IH 203 combine

LarryB1486 · Oct 25, 2020

It's been a while sense I have visited or posted on YT but saw something last week that brought back memories. Been retired from farming for 5 years now but work part time driving a truck, when I ran across a old IH 203 combine that still worked. It looked almost identical to the one I had with a IH factory cab. The 203 was the first self propelled combine I owned. Ran that machine for 10 years. Back in the 1970's my beans advg. 15-20 bu per a and corn 35-50 bu per a. As the years went by, yields would increase. I had a 2 row corn head and 13 ft bean head on it. In 1978 I went from 36" rows to narrow 30". My local IH dealer had a 3 row narrow head to fit it. I think the number was 327. In 1980 I my good corn was around 70-80 bu per a. Had a 3 row head on it but at times could only take 2 rows. It had big enough cylinder to handle it but the machine could not handle the volume. Sold that combine in 1982. Just wondering if anyone else ever ran a 203? Most farmers in my area had 303 and 403's. I never saw very many around in my part of the world years ago in southern Illinois.

Jon Erickson · Oct 25, 2020

Never ran a 203, but wanted to say that your post was interesting to read. Reminiscing is good to do.

AJB-830 · Oct 27, 2020

I never ran a 203 but did run a 205 for many years. The 205 was basically a 203 with a 6 cylinder engine. We had a lot of 203s and 205s in my area of NE Wisconsin back when they were new. The one I had just had a 10 ft. grain head. I think my dad bought it used in about 1978 from a neighbor and I used until 2010 when I bought a JD 4420. The combine worked OK as we only used it for about 15 acres of oats and 15 acres of wheat each year. My local IH dealer told me mine was a 1972 model and that he sold 18 of them the last year they were made which was 1972.

1206SWMO · Oct 28, 2020

Dad got a one year old 203 IH after the 1965 fall harvest was over...It replaced a 1959 model 72 Massey..The 203 was great in small grains but wasn't worth much in soybeans, milo, or corn..We lost lots of bearings and the ground drive clutch went out twice even though 1966 was a real dry year..The two grain bins wouldnt fill even...In weedy beans the feeder chain was bent all the time and was pulled almost every evening to straighten bent bars......When the 1966 fall harvest was over the 203 was traded in for a new E Gleaner..Another farmer bought the 203 and ran it for a year before getting a new E Gleaner...Yet another farmer bought the 203 and after running it for a year also got a new E Gleaner....We lost track of the 203 after that...It was about the only 203 in this part of the country...Even though it wasn't a great combine I enjoyed driving it as a 17 year old boy..Sadly we took no pictures of it.

IH 203 combine

LarryB1486

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Jon Erickson

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AJB-830

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1206SWMO

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