The telehandler or telescopic handler is a heavy duty machine that is well-known in both the agriculture and construction industries. These machines are rather similar in both appearance and function to the lift truck, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler offers improved versatility of a single telescopic boom which could extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The operator can attach numerous attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most popular attachments consist of: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
To be able to transport cargo through locations which are usually not reachable for a standard forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. For example, telehandlers are able to move loads to and from places which are not normally accessible by standard forklift units. These devices could also remove palletized loads from in a trailer and place these loads in high areas, such as on rooftops for example. Before, this abovementioned situation would need a crane. Cranes could be pricey to utilize and not always a time-efficient or practical alternative.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest limitation: since 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, even with 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 which has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted may 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 pound lift capacity which 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 in 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 portion. This positioned the cab of the driver on the machine's back portion, as 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 increasingly more famous.