Thanks! Luckily, we don't have those derbys down here, but a lot of old iron does go to the salvage yard. The original owner was meticulous about care and maintenance.
Ha! Yes, very itchy. And thanks. When I was much younger, I remember driving the grain cart (dad in the combine) with a 706 and no cab. You can't always outguess the wind!
My grandfather had a 403 that he bought at the IH dealer in Rock Port Mo in 1970. He had a 4 row corn head and a 12 foot grain head used for soy beans and wheat. He sold it at auction in 1980 when he retired.
My dad had a 403 and 503, but I was too young at the time to remember them much. I remember most the 915 that he bought in 1970, an early tall model with a white unloader auger. Good machine.
Yes its a 1969 model, at some point in 69 they switched from the red cab to white cabs, and changed the international decals on the front of the hopper from IH mccormick international to the newer standard INTERNATIONAL. Our 303,403 and 503 are all 69 models but 303 is original red cab, the 403 is original white with newer style decal, and the 503 was originally a white cab( now red) but had the older decals still. Nice machine.
Thanks for the information! I eventually found some date code castings that seem to confirm the 1969 year. It would be nice if there was a serial number by year breakdown like there is for tractors.
I gotta 403 up here in MN! Been in shed for 10 yrs. Worked last used. Gonna get er running again. Looking for a corn head. Has a pickup head. Looks like a nightmare to change out heads tho. Been researching to modify corn head I can use. Would prefer a 4 row 30" head. My guess in the 60s original was 36" rows. Any ideas? Let me know. Good to see a 403 in action! Love the ole school farming. Thanks for sharing 😊
I'd like to see a video of you getting it going again. My 403 sat in a barn for around 30 years. It took a bit to get her going again, but operates just fine now. I also looked into getting a corn head. I have no experience with the pickup head, but if it's similar to the grain head, yes it could be a pain. The 403 style heads have the header and feeder house as one unit (not quick attach). Then, the grain head is driven by a belt, but the corn heads larger than 2 row are driven by chain. so the drive pulley on the combine has to be changed out to a sprocket. This looks like a pain to do if you could even find the sprocket. In my research, I found that you can swap out the 403 feeder house for one from a 715 (at some serial number break that I don't remember), and then use the later model quick attach heads. I do believe they made some narrow row heads, but my books are out in the barn so will have to check that later.
Had a 1977 IH 715. The overall build looks like it stayed pretty much the same. The 15 series had a square back end, that’s about all the difference I see.
I wanted to plant some sorghum one year to add organic matter into the ground somehow I ended up with Milo at the sorghum seed price that stuff makes a lot of organic matter God is good like that.
the cab being a different color makes me wonder if it was original. an (almost) uncle had a combine like that in the early 60's. i did see it run once or twice; mostly he worked on it. he also had a milo patch (a rarity there) that a piper cub landed in.
I've heard/seen crop dusters come down in fields, but not a Piper Cub! Interesting. On the cab color, my understanding is that the early 403's had a red cab and the later ones a white cab, but I don't remember what year IH made the switch.
