Kenn,
The description on Amazon for the less expensive grabbing tool by the same company states that it can handle 8 pounds. The difference between this one and the one on Amazon is that the Amazon device has an aluminum shaft and this one has a steel shaft. I'd expect that this one could equal, if not exceed, the 8 pound service load.
I agree that grabbing small objects could be more difficult, however, the primary purpose would be to grab an engine that's derailed in a hard-to-reach part of the layout.
John,
The best that I can work with would be one grabber so I'll just have to be a bit more careful to grab from as close to the middle as possible.