Briggs & Stratton "Service Bulletins"

[creia]

I was given a couple of those binders. Still sitting on the shelf. Hmmm Maybe I need pull them down to see if that service bulletin is in one of them.

I have one of those as well. Already looked- no "Service Bulletins" in mine....
Michael

[bgsengine]

They had another binder , about a third of the thickness of the parts book, that *I THINK* covered service bulletins, engine replacement specifications, and other "side" stuff not directly related to repair parts lookups, if I remember right. The parts catalog was Blue, the supplement book was red covers. So there were actually TWO big binders (Total shelf space about 18 inches or so) that most dealers (pre-microfiche) would have had on their counter. Once Microfiche became Mainstream, the paper manuals often were no longer updated - likewise once computers became mainstream, (ARI Parts lookups grew out of that period) , Microfiche quickly became obsolete as well. So, if you want to collect old info from closed dealerships, keep an eye out for Microfiche collections too (You'll need a special reader for them - I think the main one was Eye-COM if I remember correctly - unlike newspaper microfiche on rolls, these were meant for the flat sheets for parts lookups.)

[creia]

Yes, I have the Briggs "parts catalog" (Blue) binder dated 1978.
Michael

[bgsengine]

They had another binder , about a third of the thickness of the parts book, that *I THINK* covered service bulletins, engine replacement specifications, and other "side" stuff not directly related to repair parts lookups, if I remember right. The parts catalog was Blue, the supplement book was red covers. So there were actually TWO big binders (Total shelf space about 18 inches or so) that most dealers (pre-microfiche) would have had on their counter. Once Microfiche became Mainstream, the paper manuals often were no longer updated - likewise once computers became mainstream, (ARI Parts lookups grew out of that period) , Microfiche quickly became obsolete as well. So, if you want to collect old info from closed dealerships, keep an eye out for Microfiche collections too (You'll need a special reader for them - I think the main one was Eye-COM if I remember correctly - unlike newspaper microfiche on rolls, these were meant for the flat sheets for parts lookups.)

And you know what, now that I'm thinking on these, I seem to recall a third book in Yellow for some reason... Yup been too long to remember for sure.. Blue for parts Red for engines, yellow supplements? or maybe it was short blocks on one of those & supplements on the other.... so maybe it was 3 binders in all for a Briggs dealer from the 70's-80's - Microfiche parts catalogs started creeping in around then I think....

[KE4AVB]

Boy those were the days we could count things being 3/4 of the way right. But they got computers now and screw up nearly every thing. I do however like not having to fight the silverfish to keep manuals intact just computer viruses.

But seriously it seems a lot of the old records have been lost for our use. This why I am a data pack rat myself. Even some those records are still on paper. Technology just keeps changing so fast. Back in the 80's I would nearly kill for a 1Gb hard drive but my 500Gb is already so far outdated it will require me updating the whole system now. Back in the 80's we ran an accounting system on a 5Mb hard drive and had lots extra storage space.

[SUKI]

Oh well Briggs says they can't find that bulletin anywhere they looked. It might be just too old to find. So we have hope an old timer has a copy that they can scan for us.

[lonewolf]

.

I do however like not having to fight the silverfish to keep manuals intact just computer viruses.

If you ditch Windows and run Linux, you'll not have to worry about viruses. See? There is a way around everything. LOL!

.

[KE4AVB]

Yes but Wine would not run my accounting software 7 years ago so I stop fighting trying to get it to and went back to Windows.

[creia]

Oh well Briggs says they can't find that bulletin anywhere they looked. It might be just too old to find. So we have hope an old timer has a copy that they can scan for us.

Oh well, thank you SUKI. I do very much appreciate your efforts!
Michael

[lonewolf]

Yes but Wine would not run my accounting software 7 years ago so I stop fighting trying to get it to and went back to Windows.

I used to struggle to get Wine working correctly. I finally decided to just forget all the Windows apps and use Linux apps. For those very few cases where someone just had to have some Windows program, I set up VirtualBox. As for my wife and I, we just found Linux apps that do whatever we need done. It was less frustrating finding new apps to do our work than trying to keep Windows working. She was a bookkeeper for 35 years, give or take, and she absolutely hated trying to get work done an a Windows PC. She would come home every evening totally frustrated with her Windows PC at work. She complained abut Windows locking up, slowing down, or requiring reboots all day. Then, she'd get on her Linux laptop and everything would be much better for her. The other thing we both hated about Windows and Windows apps was that they all cost big money to buy and update. Everything on Linux is free, free, free. Trouble free and free, all in one swell package deal. Hard to beat.