John, he's one of those guys who works out of an old converted gas station in a little town along a wide spot in the road. His property is dotted with lots of little storage buildings and lots of reconditioned mowers and trimmers and such out front for sale. I'm sure he does have the manuals, but I'd guess he has probably doesn't need to use the manual except for ordering parts.

I try to keep all of the manuals for things I buy, and I find this particularly useful if years later I decide to sell said item on eBay. It gives more credibility to the auction. There have been a few occasions when I couldn't find the original manual so I found one online and printed it up to send along. (This also helps me be sure the item is complete, and helps in describing it in the auction.)

SRS