A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machinery which is well-known in the agriculture and construction industries. These machines are similar in appearance and function to a lift truck or a forklift but are really more like a crane instead of a forklift. The telehandler offers improved versatility of a single telescopic boom which could extend upwards as well as forwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to attach many attachments on the end of the boom. Several of the most common attachments comprise: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
A telehandler usually uses pallet forks as their most common attachment in order to transport cargo through locations which are usually not reachable for a conventional forklift. Like for instance, telehandlers are able to move cargo to and from places that are not typically reachable by conventional forklift units. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and place these loads in high places, such as on rooftops for example. Previously, this situation mentioned above will require a crane. Cranes could be pricey to utilize and not always a time-efficient or practical alternative.
Telehandler's are unique in that their advantage is also their largest limitation: as the boom extends or raises when the machine is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat unbalanced, even with the counterweights on the rear. 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 instance, a vehicle which has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely lift just as heavy as 400 pounds when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 pound lift capacity which has the boom retracted may be able to easily support as heavy 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. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This positioned the driver's cab on the equipment's rear portion, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has since become increasingly more popular.