A telehandler or a telescopic handler is a machinery which is popular in the agriculture and construction businesses. These machines are similar in appearance and function to a lift truck or a forklift but are really more like a crane rather than a forklift. The telehandler provides increased versatility of a single telescopic boom that could extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator can connect various types of attachments on the end of the boom. Some of the most common attachments comprise: a muck grab, a bucket, a lift table or pallet forks.
A telehandler typically utilizes pallet forks as their most common attachment to be able to move cargo through locations which are usually not reachable for a typical forklift. For example, telehandlers could move loads to and from areas that are not typically accessible by conventional forklift models. These devices could also remove palletized loads from in a trailer and place these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for instance. Previously, this situation mentioned above would need a crane. Cranes can be pricey to utilize and not always a time-efficient or practical option.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest drawback: since the boom raises or extends when the equipment is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat 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.
For instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 lb. 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 unit with a 5000 lb. lift capacity which has the boom retracted may be able to easily support as much as 10,000 pounds with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company within 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 positioned the driver's cab on the machine's back part, like in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with the cab situated on the side and a rear mounted boom has since become more popular.