The telehandler or telescopic handler is a heavy duty equipment that is popular in both the agriculture and construction industries. These machines are rather similar in both function and appearance to the forklift, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler provides improved versatility of a single telescopic boom that could extend upwards and forwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to attach numerous attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most popular attachments comprise: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
In order to transport cargo through areas that are usually unreachable for a conventional forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. Like for example, telehandlers could move cargo to and from places which are not typically reachable by conventional forklift units. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized loads from in a trailer and position these loads in high locations, like on rooftops for example. Previously, this situation mentioned above will require a crane. Cranes can be pricey to utilize and not always a practical or time-efficient alternative.
Telehandler's are unique in that their advantage is also their biggest drawback: because the boom raises or extends when the machinery is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become quite unstable, despite the rear counterweights. 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.
Like for example, a vehicle that has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise 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 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 machines were developed from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front section. This positioned the driver's cab on the back part of the equipment, 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 popular.