Replace FEL Bucket Cutting Edge With Pirhanna Bar?

[npalen]

I've attached the Pirhanna Bar as shown but wondering about replacing the existing cutting edge with the Pirhanna Bar. The existing cutting edge is 1/2" thick and worn very blunt so it's not going to let material pass over it very well after the Pirhanna slices it.
I would leave the existing cutting edge where it wraps up around the end of the bucket but cut the welds to remove the rest of the cutting edge. The Pirhanna bar would then weld in place.
What are your thoughts? Anyone know what type of steel the Pirhanna is made of? Wearability?

 

[chim]

I can't imagine that small edge would matter at all. I think fines from the material you're scraping up will sort of caulk the space.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I agree. By the time the soil gets to that edge, it is already broken up. You can remove it if you want to, but I don't think you'll see any difference in performance.

 

[npalen]

I was also a little concerned about the loss of bucket breakout force due to the added distance from the bucket pivot. It may be, however, that the benefit of the "teeth" would tend to counteract the loss of mechanical advantage.

 

[chim]

I was also a little concerned about the loss of bucket breakout force due to the added distance from the bucket pivot. It may be, however, that the benefit of the "teeth" would tend to counteract the loss of mechanical advantage.

You'll be fine leaving the factory edge on. It should help keep the bucket rigid and resist bending the edge. I added a smooth chisel-shaped edge to my bucket right after the tractor was delivered to save the factory cutting edge. On the last tractor I added an edge after the first winter, and the factory edge showed a substantial amount of wear.

The Piranha bar is very impressive looking and there have been some very favorable reviews. We have our property to the point where there isn't much digging for anything or I'd consider buying or making such a bar. I have vendors for waterjet and laser cutting different parts we use and it wouldn't be hard to sketch one up in AutoCAD and send one of them a DXF file and have them squirt the parts out.

 

[npalen]

Yeah, I'm not dissing the Pirhana bar. It's a great idea! I am curious as to what the "smooth chisel-shaped edge" looks like. Is it something that welds to the factory cutting edge?
I had to laugh at your term "squirt the parts out". That does seem a great description of water jet cutting. I do think that the unique part of the Pirhana bar is the notches being cut on an angle. I'm not aware of many plasma, laser or water jets that have this capability.

A 5-axis machine would allow the same angle of sharpness on all the cut surfaces. The cutting surfaces on a 2 1/2 axis, however, with the head simply tilted will vary in angle depending on whether they are perpendicular to or at an angle to the direction of cut travel. Again, I'm not dissing the Pirhana--it's a great tool.

 

[Neil L]

I had the problem of worn out cutting edge and not being able to properly mount the pirhana. After thinking it through about snow removal and scooping various materials off asphalt, I spent less than $100 for a new 4" cutting edge. My weld shop removed the worn edge and welded the new on, now the bucket strength is greatly improved and I can use either the teeth or the smooth edge we all are used to. Hope this helps.
Best,Neil

 

[4570Man]

I wouldn't want to weld anything to my bucket edge. I have a bolt on tooth bar. It is awesome, but I want to be able to take it off.

 

[chim]

...............I am curious as to what the "smooth chisel-shaped edge" looks like. Is it something that welds to the factory cutting edge?
I had to laugh at your term "squirt the parts out". That does seem a great description of water jet cutting. I do think that the unique part of the Pirhana bar is the notches being cut on an angle. I'm not aware of many plasma, laser or water jets that have this capability. ...........................

The description wasn't the best. A better description may have been "non-serrated 45* cutting edge". Here's a picture. It was cut from a piece of stainless bar I found hiding in a pile at work. It is fastened by pieces of stainless allthread that are plug-welded into it and ground smooth on the bottom side.

This saw a lot of use gathering fill when we buried our 1,000 gallon propane tank. We set the tank at the base of a bank and extended the bank to cover the tank. The bed and quite a bit of fill came from a volleyball court nobody used anymore. That was 76 tons of sand, and a similar amount of clean stone. The remainder is topsoil that was shaved off the bottom yard. The topsoil donor area was cut down nearly 18" at the creek to zero toward the house. When we built we excavated for utilities crossing the creek and the topsoil ran several feet down.

I'm not sure what the limitations of the vendors are. I made the assumption the laser guy could do the angles. One of my shop foremen went to a demo at the one laser shop and came back very impressed. I'll have to ask before I get my hopes up.

EDIT TO ADD: Here's one of the vendors we use.

Structural Laser at PBZ LLC

 

[npalen]

Does the stainless look like its holding up well from a wear standpoint? Sounds like you've done more work with it that some of us will in a lifetime. That's a nice piece of work!
I got a chance this evening to use the Pirhana bar on some hard packed dirt. It is definitely as advertised! Very happy with it!