Telehandlers come in classes that look similar on paper but behave very differently on a site. Picking the right one is mostly about three numbers: lift height, capacity at reach, and the doors or access you have to work through.
Compact telehandlers
Compact machines around 3 metres lift height are the choice for work inside buildings, barns and narrow yards. They pass standard doorways, tow easily behind a van and cause little ground damage.
The trade-off is capacity: they are for pallets, bales and materials, not for heavy structural lifting.
Mid-size machines
Machines with 6 to 7 metres of lift height are the workhorses of construction and agriculture. They load trucks, place materials on the first floor and handle most farm and yard work.
This is the class most buyers should look at first — versatile enough to justify ownership, common enough to hold value and find parts for.
High-reach machines
Machines with 12 metres of lift or more replace scaffolding and cranes on many jobs, but they demand more from the buyer: a proper load chart at height, stabilisers where required, and operators who understand the difference between capacity at the wheels and capacity at full reach.
They also need more transport: a bigger trailer and often a permit depending on the country.
Before you decide
Measure your narrowest access, your highest lift and your heaviest load at reach. Those three numbers rule out half the market immediately and make the rest of the decision — brand, hours, price — much easier.
Whatever class you choose, buy a machine with a written inspection report and a return window. If you have questions about a specific telehandler in our stock, ask us before you order — we answer within two working days.
Looking at machines right now?
Every machine in stock is inspected before sale, delivered free inside our covered European countries and paid by bank wire transfer.

