A bottle gripping assembly including a pair of bottle gripping arms each having a grip member for gripping a bottle therebetween. The bottle gripping assembly also includes a base supporting the bottle gripping arms, with the base having a top surface and a recess into the top surface, a wear pad located in the recess of the base, with the wear pad and the base under the upper surface of the recess having a pair of aligned fastener holes, a pair of fasteners, with each one of the fasteners extending through one of the bottle gripping arms and into one of the fastener holes to connect the bottle gripping arms to the wear pad and the base, and a pair of wear bushings, with each of the wear bushings having a tubular portion that extends into one of the bottle gripping arms and surrounds a portion of the fasteners.