Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,721
Likes: 2,104
From: Madison, WI
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
I can't keep track of the all the changes Surly makes each year, are the Ogre forks designed for rear rack mounting. If I was going to try to mount a rear rack on the front, I would look at Old Man Mountain racks that attach at the cantilever posts instead of rack mounts on the seat stays.
Realistically, I do not know if you can get a rear rack on the front and have the part of the rack that is supposed to be horizontal actually be horizontal.
Rob_E makes a very good point about width of bottom of rack. If most rear racks are designed for 130/135mm spacing, to put that on a fork for a 100mm spacing means that you are squeezing the rack down by over an inch. You might be stressing the rack more if you have it bent out of the shape it is supposed to be in.