where to buy a piranha bar?

[Garycw]

If it has a bit of a "wiggle" it'll be a bit of a return.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I think they can only be purchased direct from bxpanded.com . I ordered mine and it arrived pretty quickly.

I just installed mine weekend before last. Excellent instructions. Love the centerpunch stickers they provide. I made the centerpunch, used an Irwin titanium 3/16" pilot hole, then a 3/8" Irwin titatnium bit. Both at moderate speed with lots of cutting oil. Worked VERY well. Then I switched to a 3/4" bit I purchased via Amazon. I barely was able to get the two holes finished with that bit. Its pretty dulled up, but job done. I used a round file to soften the edges of the holes a bit and then spray painted (JD Green!) the insides of each hole to avoid corrosion.

I had to get bolts that are 1/2" longer than those that shipped. The side tabs fall slightly inward of the sides of the bucket. Instead of forcing the tabs outward I decided to buy two extra washers and place them between the side of the bucket and the tab - on each side. Its seems to work well.

I kind of wish the "hooks" across the blade edge were a bit longer and more ... uhm ... arched. It seems built for a sharper edge, and my JD 300CX HD bucket edge isn't very sharp. But its still on there solid and should do well. If weather holds it will be cutting into a mound of dense clay soil this weekend.

KennK, it doesn't look like your Piranha fits correctly. The hooks are supposed to bottom out against the front edge of your bucket, and yours don't. It appears the two mounting tabs are bottoming out before the hooks are.

If I was you, I'd send that pic to Harry and ask him for his opinion. He's a great guy and very customer-service oriented.

 

[sdef]

KennK, it doesn't look like your Piranha fits correctly. The hooks are supposed to bottom out against the front edge of your bucket, and yours don't. It appears the two mounting tabs are bottoming out before the hooks are.

If I was you, I'd send that pic to Harry and ask him for his opinion. He's a great guy and very customer-service oriented.

+1. I called him before I ordered mine with measurements, as my bucket had a bit of reinforcing on the sides I thought may interfere with the mounting. They made sure mine fit like the proverbial glove with a little coaxing. It has been awhile since I installed mine, but I seem to recall my mounting ear(s) were not at a perfect 90 angle either but the bolt fits and drew it all together nicely, possibly after using a clamp to tighten the two surfaces together so I could get the nut started.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

KennK: Here's a pic I took of mine during the installation. Notice the difference in how the "hooks" fit on mine versus yours. I'd call Harry if I were you.

 

[N2DFire]

I'm looking at it and one side of the bracket looks bent? Not sure the bolt would pull it back in or be long enough.

Ours had some slight bend in it as well. My guess is it's either "by design" so it won't be too tight to get in the bucket or it's "shipping damage"

Either way - as has been said - it will spread when you tighten it. We used a hammer & 2X4 block to make sure the bar was seated as far back onto the edge as it would go & then used large C clamps to pull the mounting tabs tight to the bucket wall and hold it right where it needed to be while we marked / drilled holes and while bolting it into place (the bolts were long enough to fit w/o the clamping it just made less work on tightening things up & the clamps were already there).

Once you do that you'll be fine and there won't be any "wiggle"

Just remember the mounting holes are elongated to allow for edge wear so be sure to drill your holes in the bucket wall close to the REAR of the holes in the mounting tab so the bar can be slid back along the bolts as needed over time.

All else fails - give Harry a call. He answered some of my pre purchase e-mail questions well after 6PM on a Sunday so customer service is top notch.

 

[Garycw]

All is well. Gave it a tap with 3lb sledge and fits like a glove. It's also seated very well using a 2x4 & hammer. Looking forward to trying it out, but having some much needed rain right now.