Material Handling: Telehandler vs Forklift vs Loader | Equipment Solutions

Buyer's Guide · 2026-06-05

"Material handling" covers a lot of jobs - moving pallets in a warehouse, stacking block on a site, feeding a line, loading trucks in the yard. The right machine depends on where you work and how high and far you need to place a load.

Start with three questions

• How high, and how far out? A forklift lifts straight up. A telehandler's boom reaches up and out - onto a second story, across a trailer, over an obstacle. If you only ever lift straight up, a forklift is simpler and cheaper. If you reach, you want a telehandler.
• Indoors or outdoors? Inside a warehouse, an electric forklift is quiet, clean and easy on the air. Outside on rough ground, a diesel rough-terrain forklift or a telehandler handles the terrain.
• How heavy, at what reach? Capacity drops as a telehandler's boom extends - that's what the load chart shows. Size to your heaviest placement at its furthest point, not just the headline number.

Where we'd point you

• For reach and rough ground, the Gehl RS6-34 G3 and TH8-42 telehandlers place loads high and out where a forklift can't go.
• For clean indoor work, the Manitou ME 320 electric forklift runs quiet with no exhaust.
• For mixed indoor/outdoor yards, the Manitou MI 25 D diesel forklift handles the heavier, dirtier lifting.

Don't forget the carriage and forks

The right fork carriage, fork-positioner or clamp turns one machine into several. We'll confirm the carriage interface and capacity for the attachments you need.

Tell us the job - the loads, the heights, the floor or the ground - and we'll spec the machine and quote it. Local Manitou and Gehl dealer, in-house service and parts, current finance programs.

← All buyer's guides