A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machinery that is popular within the agriculture and construction industries. These equipment are similar in function and appearance to a forklift or a lift truck but are actually more like a crane instead of a forklift. The telehandler offers increased versatility of a single telescopic boom that can extend forwards as well as upwards from the vehicle. The operator can attach different kinds of attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most common attachments include: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
To be able to transport cargo through locations that are normally not reachable for a conventional forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most common attachment. Like for example, telehandlers are able to move cargo to and from locations which are not normally accessible by standard forklift models. These devices can also remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and place these loads in high places, such as on rooftops for instance. Previously, this situation mentioned above would require a crane. Cranes can be pricey to use and not always a practical or time-efficient option.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest limitation: because the boom raises or extends when the machine is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat unstable, despite the rear counterweights. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing fast as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the front of the wheels and the center of the load.
Like for example, a vehicle which has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise only as much as 400 pounds when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same model with a 5000 lb. lift capacity which has the boom retracted may be able to easily support as much as 10,000 pounds with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company in Horley, Surrey, England initially pioneered telehandlers. These equipment 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 back part of the equipment, like in the Teleram 40 model. The rigid chassis design with the cab situated on the side and a rear mounted boom has ever since become more and more popular.