Material Handling: Telehandler vs Forklift vs Loader
"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, current finance programs.
Ready to spec one?
We don't post prices online. Tell us what the machine has to do and we'll spec your build and send back a real quote from your local dealer.
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