The telehandler or telescopic handler is a heavy duty machinery that is popular in both the construction and agriculture industries. 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 different types of attachments on the end of the boom. Several of the most popular attachments include: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
To be able to move loads through areas which are normally unreachable for a standard forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. Like for instance, telehandlers can transport cargo to and from areas which are not normally reachable by standard forklift models. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and position these loads in high places, such as on rooftops for example. Before, this situation mentioned above would require a crane. Cranes can be very pricey to utilize and not always a practical or time-efficient option.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest drawback: because the boom raises or extends when the equipment is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become quite unbalanced, despite the counterweights on the rear. 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 instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely lift only as heavy as 400 pounds when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 lb. lift capacity which has the boom retracted may be able to easily support as heavy as 10,000 pounds with the boom raised up to 70.
England first pioneered the telehandler in Horley, Surrey. The Matbro Company developed these machinery from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This placed the cab of the driver on the back portion of the machine, like in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with the cab situated on the side and a rear mounted boom has ever since become more and more popular.