That is correct, the wood sticks slip both from the grapple and also from the top of the truck when in movement. In overall the design is poor and the grapple has very limited movement needing to have the woods stick very close and aligned by the truck. The price is not justified unless you want to use it as a decorative piece.
As far as I could find out in the operating instructions on the manufacturer's website, the unit is controlled by batteries in the remote control.
Operating instructions: https://jamara.com/manuals...