A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machine that is popular within the agriculture and construction industries. These equipment are similar in function and appearance to a lift truck or a forklift but are actually more like a crane instead of a forklift. The telehandler offers increased versatility of a single telescopic boom which can extend forwards as well as upwards from the vehicle. The operator can attach numerous attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most popular attachments include: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
To be able to transport loads through areas which are usually not reachable for a conventional forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. For instance, telehandlers are able to transport loads to and from places that are not usually accessible by conventional forklift units. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized loads from in a trailer and place these loads in high places, like on rooftops for example. Previously, this abovementioned situation will need a crane. Cranes can be very pricey to utilize and not always a time-efficient or practical option.
Another advantage is also the telehandlers largest limitation: as the boom raises or extends when the machine is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become quite unbalanced, despite the counterweights on the back. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing quickly as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the center of the load and the front of the wheels.
Once it is fully extended with a low boom angle for instance, the telehandler would only have a 400 pound weight capacity, whereas a retracted boom could support weights up to 5000 pounds. The same unit 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.
England originally pioneered the telehandler within Horley, Surrey. The Matbro Company developed these machinery from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. At first, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front section. This placed the driver's cab on the machinery's back part, like in the Teleram 40 model. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has since become increasingly more famous.