Eastern Power Equipment
285 Route 9 PO Box 97 Barrington, NH 03825
Phone 603/664-7776 | Toll Free 866/664-7776 | Fax 603/664-7420 | email chuck@easternpowerequipment.com
Telescopic handlers: efficient, versatile, easy to maneuver
New attachments make these job-site workhorses a lot more than just forklifts
Telescopic handlers - also known as telehandlers or rough-terrain, extended-reach forklifts - now are deemed necessities on many construction job sites, and they're changing the way that work is done. Visit your A.R.A.-affiliated rental professional to discover just how efficient, versatile and maneuverable these machines can be.
What Can They Do?
The variety of attachments available for telehandlers, and the list of jobs they're able to do, is growing dramatically. Even when used for pick-and-carry chores, the modern telehandler enables a trained operator to place heavy loads precisely on target and do the work of several people using more conventional equipment.
These versatile machines can:
- Lift, shuttle and place materials
- Serve as aerial lift platforms
- Carry loads in hoppers
- Auger
- Sweep up the job site
- Dig
- Collect trash
- Transport payloads on rough terrain as easily as on the street
Choose the Right Class
Most popular telehandler rental: 36-foot model in the 6,000 class. Predictably, this model offers the most attachment options.
Based on load capacity, there are three basic classes of telescopic handlers:
- 6,000 pound - features models with lift heights from as little as 20 feet up to 44 feet
- 8,000 pound - reaches heights from 23 to 44 feet; gaining in rental popularity
- 10,000 pound - these machines take heavy loads from 42 to 58 feet. When equipped with a hook, they can rival the capabilities of some smaller cranes
- Other types - Some telehandlers are available with load capacities under 6,000 pounds and other units rated at 20,000 pounds
Steer and Drive
Most telehandlers are all-wheel-steer (AWS), which allows crab steering. Crab steering offers additional, valuable maneuverability. It lets you sidle into confined spaces, and easily move about congested job sites.
Attachments
Manufacturers and your A.R.A.-affiliated rental house offer a variety of attachments for telehandlers. Some rental houses now offer telehandlers with quick-coupler systems for fast attachment changes, just like the systems developed for wheel-loader/tool-carriers. The attachment options continue to rapidly expand.
Popular attachment options include:
- Various forks
- Booms
- Winches
- Hooks
- Light-material buckets
- Self-dumping hoppers
- Platforms
Who Uses Telehandlers?
Telehandlers have come a long way from their roots as brick handlers on masonry jobs. The machines' popularity soared when other contractors saw all the tasks these compact machines can achieve. The work a skilled telehandler operator can accomplish in a day is astonishing. Today, the equipment is serving many building trades.
Remember, telehandlers are not a machine for the amateur or the untrained operator.
- Masons like the way telehandlers scramble over ruts and reach over obstacles to deliver a load of brick or block to the scaffolds.
- Roofers find them ideal for placing shingles or tar buckets just where they are needed.
- Contractors find telehandlers all-around workhorses that can perform multiple tasks and even replace vertical-mast forklifts, tool carriers and smaller cranes. They can lift heavy loads, and carry and place them precisely despite rough, rutted terrain common on construction job sites. And they really shine on congested job sites that challenge the maneuverability and reach of vertical lifting equipment.
- Landscapers have discovered telehandler versatility makes these machines good, all-around work tools.
- The agricultural industry in Europe uses telehandlers extensively for agricultural applications, and that trend is growing in the U.S.
What's Down the Road for Telehandlers?
In the next year of two, users may begin to call for high-reach forklifts with high-speed suspension systems - machines with the ability to drive 50 mph on roads for travel between job sites without trailering. This type of lift already has been made for the military. You just flip a switch and change the suspension for driving the telehandler from one job to another.