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What is the best manual to purchase

The shop or repair/overhaul manual is a must. The parts manual will help you a lot too, showing how things go together and will help when looking for parts. Even the operators manual can tell you useful information. All three are best if you can find them. Try and get manuals for the specific tractor you are working on, not a manual that covers several different models.
 
Get a real service manual written by the manufacturer of your machine for your particular machine, not those I&T things. I&T manuals are so generic as to be worthless. If you can't get a real original one, Jensen's has good reproductions. A parts manual can be a big help too to show parts assembly, parts differences for different serial number breaks and what parts are available separately and which ones come as part of an assembly.
 

I purchased a reprint of the original shop manual from "New Old Manuals.com" I am very happy with it. It even has a lifetime warrantee in case some of it becomes unreadable due to grease, coffee, whatever. It was around $75.00 back then. It is about 2.5 inches thick. Recently I downloaded one and printed it myself. It is about an inch thick, took a lot of ink and paper. I don't see myself having a laptop in my shop, so the paper is very handy.
 
Get all orignal types from manufacture and also the I & T that some say do not get but there is stuff in then that is not in factory and the other way around. It bight be just a different view in a picture that will show what you are looking for that the factory one does not have or just a simple refrazing of words. But for the price of the I & T manuals you cannot afford not to have them.
 
I'm with you on the IT manuals, Leroy- The factory manuals are necessary, but they sometimes assume you have all the dealer tools and resources, while the IT manuals often have a "work-around" if you don't have that tool (or even know what it looks like).

I see no one mentioned any general purpose publications, like Tractor Restoration for Dummies, etc.- I couldn't think of any that are really very useful beyond the basic skills needed, which most folks already have if they're taking on a restoration.
 
My experience is IT manuals provide just enough information to get a person in trouble. Pay the extra money and get factory manuals, either original or copies.
 
The John Deere fos series of manuals are generic information for all make of tractors they tell you how to diagnose and repair systems like engines , electrical systems , drive trains , hydraulics , and air conditioning . Then they have a fmo series that gives operation and adjustment of machines like combines and hay equipment with diagnostic charts
https://m.deere.com/en_US/services_and_support/manuals/john-deere-publishing.page
 
I do not agree with you on that about getting you in trouble. But it is best to have BOTH types of manuals as one may have a slightly differen view on a picture or a slightly different wording on something that will help you understand what the other is saying. You need to use them together, not individually. And I do have both early and late versions of the IT manuals for my tractor and the later version covers what is not covered in the factory manual that came with the tractor when the tractor was new. Each one will describe things slightly different and read all and you can put the information together in a form you can use.
 
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