Rotobec

Rotobec supplies rotating grapples and material-handling attachments used across logging, yard and recycling applications — the loading and handling end of the market rather than felling or processing.

Grapple selection in this category is governed by material flow rather than machine size. A grapple optimised for bunched stems handles single sorted logs poorly, and the symptom is not an obvious fault but a percentage of every cycle lost to re-handling.

For yard and truck-loading operations, where cycles per hour is the production measure, that geometry match is worth more than headline capacity.

Grapple selection is decided by material flow, not by machine size, and the most common error is comparing jaw open area between products. A large opening does not guarantee a secure grip: closing profile, tip shape and jaw count determine whether a piece is held or dropped, and the symptom of a poor match is not breakage but re-handling — a share of every cycle quietly lost.

Work out first whether your material moves individually or in bunches. Loader grapples are built for truck loading and pile handling, where tonnes per hour is the measure. Sorting grapples are built for individual log control, where placement accuracy matters and gross throughput does not. A grapple optimised for one handles the other badly.

Then budget the mass. Grapple plus rotator plus quick coupler all come off the carrier lift chart before any timber is picked up, and on reach work — loading over an obstacle, working from a trail — that deduction is frequently what limits the job rather than the grapple's rating.

Finally, look at what wears. Pins and bushes go first, then cylinder seals and hoses, then rotator internals, with tip and jaw wear accelerating in abrasive soils. None of it is individually expensive, which is why local parts availability matters more than purchase price in this category: a $40 bush with a three-week lead time stops a loader just as effectively as a major failure.