The telescopic handler or just telehandler is a heavy duty machine which is popular within both the agriculture and construction industries. These machines are rather similar in both appearance and function to the forklift, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler provides improved versatility of a single telescopic boom that can extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The operator can connect a lot of attachments on the boom's end. Several of the most popular attachments consist of: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
In order to move loads through places which are usually unreachable for a typical forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. For example, telehandlers could move loads to and from places that are not usually accessible by conventional forklift models. These devices could also remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and position these loads in high places, such as on rooftops for example. Previously, this abovementioned situation would need a crane. Cranes can be expensive to utilize and not always a time-efficient or practical option.
Another advantage is also the telehandlers largest limitation: because the boom extends or raises when the equipment 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.
For example, a vehicle which has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise only as heavy as 400 pounds once it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 lb. lift capacity that has the boom retracted might be able to easily support as heavy as 10,000 pounds with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company in Horley, Surrey, England originally 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 section. This placed the cab of the driver on the rear portion of the machine, like in the Teleram 40 model. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab situated on the side has ever since become more popular.