Quick answer
Usually yes, if the substitute covers the same point on the load chart and fits the access. JCB and Manitou are the two most common telehandler brands on Australian sites, so their model numbers end up in specifications as shorthand for a 3 tonne class machine. Match capacity at reach, lift height, width and steering modes and the substitution is sound.
JCB and Manitou between them have put more telehandlers on Australian sites than anyone else, which is why their model numbers end up written into scopes of work. A hire desk reads JCB 531-70 or equivalent and the real question becomes: what makes something equivalent?
The four numbers that define the class
A fixed-boom telehandler in this bracket is described by four figures. Everything else is preference.
- Maximum capacity: around 3 tonne, at the boom retracted.
- Maximum lift height: around 6 to 7 metres.
- Maximum outreach: how far in front of the wheels it will place a load.
- Capacity at reach: the load chart, which is the only one of the four that decides jobs.
The machine we hire, the LGMG H730, sits squarely in that bracket: 3,000 kg, 6.9 m lift height, 4 m outreach, 6,900 kg operating weight, four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer with a 4 m turning radius. If the specification is written around a 3 tonne 7 metre machine, it covers the same work.
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.
Where a substitution genuinely fails
Not every swap is fine, and it is worth being straight about when it is not:
- The chart does not reach. If the job is 1,200 kg at full extension and the substitute drops to 950 kg there, it is the wrong machine. No amount of brand equivalence fixes that.
- Attachments are specified. A job written around a particular carriage, rotator or work platform needs that attachment available, and attachments are not interchangeable across brands.
- A principal contractor requires a specific machine. Some sites standardise on a brand for parts and service. That is a commercial requirement, not a technical one, but it is still binding.
- Telematics or emissions requirements. Occasionally a tier or telematics standard is written in. Check the engine data, the H730 runs a Kubota 54.6 kW (73.2 hp) diesel.
Licensing does not change with the badge
A telehandler is load-shifting plant. In NSW the operator must be trained and assessed as competent; where a non-slewing telehandler exceeds 3 tonne rated capacity, the TLILIC0005 non-slewing mobile crane licence comes into it. Lifting a person requires an approved work platform attachment and the matching licence, forks and a pallet is never acceptable, on any brand.
The practical approach
Send the hire desk the load, the height, the reach and the access width. Ask for the load chart of whatever machine is offered and check your point on it. If it clears, the machine will do the job whether it says JCB, Manitou or LGMG on the side.
We will do that check for you before quoting, tell us the lift and we will confirm the H730 covers it.