Cracked front

[Dave Puhl]

I have a CDL Maple Pro 2x6..this is my 7th season on it ..and I noticed the front has two cracks in it... upper right and lower left...no blower....anyone have this and did you do anything about it or just let her go????

[Schiefe4]

Dave,

I'm not familiar with the CDL front, but I have a Leader front that is cast iron and cracked on me. I drilled the ends of the cracks with a small diameter drill bit so the crack could not continue. Whatever ya do, do not weld the hole. The crack will continue through the weld. Just use a stove bolt to fill the hole. It might be over kill, but I also drilled two holes perpendicular/either side of the crack and bolted a small band of steel across the crack on the inside face of the front to hold the crack together as it is heated. So far everything has been holding up.

Hope this helps.

[Flat47]

I disagree about the welding. My Grimm arch front was cracked/broken and I mig welded it all back together. This is our third year running it (now with a blower, so the cast front gets really hot) and no problem at all. I expect the welds will crack again at some point, and I'll weld them up again. A pro welding shop can stick weld a cast front with proper rods to achieve durability.