Telescopic Handlers

A telehandler, a forklift or a crane truck:

the telehandler wins wherever a load has to go up and forward at the same time, over ground that is not a floor. A forklift lifts straight up and wants concrete under its wheels; a crane truck reaches further but needs rigging for every pick. A telehandler puts a pallet of block over the edge of a slab, carries bundles of roof sheeting across a muddy lot and, with a jib and hook on the carriage, sets trusses and purlins on a shed without hiring a crane. On a farm the agricultural versions do a different job, stacking bales and loading feed with a bucket or grab, and they drive more like a tractor.

Lift height, reach and the load chart in the cab:

size by height first. Compact machines are low and narrow enough to work inside a building or between houses, but reach little more than a storey and a half. Mid-size machines cover most two- and three-storey block construction. High-reach units drop stabilisers at the front and are what it takes to put roof steel on a tall warehouse. Rotating models with a turret work more like a small crane. Whatever the size, the capacity in a listing is what the machine lifts with the boom drawn in. The load chart in the cab shows how little is left at full extension, and that is the figure to read. Look at the carriage as well: forks, jibs and buckets rarely swap between brands, so a machine that comes with its own attachments is worth more than a bare one.

Telehandler prices and the bill that follows:

a new full-size telehandler from a dealer costs well over $100,000. A high-reach machine around ten years old with several thousand hours on it asks roughly $50,000 to $70,000. Where a used one lands in that band depends on what the next owner has to spend in the first month: four worn foam-filled tyres, a boom due for new wear pads, or forks and a jib that did not come with it all come straight off the price.

Sand, salt and cement dust on a used boom:

a telehandler that spent a few years on a beach project in Coronado or Pedasí has breathed sand and salt every day, and both work their way into the boom. Run it out to full extension empty and listen on the way back: grinding or a jerky retraction means grit in the wear pads. Check the extension chains and the pins at the boom heel and rear axle for rust and play, and the rear wiring for corrosion. Then lift a loaded pallet, hold it in the air for a few minutes and watch whether the boom creeps down, a sign of tired cylinder seals. Try every steering mode, front-wheel, four-wheel and crab, because a dead rear steering cylinder is easy to miss on a short drive. Construction machines often run foam-filled tyres, so a deep cut is a replacement rather than a repair. Set the hour meter against the wear on the pedals and seat, and ask for the service records.

The load chart, the attachments and where the telehandler stands:

a buyer decides from the photos whether the machine can do his job, so shoot the data plate and the load chart in the cab, the boom fully extended, all four tyres and each attachment. Give the lift height, rated capacity, hours, which steering modes work and whether it has stabilisers or a turret. Film it raising a loaded pallet to full height and driving in crab steer. Builders closing out a project in Pacora or out on the coast often sell the telehandler where it stands rather than truck it back to the city, so say exactly where it is, whether it still starts and moves on site, and which forks, jib or bucket stay with it and which go back to the yard.