A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machinery that is well-known in the agriculture and construction industries. These machinery are similar in function and appearance to a lift truck or a forklift but are actually more like a crane instead of 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 could attach various kinds of attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most common attachments consist of: a bucket, a muck grab, a lift table or pallet forks.
A telehandler usually utilizes pallet forks as their most common attachment in order to transport cargo through locations which are usually not reachable for a standard forklift. For example, telehandlers can move loads to and from areas which are not typically accessible by standard forklift units. These devices also have the ability to remove palletized cargo from inside a trailer and place these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for instance. Previously, this situation mentioned above will need a crane. Cranes can be pricey to use and not always a time-efficient or practical choice.
Another advantage is also the telehandlers largest drawback: as the boom raises or extends when the machinery is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become quite unstable, despite 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.
Like for instance, a vehicle that has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely raise just as heavy as 400 lb. when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 pound lift capacity which has the boom retracted might be able to easily support as heavy as 10,000 pounds with the boom raised up to 70.
England first pioneered the telehandler within Horley, Surrey. The Matbro Company developed these machinery from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This placed the driver's cab on the machinery's back portion, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab situated on the side has since become more and more famous.