“Telehandlers offer great flexibility,” says Heath Watton, branch manager for rental dealer Southeastern Equipment, Cambridge, Ohio. “They handle multiple attachments, including jib booms, auger heads and swing carriages.” This versatility has made the 10,000-pound-plus units the darling of the oil shale business in Watton’s territory of eastern Ohio, where he carries the JLG, Skytrak and Genie lines. “You see them doing everything, from unloading trucks, to lifting to craning. It’s one of the rental industry’s biggest draws.”
Chad Hislop with Genie echoes Watton: “If you go into the oil and shale development areas of west Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota, there’s a telehandler on every drill site.”
“We also see tremendous use of telehandlers in industrial settings and road and bridge construction,” Watton says. Other strong markets for rented telehandlers include commercial and industrial construction, adds Steven Kiskunas with Gehl.
What and how much do you need to lift? Telehandlers have gone far beyond their original masonry pallet roots, and can lift, move framing, be used as a work platform, and even do some light earthmoving/loose material handling. “Customers are trending toward bigger machines and lift capacity and height requirements are growing,” says Wayne Goodall with Caterpillar. Rented telehandler lift capacities at maximum height range from around 3,000 pounds up to 29,000 pounds. Higher capacity machines typically have outriggers that can be used to increase capacity.
How high do you need to lift? Maximum lift heights typically range from 13 feet to 59 feet. Maximum lift heights don’t always rise with higher lift capacities, since some machines are designed for heavier lifts at lower heights. “Your rental dealer should also ask you questions about machine height restrictions to assure the machine can negotiate the work site and move through doors and ramps as needed,” says Kiskunas.
How far forward do you need to place the materials? Horizontal reach is also a consideration.
