Russ called me back this afternoon. He's got a full time gig but offered to fix me up the weekend after next at his father in laws shop. That just happens to be about 5 streets up the hill.
I redesigned the plate to be longer with a radius and smaller holes. The frame is already basically plated on the inside with the cradle but I agree, I'll have Russ add some metal to connect the cradle to the exterior plate on a longer run to distribute more load.
