A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machinery that is popular in the construction and agriculture industries. These machines are similar in appearance and function to a forklift or a lift truck but are actually more like a crane rather than a forklift. The telehandler provides increased versatility of a single telescopic boom which could extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The operator could connect a lot of attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most common attachments comprise: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
To be able to transport cargo through areas which are normally not reachable for a conventional forklift. The telehandler utilizes pallet forks as their most popular attachment. Like for example, telehandlers could move cargo to and from areas which are not usually reachable by conventional forklift models. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized loads from in a trailer and position these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for example. Before, this abovementioned situation will require a crane. Cranes can be pricey to use and not always a time-efficient or practical alternative.
Telehandler's are unique in that their advantage is also their largest limitation: because the boom extends or raises when the equipment is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become quite unstable, even with the rear counterweights. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing fast as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the center of the load and the front of the wheels.
Like for instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely lift just as heavy as 400 pounds once it is completely extended with a low boom angle. The same model with a 5000 lb. lift capacity that has the boom retracted might be able to easily support as much as 10,000 lb. with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company in Horley, Surrey, England initially pioneered telehandlers. These equipment were developed from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front section. This placed the driver's cab on the back part of the equipment, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with the cab located on the side and a rear mounted boom has ever since become more and more famous.