The telescopic handler or just telehandler is a heavy duty machine that is popular in both the construction and agriculture businesses. These machinery are quite similar in both function and appearance to the forklift, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler provides increased versatility of a single telescopic boom which could extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator could connect many attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most common attachments include: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
To be able to transport loads through areas which are normally unreachable for a standard forklift. The telehandler uses pallet forks as their most popular attachment. Like for instance, telehandlers could transport loads to and from locations that 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 instance. Before, this abovementioned situation would require a crane. Cranes can be really pricey to use and not always a practical or time-efficient choice.
Telehandler's are unique in that their advantage is also their largest limitation: 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 somewhat unbalanced, 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 instance, a vehicle which has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely raise just as heavy as 400 lb. when it is completely 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 much as 10,000 lb. with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company within Horley, Surrey, England initially pioneered telehandlers. These machinery 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 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab situated on the side has since become more and more famous.