A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machine that is well-known within the agriculture and construction industries. These machinery 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 that could extend forwards as well as upwards from the vehicle. The operator has the ability to connect numerous attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most common attachments include: a muck grab, a bucket, pallet forks or a lift table.
A telehandler usually uses pallet forks as their most popular attachment in order to transport loads through places that are normally not reachable for a standard forklift. For example, telehandlers are able to move loads to and from places which are not usually accessible by conventional forklift units. These devices could also remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and position these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for example. Previously, this situation mentioned above would require a crane. Cranes can be very expensive to use and not always a time-efficient or practical option.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers largest limitation: because the boom extends or raises when the machine 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 front of the wheels and the center of the load.
Like for instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 lb. capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise 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 that 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 in Horley, Surrey, England initially pioneered telehandlers. These equipment were developed from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. At first, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This positioned the driver's cab 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 ever since become more famous.