I haven't forgotten about this topic, but after calling around to a couple local foundries and a few out in the midwest, I was either shut down right off the bat, or was told that they'd want a near fortune for each piece (one foundry said 800-1k each) which just about made me throw up. We're not doing cast silver, we're talking about cast iron or cast aluminum.
Oh well.
I'm still going to explore other options, but that's been put on hold for the winter as I'm a bit busy with all the snow.
I realize there are a few nay-sayers on the thread talking about how someone must abuse or bang into stuff with their machines if they're worried about cracked noses, and even one comment about seeing plenty of busted cast noses...
To that, although I haven't had many cyclops or other plastic-nosed tractors (compared to how many n/f's I've had) I can say that more than 9 out of 10 of all plastic-nosed tractors I've seen (including other makes) have had some sort of damage to them. ...and aside from one very clearly beaten on (I'm talking it looks like someone got over zealous with a hammer), I've never seen a busted cast iron or cast aluminum nose. Sure I've seen some stripped out or cracked holes in some cast aluminum pieces, but nothing that really affected the structure of the piece.
Anyway, I'm off my soapbox now. I'll keep trying to find a way to get it cast at an affordable price. In the meantime, I'll make sure I only use my narrow-frame machines a battering rams.
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