The telescopic handler or just telehandler is a heavy duty machine that is well-known within both the agriculture and construction businesses. These machines are quite similar in both function and appearance to the lift truck, except it more closely resembles a crane. The telehandler offers improved versatility of a single telescopic boom which can extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to attach different types of attachments on the boom's end. Several of the most popular attachments comprise: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
In order to transport loads through areas that are normally not reachable for a typical forklift. The telehandler uses pallet forks as their most common attachment. For instance, telehandlers could transport loads to and from places which are not usually reachable by conventional forklift units. These devices can also remove palletized loads from inside a trailer and position these loads in high locations, like on rooftops for instance. Previously, this situation mentioned above would need a crane. Cranes can be pricey to use and not always a time-efficient or practical option.
Another advantage is also the telehandlers biggest 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, despite the counterweights on the back. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing fast as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the front of the wheels and the center of the load.
For example, a vehicle that has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely lift only as heavy as 400 lb. once it is completely extended with a low boom angle. The same model 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 first pioneered the telehandler in 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 positioned the driver's cab on the rear portion of the equipment, like in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has ever since become more and more popular.