A telehandler, short for telescopic handler, is a lifting machine with a telescopic boom that extends up and forward. That reach lets it place a load over a wall, onto a truck deck or high on a building, where a forklift's straight-up mast can't get to. It carries forks, a bucket or another attachment on the boom and drives on large tyres, usually with four-wheel drive. The trade-off is capacity: a telehandler lifts far less with the boom extended than close in, so its load chart decides what it can carry at each position.
How a telehandler works
A telehandler's boom is hinged at the back of the machine and runs forward beside the cab. Hydraulic cylinders raise it and slide its inner sections out, and a carriage at the tip tilts the forks or bucket. Regulators in Queensland and WA call these machines multi-purpose tool carriers, because a quick coupler at the boom tip lets one machine take many attachments.
Reach is what makes a telehandler useful, and it's also what limits it. The further the load moves out from the front wheels, the harder it pulls the machine forward, so the safe load drops as the boom extends. The Hangcha X Series Telehandler 4T shows how much: it's rated at 4,000 kg at a 500 mm load centre, carries 2,500 kg at its full 17.7 m lift height and only 850 kg at its full 13.02 m forward reach.
A telehandler also steers differently from a forklift. Both Hangcha telehandler series DJJ Equipment sells have four-wheel drive with a 2WD/4WD switch and three steering modes: front-wheel steering for travel, crab steering to move sideways along a wall or trench, and circle steering for tight turns.
Fixed boom vs rotating telehandlers
Telehandlers come in two designs: fixed boom (non-slewing), where the boom always points straight ahead, and rotating (slewing), where the boom and cab sit on a turntable that turns.
Fixed boom telehandlers
A fixed boom telehandler moves a load sideways by driving the whole machine. It's the simpler and lighter design, and it suits repeated work on farms, building sites and yards: loading trucks, placing pallets of bricks, or moving feed and soil with a bucket. Both telehandlers DJJ sells are fixed boom machines.
Rotating telehandlers
A rotating telehandler swings its load around without moving the chassis, usually from outriggers, so it works more like a small mobile crane on tight sites. Rotating models are heavier and more complex, generally cost more, and bring different licence rules when used as a crane.
Telehandler load charts, stabilisers and frame levelling
A telehandler load chart shows the maximum load at each combination of lift height and forward reach, and it's the only reliable answer to what the machine can lift. Each attachment and each set-up, such as stabilisers up or down, has its own chart.
A load moment limiter backs up the chart. It monitors the load and boom position, warns the operator and limits movements that would take the machine past its stability limit. Both Hangcha series have one as standard, but it doesn't replace the chart.
Stabilisers
Stabilisers are legs at the front of the chassis that widen the base for high or long lifts. The X Series chart allows 17.7 m of lift and 13.02 m of reach with them down. With them up, the chart allows less height and reach.
Frame levelling
Frame levelling tilts the chassis on its axles so the boom stays upright when one side of the machine sits lower than the other. The X Series levels up to 10 degrees and the XH T35 has it too, while the compact XH T25 doesn't. It corrects a sideways lean before a lift, but it doesn't make soft ground or a steep slope safe.
Telehandler attachments and what they change
Telehandler attachments turn the same machine into a pallet handler, a loader or a lifting machine, and each one changes what it can lift.
- Forks: pallets, bricks and timber. A quick-change fork carriage is standard on both Hangcha series.
- Bucket: sand, soil, gravel and grain, optional on both.
- Clamps: a bale clamp (XH Series) or soft bag clamp (X Series).
- Crane arm or jib: lifts slung loads on a hook, which makes the telehandler a crane.
- Work platform: lifts people, which makes the telehandler an elevating work platform.
An attachment's weight comes off the usable capacity, so use the load chart written for it. If you need to lift people, use only a work platform designed for that telehandler model and check your regulator's guidance first. Never lift people on a pallet or a loose cage on the forks.
Do you need a licence to operate a telehandler?
In NSW, Queensland and WA, you don't need a high risk work licence to operate a telehandler fitted with forks or a bucket, but the business must make sure operators are trained to use it safely. The LF forklift licence doesn't apply either, because that class covers trucks with a mast, and a telehandler has a boom.
