McCormick International No 403 and 503 Combine Features

[@stephensaasen8589]

My dad took on the family farm in Eastern Washington in 1983. Our first combine was a 403 hillside with a 4 way leveller. That was a really great machine. He bought a 2nd one in the early 1990's because the hydrostatic drive control broke. Next summer we ran both. He then bought a John Deere 6602 in 1993. I really liked those old 403's and wished I had the chance to operate one more than that one summer.

[@frankwurth5375]

I had 2 403s, early versions. Kept one on 4 row corn and the other on the 14 ft platform. They were good machines, I put wheel weights on the rear axle to keep the wheels on the ground when reversing. Those era corn heads were super heavy, the 963 6 row I have now weighs considerably less. Those 503s were capable of 6 row corn, many got the modern feeder house and carried the newer 6 row heads. Most 403 and 503 machines dissappeared when the rotaries took over.

[@interman7715]

Thanks for the video ,I think IHC had it nailed with this series .

[@davemcewen9991]

I HAD a 503 its only down fall was the heads and flat belt cylinder pulley ,in 77 i cut the throat off the grain head and got a quick attach cradle for a 815 and adapted it to the 503 and got a 844 corn head ,that made it a whole different machine ,ran it for years until i upgraded to a 1460 axle flow when i expanded the operation.But the 503 sure had capacity back in the day.

[@interman7715]

I have been watching some videos on the 503 ,man they are a big capacity machine .A fellow on KZbin has a 503 on a 6 row corn front in a 215 bushel crop at 3.5 mph !!!

[@gleanerk]

Thanks for flipping the record! Thanks for sharing!

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

It was a heavy one, but I got the job done. Lol!

[@30acreshop_time]

What intrigues me is the shive thing, adjusting one shive adjusts the other as well. That’s pretty smart. I was thinking of buying an old John Deere 55 square back, but I found an international 503 and being more of an IH guy I think I’m gonna buy the 503 after watching this and just being an IH guy lol. Thanks

[@rodneycody8746]

Nice seams like no one ever got along with mccormick on there own with deer and international don't know why

[@pinesedgefarm1155]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

Glad you enjoyed!! (currently playing catch-up in comments :vD)

[@charlietanner6211]

started with 101 had few masseys which are good to but harder to work on higher prices for parts and few dealers then ended with 715s they were the best still have enough new parts to almost r/r 715

[@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin]

Didn't realize the 503 was big enough for a 4 row head..

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

Nor the 403. All i can picture there is lifting the head & ending up with your tail in the air. Like a 6 row on a 1460.

[@farmallfan1466]

We used to use 403 with a 4row 40in corn head

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

@@farmallfan1466 Did you have waterways or hills to contend with? I'd imagine is would be ok on flat ground.

[@robertpayne2717]

You never ran a MF 410 or 510 the 410 with a 15 ft. Grain head would unless lowered would stand you on your head going down off the highway...

[@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin]

@@robertpayne2717 no sir, only Massey's around here were 92s, and some 750s and 760s.. and the 750&760 here usually had a 15', maybe an 18' platform, any bigger and the machines couldn't move slow enough to work..

[@mattlf9120]

Huge 106 horsepower! 😂

[@dejavu6475]

Why add a flywheel instead of adding strength and weight to the cylinder components?

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

Good question! Not sure why myself, but if I were to venture an amateur guess, it may be to get around somebody else's patents or to create something unique that other companies can't copy. I'll leave it up to someone else to fill in the details, if they have any insight.

[@davemcewen9991]

It kept the momentum of the cyl. up to speed ,taking less hp to drive it.

[@mattlf9120]

Maybe it was easier to balance a flywheel than it was to balance a heavier cylinder assembly? I'm not sure either.