Tigercat knuckleboom loaders have improved productivity during log sorting operations.The new grapple design complements the grapple (the LG4053) which has been fitted to Tigercat knuckleboom loaders for many years. The new grapple (the LG5057T) has a 127 mm (5 in) minimum opening and a 1.45 m (57 in) maximum opening. It also has a new tapered tong profile. The new grapple was developed to improve loader productivity in sorting applications. For example in thinning operations, a wide variety of products are produced that have different diameters. The narrow grapple tong tips improve the ability of the loader to easily and productively select logs from a pile, regardless of their size. The arm profile is more rounded at the tips, which allows the logs to easily roll up into the grapple. This improves the holding capacity of the grapple when collecting many small diameter logs.
The new grapple is also equipped with cylinder guards that protect the rods from truck stanchions and other hazards. The same rotor assembly as the LG4053 is used. Source: http://www.tigercat.com/index.php/News-Items/new-tigercat-loader-grapple.html