The answer changes with the attachment:
- Used as a crane: with a jib or crane arm and a hook, a telehandler can need a crane licence, depending on its capacity and whether it rotates. Slinging the load can also need a dogging licence.
- With a work platform: the operator needs a WP high risk work licence when the boom length is 11 metres or more. Boom length is the platform floor height at full extension or the outreach, whichever is greater.
Victoria sets its own rules. There, a non-slewing telehandler rated over 3 tonnes needs a high risk work licence, either the non-slewing telehandler licence available since 1 July 2024 or a mobile crane licence, and a slewing telehandler needs a slewing mobile crane licence. At 3 tonnes or less no licence is needed, but the employer must still train and supervise operators. Both the X Series 4T and the XH T35 are rated over 3 tonnes.
Safe Work Australia consulted in 2026 on a possible new high risk work licence for telehandlers, but that's a proposal, not law. Check the current rules for your machine and attachments with your state regulator, such as WorkSafe Queensland.
Telehandler vs rough terrain forklift vs crane
A telehandler sits between a rough terrain forklift and a crane: it reaches further than a forklift and moves around a site more easily than a crane.
| Telehandler | Rough terrain forklift | Mobile crane | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it lifts | Telescopic boom, up and forward | Vertical mast, straight up | Boom with a hoist rope and hook |
| Forward reach | Up to 13.02 m on the Hangcha X Series | Load stays close to the front wheels | Long reach, usually slewing |
| Lift height | 5.8-17.7 m on Hangcha models | Up to 6 m on Hangcha models | Usually the highest of the three |
| Ground | Unsealed and uneven ground, four-wheel drive | Unsealed ground, 2WD or 4WD | Firm, level set-up, often on outriggers |
| Moving with a load | Carries loads around the site with the boom lowered | Carries loads with the mast lowered | Most lift from a set position |
| Attachments | Forks, bucket, clamps, crane arm, work platform | Forks, side shift, fork positioner, clamps | Hook and rigging |
| Licence (NSW, QLD, WA) | None with forks or a bucket, training required | LF high risk work licence | Crane licence by type and capacity |
Choose a telehandler when loads regularly have to go over something, such as a wall, a trench, a truck deck or scaffolding. The biggest difference in how an all terrain forklift works is the mast: it lifts straight up, so the load never moves out in front of the wheels. A crane takes over when the load is too heavy for the chart or has to swing over a building.
How to choose a telehandler
Choosing a telehandler starts with your hardest lift: the heaviest load at the furthest reach and greatest height, read against the load chart rather than the headline capacity. Check these points before you compare models:
- Whether high or long placements need stabilisers down
- Ground conditions, slopes and frame levelling
- Indoor or noise-sensitive work, which points to electric
- The attachments you'll fit, and their load charts
- Machine weight and width for transport and access
- Licences or training your operators need
When a telehandler is the wrong machine
A telehandler is the wrong choice when every lift is straight up and close to the machine. In that case, all terrain forklifts from 1.5 to 10 t, with masts up to 6 m, do the job with a simpler machine. Inside a warehouse, a standard forklift fits better.
Electric or diesel telehandler
An electric telehandler suits sites where exhaust or noise is a problem, while a diesel suits heavier loads, higher lifts and long days away from power. The XH Series runs on a 310V lithium iron phosphate battery of 46 kWh (T25) or 53 kWh (T35) with a built-in charger. The X Series uses an 86-90 kW Cummins diesel and lifts 4,000 kg against the XH Series' 2,500-3,500 kg.
The right telehandler is the smallest machine whose load chart covers your hardest lift. DJJ sells two fixed boom Hangcha telehandlers, the electric XH Series 2.5-3.5T and the diesel X Series 4T, from Silverwater, Meadowbrook and Bayswater. If you only need one for a project, DJJ also hires telehandlers, and minimum hire terms depend on the machine and branch. Send us the load weight, the height and reach you need and your site conditions, or call 1800 355 388, and we'll suggest the model that fits.
