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Log tongs buying guide: who lifts, and what the jaw fits

Updated: October 2026

You have a woodpile or a tractor, and the amazon.co.uk title hides three different tools. A log tongs buying guide starts with who lifts the log. If you walk the round to the stove, you want a hand scissor tong around £19 to £22. If a machine lifts it, you want a grapple, and someone still has to set the jaws on the ground. The seven listings are on the [log lifting tongs comparison](/hub/pliers/log-lifting-tongs). The Products Compared editorial team used stored amazon.co.uk files from 16 October 2026 and did not proof-load a tong. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a woodpile or a tractor, and the amazon.co.uk title hides three different tools. A log tongs buying guide starts with who lifts the log.

Our top picks

TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs

Best overall

TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs
7.6/10about £18.99
View offer
FITOOL FITOOL 300 mm log tongs

Rank 2

FITOOL FITOOL 300 mm log tongs
8.2/10about £21.99
View offer
Insaga Insaga 81 cm 4-claw tong

Alternative

Insaga Insaga 81 cm 4-claw tong
6.2/10about £111.45
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Hand tong or machine grapple
  2. 2.Match the opening to the round
  3. 3.Read the load line
  4. 4.Clashes to notice before you pay

Hand tong or machine grapple

A hand scissor tong is one pivot, two pointed jaws, and a handle you push down to bite. In this set those tools weigh 750 g to 1.46 kg and cost £18.99 to £21.99. HSE’s woodworking sheet INDG318 names log tongs because round timber is a poor grip and you bend to hug it. The tong improves the grip. It does not cancel the weight. A 4-claw grapple here weighs 16.2 kg to 22.5 kg and costs £65.99 to £111.45. You set it on the ground and the chain closes it. You do not walk that claw to the log store. The weight split is hand log tongs or a tractor grapple. Chris Forestry lists a 42 cm tong at £68, 4 kg, with a stated 1.5 tonne. Woodsmith lists Bahco forged hand tongs from £38.50.

Match the opening to the round

Measure the largest round you actually move, across the bark. Hand listings here claim about 300 mm, about 30 cm, or 20 inches. TOPWAY and FITOOL say 300 mm and also say 12 inches. Twelve inches is 305 mm, so the page is already rounding. GAESHOW says about 30 cm unfolded. Berjalan says a maximum of 20 inches, about 508 mm, and the tool length is not printed. Machine listings jump a size. Insaga’s titles say 32 inches or 81 cm. Garvee’s bullet says 7–90 cm while the title says 91 cm. An Italian review on the TOPWAY file says 37 cm, against a 300 mm bullet. Close the empty tong on your measured diameter before you trust either line. If the round is wider than the jaw, the tool does not fit.
TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs

Testsieger

TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs
7.6/10about £18.99
View offer

Read the load line

A kilogram in a bullet is a sentence. A working load limit is a mark on the accessory. None of the seven files shows that mark or a declaration of conformity. Chris Forestry’s 42 cm tong states 1.5 tonne and cites EN 13155:2003. Bahco 1449 states 1,500 kg at £151.20 including VAT. Neither figure rates these copies. Orange powder coat is paint, not a proof load. A hanging log at work is log tongs lifting or skidding.

Clashes to notice before you pay

Read two lines of the same listing before you treat a bullet as the tool in the box. Berjalan’s table lists power source ac_dc on a tool with no electrical feature. The useful UK review says to loosen the pivots and oil them. Garvee states 3.6 ton and has no review text, so that tonne has no buyer account in the file. FITOOL is 4.4 from 598 reviews, with more than one report of bent arms, including one that names 10 kg logs. For rounds that fit a jaw you have measured and that you move yourself, the £18.99–£21.99 hand tongs match the job. If a machine lifts and you need a tonne you can treat as a mark, look at a trade tong such as the £68 Chris Forestry listing.

Common questions

Do I buy a hand tong or a grapple first?
Buy the hand tong if you lift the round yourself and it fits a jaw you have measured, about 300 mm or the 20 inch claim. Buy a grapple only if a tractor, winch, or loader takes the weight, and plan for someone on the ground to set and release the jaws. A 16 kg claw is a poor tool to walk to the stove.
Is 12 inch the same as 300 mm on these listings?
The TOPWAY and FITOOL bullets pair 12 inches with 300 mm. Twelve inches is 305 mm, so the listing is rounding. One FITOOL review could not span a 200 mm sleeper face and could span the 100 mm edge. Measure the wood, and treat 300 mm as a claim to check with the empty tong, not as a guaranteed opening.
What does a bullet-point tonne mean?
It means the seller wrote a number. GAESHOW’s 200 kg, berjalan’s 110 lb, and Garvee’s 3.6 ton are bullets. None of those files shows a marked working load limit. A trade page that states 1.5 tonne and names EN 13155:2003 is a different kind of sentence. It is not a rating of these seven ASINs.
Why does one listing say steel and the table say plastic?
GAESHOW’s bullets say thick steel. The material table says acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, which is plastic. Both lines are in the stored file, with about 43 cm against 35 cm and a pair against a count of 1. Decide from the tool you unpack, not from one row on its own.
When is a £19 tong enough?
It is enough for firewood rounds that fit the jaw, carried or dragged by one person, when you accept a short or mixed review file and no printed capacity. TOPWAY is £18.99 in this set. It is the wrong spend when the log must hang from a machine, or when the round is already wider than the opening you measured.

Related pages

Best log lifting tongs

Log lifting tongs

Hand log tongs or a tractor grapple: who lifts the log

How to use log tongs: bite, drag, and then release

Log tongs lifting or skidding: yard drag or a lift

Sources

Public UK sources and the stored amazon.co.uk listings, checked on 16 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the UK figures in the display file.

  1. HSE INDG318: Manual handling solutions in woodworking (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. HSE INDG143: Manual handling at work (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. HSE: Lifting equipment in forestry (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. LOLER 1998, regulation 9 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. PUWER 1998, regulation 4 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: Product marking, UKCA and CE (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. Chris Forestry: 42 cm timber tongs, 1.5 tonne (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Woodsmith: Bahco lifting tongs (retrieved 16 October 2026)