Yes, his prices are high, but you said you were looking for a manual.
This is where I got my o-rings:
http://www.oringsusa.com/ No minimum, but shipping is high if you only buy 1 or 2. I bought o-rings for everything on my splitter and my floor jack at the same time. The nice thing about this place is you don't have to buy bags of 50 if you don't want to.
My dealing with Lowell in person were the opposite. He spent 1 1/2 hours with me teaching me how to sharpen a chainsaw with file years ago. He has given me free advice over the phone on problems over the years. I got the manual for my splitter (EK308) for free by copying the original and bringing him 3 to keep. Maybe he was having a bad day when you talked to him.
Bob