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Log tongs lifting or skidding

Updated: October 2026

Dragging a log across your own yard is a handling job. Hanging that log from a chain at work is a lift. Log tongs lifting or skidding splits on that line, because the same jaw can be a grip for your hands or an accessory on a loader. A bullet that says ton does not choose the regime for you. The listings are the [log lifting tongs comparison](/hub/pliers/log-lifting-tongs). The Products Compared editorial team used HSE pages and stored amazon.co.uk files on 16 October 2026. Nobody here proof-loaded a claw. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Dragging a log across your own yard is a handling job. Hanging that log from a chain at work is a lift.

Our top picks

TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs

Best overall

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

Rank 2

FITOOL FITOOL 300 mm log tongs
8.2/10about £21.99
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Garvee Garvee 91 cm 4-claw grapple

Alternative

Garvee Garvee 91 cm 4-claw grapple
1.8/10about £65.99
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On this page
  1. 1.Skidding and carrying at home
  2. 2.A lift at work
  3. 3.A bullet is not a working load limit
  4. 4.Stop using it

Skidding and carrying at home

At home, with the log on the ground, you are in manual handling. HSE’s sheet INDG318 names log tongs because round timber is awkward to grip and you bend to hug it. The tong is a handling aid. It does not erase the weight. You still plan the route, keep a carried load close, and put it down before you change your feet. INDG143’s figures are filters, not safe limits and not a legal maximum. The women’s knuckle-height pair is printed as 10 kg and 16 kg. Use the smallest box your hands pass through. A private woodpile becomes a lift when the log is suspended from a machine. The scissor stroke is how to use log tongs.

A lift at work

Once the log leaves the ground on a chain, a winch, or a loader, and that work is your job, the equipment rules change. PUWER 1998 regulation 4 requires work equipment to be suitable. LOLER 1998 applies to lifting equipment used at work. Accessories must be fit for the task and marked, and they are thoroughly examined at least every six months unless a competent person sets an examination scheme. HSE’s forestry note says people stay out from under a suspended load, and the operator needs the safe working load. A self-employed lift is not exempt because the tool came from amazon.co.uk. Great Britain still allows UKCA or recognised CE marking for lifts. Northern Ireland follows the Windsor Framework goods rules. None of these seven files prints that marking. Who holds the tool is on hand log tongs or a tractor grapple.
TOPWAY TOPWAY 300 mm log tongs

Testsieger

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

A bullet is not a working load limit

A working load limit is a mark the operator can use. A bullet is a sentence. Garvee says up to 3.6 ton. That figure is not turned into a kilogram here, because there is no marked limit to convert. GAESHOW says up to 200 kg on a 750 g tong whose material table also says ABS plastic. Berjalan says 110 lb, about 50 kg only as a unit translation. Both Insaga grapples print no load figure. Chris Forestry’s 42 cm tong, at £68, states 1.5 tonne and names EN 13155:2003. Bahco 1449 states 1,500 kg. Those lines do not certify Garvee, GAESHOW, or Insaga.

Stop using it

Take the tool out of service when a weld has cracked or a hook clip has gone. On Insaga B0DRFWDRN6, two UK reviews say a weld failed on the first use or the second lift. On B0D3TY975J, two reviews say the safety clip broke the first time the hook was coupled. Two reviews are a reason to retire that tong. They are not a failure rate for every orange claw. The same stop applies where someone could walk under the log. The next jaw starts on the log tongs buying guide: measure the round, decide who lifts, and treat the next tonne as unmarked until a mark says otherwise.

Common questions

Is skidding the same as lifting?
No. Skidding and carrying, with the log on the ground, are manual handling. Lifting here means the log is suspended from a machine, a winch, or a chain. A hand tong dragged across a yard is the first case. The same shape of jaw on a loader hook is the second.
Do LOLER rules apply in my garden?
Not to a private woodpile where you handle your own logs and nothing is suspended as work equipment. INDG318 and the filter figures are the household frame, and 25 kg is not a legal maximum. LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work.
When does a tong become a lifting accessory?
When it is used at work to attach a suspended load. A scissor tong in your hand, walking a round to the stove, is a handling aid. A grapple on a chain, raising a butt at work, is a lifting accessory.
Is 25 kg the legal maximum I can carry?
No. INDG143’s boxes are filters, not safe limits. The men’s knuckle-height pair is 25 kg close to the body and 15 kg with the arms away. A twist or a slope is a reason to reduce the load, not a target of 25 kg.
Does 3.6 ton on Garvee count as a safe working load?
No. It is a bullet on a listing with no reviews and no marked working load limit in the file. The figure an operator uses is the one on the accessory. Chris Forestry stating 1.5 tonne on a different tong does not move across to Garvee.
What if a weld or a hook clip has already failed?
Stop. UK reviews on B0DRFWDRN6 describe welds failing on the first use or the second lift. Reviews on B0D3TY975J describe a hook clip breaking the first time it was coupled. Do not finish the stack, and do not stand anyone under a repaired guess. The next jaw is a buying decision against a mark you can read.

Related pages

Best log lifting tongs

Log lifting tongs

Log tongs buying guide for a UK woodpile or tractor

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

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

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)