The telehandler or telescopic handler is a heavy duty machine that is popular in both the agriculture and construction businesses. These machinery are rather similar in both function and appearance to the forklift, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler offers improved versatility of a single telescopic boom that can extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to connect various kinds of attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most popular attachments include: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
To be able to move cargo through areas which are normally not reachable for a typical forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. For instance, telehandlers are able to move loads to and from locations that are not typically accessible by regular forklift units. These devices could also remove palletized loads from in a trailer and place these loads in high places, such as on rooftops for example. Previously, this aforementioned situation will need a crane. Cranes could be pricey to use and not always a practical or time-efficient alternative.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest drawback: since the boom extends or raises when the machine is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat unstable, despite the counterweights on the rear. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing quickly as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the front of the wheels and the center of the load.
For example, a vehicle that has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely raise only as heavy as 400 pounds when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same model with a 5000 lb. lift capacity that has the boom retracted may be able to easily support as much as 10,000 lb. with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company in Horley, Surrey, England originally pioneered telehandlers. These machines were developed from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. At first, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This positioned the cab of the driver on the equipment's back part, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has since become more and more popular.