Quick answer
Most jobs need a fixed boom. A rotating telehandler earns its extra cost only when the machine cannot be repositioned between picks, a fixed set-up point with loads to place through an arc. If the machine can drive round, a fixed-boom 3 tonne telehandler does the same work for less.
Magni and Merlo both build rotating telehandlers, roto machines, where the whole upper structure turns on a slew ring like a crane. They are impressive, and on the right job nothing else will do. They are also considerably more expensive to hire and more demanding to operate, and a good share of the jobs they are booked for could be done with a fixed boom.
What rotation actually buys you
A roto lets the machine set up once, put stabilisers down, and then place loads anywhere through its slew arc without moving. That matters when:
- The machine physically cannot be repositioned: a single hardstand, a courtyard, a bridge deck.
- Loads have to go over an obstacle to a point the machine cannot drive to.
- The job is a sequence of picks around one point, and repositioning a fixed machine each time would cost more in time than the roto costs in hire.
- Work platform duties are involved and the platform has to be moved through an arc rather than driven.
What it costs you
On stabilisers, a roto is a stationary machine. It is heavier, wider set up, slower to relocate, and the capacity on stabilisers at reach is governed by a chart that is not directly comparable to a fixed machine driving on wheels. Operator competency requirements step up too. For a builder moving pallets around an open site all day, that is a lot of machine standing still.
What a fixed boom does instead
A fixed-boom telehandler drives to the load, picks it up and drives it to where it goes. Our LGMG H730 is the standard version of that: 3,000 kg to 6.9 m, 4 m outreach, four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer with a 4 m turning radius, ±5 degrees of frame tilt to level the load on a slope, and 24.9 km/h in second gear so it covers a site quickly. On a job where the machine can move, that mobility is worth more than rotation.
Capacity is a curve, not a number
Every telehandler is sold on one figure, 3 tonne, 4 tonne, and that figure is the capacity at the boom fully retracted, close to the machine. The number that decides whether the machine can do your job is the capacity at the reach and height you actually need. That is the load chart, and it is the first page to ask for.
Here is the rough-terrain load chart for the H730 we hire, straight off the LGMG specification sheet:
| Load chart step | Capacity |
|---|---|
| Close in, boom retracted | 3,000 kg |
| Progressively further out and higher | 2,500 kg |
| 2,000 kg | |
| 1,500 kg | |
| 1,200 kg | |
| At maximum reach | 950 kg |
A pallet of bricks that the machine picks up easily at the truck can be beyond it at 6 metres up and 3 metres out. Take the heaviest load, the height it has to reach and the distance from the wheels, and check that point on the chart before you book.
How to decide in one question
Ask: can the machine drive to every point where a load has to be placed?
- Yes: hire a fixed boom. It will be cheaper, faster round the site and easier to crew.
- No: price a roto, and be ready for the set-up requirements: level standing, stabiliser footings, and a chart read on stabilisers rather than on wheels.
If you are not sure which side of that line the job falls on, describe the site and the picks to us. We hire the fixed-boom machine and we will tell you honestly if the job wants a roto instead.