A telehandler or a telescopic handler is a machinery which is popular within the agriculture and construction industries. These machines are similar in function and appearance to a forklift or a lift truck but are actually more similar to a crane instead of a forklift. The telehandler offers increased versatility of a single telescopic boom which could extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to connect different kinds of attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most popular attachments consist of: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
A telehandler normally uses pallet forks as their most common attachment to be able to move loads through locations that are usually unreachable for a conventional forklift. For instance, telehandlers could transport loads to and from areas which are not typically reachable by standard forklift models. These devices could also remove palletized cargo from within a trailer and position these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for example. Previously, this abovementioned situation will require a crane. Cranes could be very expensive to utilize and not always a practical or time-efficient option.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers largest drawback: because 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, even with 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 front of the wheels and the center of the load.
Like for instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise just as heavy as 400 pounds once it is completely 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.
England originally pioneered the telehandler within Horley, Surrey. The Matbro Company developed these equipment from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This placed the driver's cab on the rear part of the equipment, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab situated on the side has since become increasingly more popular.