes or Chilton's manual? Is it worth paying for?

 

[3Lfarms]

The dealer is right, mostly. Dealers log into the LS website and they can view the manuals. For some reason they aren’t supposed to sell or give them out. I asked the same thing. My dealer was trying to download the manual onto a thumb drive for me since I live two hours away. Basically it was a no-go. I never did get them. I would have paid for them, but they can’t release them. I’d be happy with a chart of all the codes that display on the dash. If you google search, some of the older models are out there and luckily most of the error codes are still the same.

I think you are talking about LS tractor parts? I think they are reputable, but they have the only manuals I can find. I think they are just printing them from the LS dealer website. Somehow I don’t think LS is happy about it.

 

[strantor]

The dealer is right, mostly. Dealers log into the LS website and they can view the manuals. For some reason they aren’t supposed to sell or give them out. I asked the same thing. My dealer was trying to download the manual onto a thumb drive for me since I live two hours away. Basically it was a no-go. I never did get them. I would have paid for them, but they can’t release them. I’d be happy with a chart of all the codes that display on the dash. If you google search, some of the older models are out there and luckily most of the error codes are still the same.

I think you are talking about LS tractor parts? I think they are reputable, but they have the only manuals I can find. I think they are just printing them from the LS dealer website. Somehow I don’t think LS is happy about it.

Thanks for the confirmation. If you're right about lstractorparts source of these manuals, then that's all the more reason NOT to cancel my order. I'm sure eventually LS will find a way to get it shut down.

 

[3Lfarms]

Their manuals are mostly for older models. I don’t see manuals for any of the machines that came out in the last couple of years.

 

[strantor]

Their manuals are mostly for older models. I don’t see manuals for any of the machines that came out in the last couple of years.

Well the XR4140 l just bought brand new. And I thought the model was a relatively new model to the market.

 

[George2615]

I have the XR3037HC which is a 2014 model. I ordered the repair manual from the dealer when I bought the tractor. It cost about $120. The repair manual is about 2" thick and did NOT come with the 3 ring binder.

The parts manual was a free download from another site. Your dealer should have been able to order a hard copy repair manual for your XR4140. Perhaps he could not find the part number for the manual. I don't know how user friendly the dealer ordering system is but the hard copy parts manual is not very user friendly.

Maybe you could contact LS directly and ask them to provide you with the part number of the hard copy XR4140 series repair manual so you can order it from your dealer.

 

[robertsa]

I purchased my tractor last year. I asked the dealer for the shop manuals; they gave them to me in PDF format for free. They can do it but most may not be willing to do so. If you can fix it yourself, their service department makes less money so I understand why they may not want to.

 

[chiefcook]

My Dealer Tried To Order A Service Manual For My XG 3025 But Had No luck. He copied their shop copy on a thumb drive and gave it to me.

 

[strantor]

Funny Story...

I sent an email to another LS Tractor dealership in out of state, telling the story about how my dealer said the manuals didn't exist. I basically told them (abridged version), "Look, I'm several hundred miles outside your region and would never bring my tractor there for service, so you have nothing to lose. I'm not stupid, I know they exist, Please sell me the manuals." They told me that they would upload the manuals to their server so that I could download them and they would delete them from the server, no charge (although I had already committed to purchasing a replacement hard copy user's manual). But before they would upload the manuals, they wanted to know the name of the dealer I bought from, who wouldn't give me the manuals. I told them I'm not trying to get anybody in trouble or make waves, I just want the manuals, and I don't want to burn the only bridge I have for local LS Tractor parts. They assured me it was just to soothe their curiosity, so I dropped a name and got my manuals. As I'm in the process of downloading the manuals, I get an email from the owner of the dealership I bought from, same guy who called me yesterday evening to confirm (again) that the manuals didn't exist, saying "sorry for the confusion, here's some links to the manuals." And no explanation as to how he got my email address.

So now I have two copies of PDF service manuals, and they don't match. Apparently there have been some changes to the manuals which were not carried out in the normal way of a change log and revision numbers. Both sets of books say "rev.1" but they are not the same. One set is 784 pages and the other is 1,366 pages. I called and cancelled my order for the 420 page hardcopy manual from LStractorParts, and I still don't know what that book is. I'm not willing to pay $300 to find out, either.

I'm a happy camper now.

 

[JLwoodworks]

I had some poor repairs done under warranty at my dealer. I brought everything to their attention and fixed what they screwed up.
They asked what I wanted, I said the shop manual. In print not electronically. They agreed. What I got is about 3" think. Printed double side. It's missing the index though. I've checked back with them months later and they tell me it still isn't available to them online and they're waiting for LS to make it available. So here I wait

 

[donaldj]

Strantor, any chance of you linking them?

 

[Omega Woods]

They they told me that the owners manual should have all the info in it. It didn't.

This sentence should be entered in the understatement of the century competition. :laughing:

Welcome to TBN!

 

[Omega Woods]

I wonder if LS cares that this issue would be a deal-breaker for some people (like me)? I don't mind paying hefty sums for manuals but I wouldn't buy a piece of machinery without an available shop manual.

 

[strantor]

I wonder if LS cares that this issue would be a deal-breaker for some people (like me)? I don't mind paying hefty sums for manuals but I wouldn't buy a piece of machinery without an available shop manual.

I rolled over too easily. If I had walked out the door they would have chased me down with manuals in hand I'm sure.

 

[JLinder]

As far as I know LS stopped offering printed service manuals a few years ago but does have pdf versions available in the dealer portal. Obviously some kind of service manual would be required for proper diagnosis and repair by dealers. We've never had an issue providing pdf versions of the service and parts manuals to our customers. I'm not sure that LS is okay with it, but I personally don't have a problem with a customer having access to service information for their new purchase.

 

[wmasmith]

As far as I know LS stopped offering printed service manuals a few years ago but does have pdf versions available in the dealer portal. Obviously some kind of service manual would be required for proper diagnosis and repair by dealers. We've never had an issue providing pdf versions of the service and parts manuals to our customers. I'm not sure that LS is okay with it, but I personally don't have a problem with a customer having access to service information for their new purchase.

What would you charge for a an electronic copy of the manual? You can PM me if you would prefer to not post it publicly.

 

[Avenger]

What would you charge for a an electronic copy of the manual? You can PM me if you would prefer to not post it publicly.

Ditto!
I would gladly pay for a pdf of the manual for an XR4145C, just not $300!

 

[RayfromTX]

After I downloaded the manual, I had my local printer process it through adobe to make it very nicely searchable and then load it on a stick for me. Charge was 15$

 

[strantor]

Ditto!
I would gladly pay for a pdf of the manual for an XR4145C, just not $300!

Check your inbox. Please do not pay anybody for content they did not create and/or do not own the copyright to. Unless you're paying for a service, like @RayfromTX did. But the manuals I have are already searchable.

 

[Avenger]

Check your inbox. Please do not pay anybody for content they did not create and/or do not own the copyright to. Unless you're paying for a service, like @RayfromTX did. But the manuals I have are already searchable.

Thank you!