The New Telehandler Harvest

February 2, 2005—As I made my way around the World of Concrete show in Las Vegas last month, I quickly noted a change in the North American telehandler landscape. Although the show is marketed to and attended by buyers of concrete and construction products, I found it interesting how many compact telehandlers—best suited to agricultural applications—there were on display.

It seems John Deere's success and its currently limited offering of ag-specific telehandlers has drawn attention from telehandler manufacturers. I was told by one source, but could not confirm, that Deere has quietly captured as much as 10% of the U.S. market on its strong agricultural brand alone. It's interesting to note that Deere, one of the top three producers of construction machinery, doesn't even list its telescopic handler product as a piece of construction equipment. At www.deere.com you have to go to the agricultural products section to find any mention of the company's telehandler.

In Europe the agricultural market is the largest consumer of telehandlers, while construction applications drive the market in North America. Marketers predict, however, that if properly cultivated, the U.S. agricultural market could grow to be as large as the construction market. The ag market includes farm suppliers, farmers, feed lots, dairy farms, packers, and anything related to producing food commodities. But it also includes landscaping, a much bigger business than you would think.

In an effort to speed up their entry into this market, many manufacturers are turning to European producers for help. As such, most of the new telehandlers I saw at World of Concrete were European-built compact machines featuring low boom mount designs. Agricultural-centered telehandlers share three common traits that differentiate them from typical construction-centered equipment.

First is the need for a platform to accommodate multiple tools and attachments. Second is the desire for better visibility provided by the low-mounted boom. And third, a compact package is necessary for maneuverability in a farm setting.

Caterpillar set the tone the night before the start of the show with the introduction of its two new compact telehandlers initially offered with four ag-specific attachments. The TH210 and TH215 have German origins and are produced in the United Kingdom. On display at the show the next day were French-built units from Ingersoll-Rand and Italian-made models from both Terex and Xtreme.

Months ago Gehl recognized the need for a product to participate in this market segment, contributing to an agreement with Manitou, which will supply its French-produced compact telehandlers to Gehl. Gehl and sister organization Mustang are already well-positioned in the agricultural market. Meanwhile Manitou continues to market its own brand. Arguably the largest supplier of telehandlers into agricultural applications in the world, Manitou North America has been carefully developing the emerging market here for years.

Then there's Bobcat, which probably sells more skid steer loaders into ag applications than anyone. The company is actually touting its new telehandler as an alternative to skid steers.

At my count, that's at least nine compact telehandler marketers positioning themselves to harvest the same crop—among them the largest equipment manufacturers in the world. It will be interesting to see if the field is large enough to sustain them all.