Hole in my Koenig PTO cover

I'm currently re-building a Koenig model 51 PTO, and think I found the source of its slow fluid leak. There's a hole in the case cover!

You can see it here, bottom left of this picture:



More detailed shots here. It's definitely all the way through the case:







I have no idea how this happened. This PTO was on a farm jeep, but the location of the hole is up by the PTO lever, so I don't think it took a rock impact or anything like that.

From what I gather, the PTO has an aluminum case. Is this correct? Secondly, is it possible/safe to have it welded up? I ask because it's not like I can just go out and buy another rear cover for this unit. Welding seems like the best (read permanent) option. Other quicker but less effective options come to mind also (JBWeld, drill/tap/seal, etc).

Thanks for any advice!

 

get it tig welded. gotta be real clean should be able to clean the weld up with a grinder and you won't even be able to tell.

 

They are aluminum and can be welded up. I've had a couple of them welded over the years for people.

 

A decent spool gun on a mig will also weld that up. Almost looks like someone did some work on it before.

 

Drill it, Tap it and put a small pipe plug in it, if it is in a flat enough spot. If not use JB weld, it worked on mine.