A telehandler fitted only with standard pallet forks is only doing 50% of the work it was designed for. By utilising hydraulic quick-hitches and the correct attachments, a single telehandler can replace a crane, a loading shovel, and a site sweeper — on one day-rate, on one low-loader transit. This guide covers the attachments we dispatch most often, what each does well, and the safety derating implications you have to plan for.
Construction & lifting attachments
Extension jibs and lifting hooks. These transform your telehandler into a mobile pick-and-carry crane. Perfect for slinging awkward loads like roof trusses, steel beams, or bulk bags that cannot be palletised. The jib reduces the load chart materially — typically by 30–50% — because the load centre is now several metres beyond the standard 500 mm fork load centre. Using these requires strict adherence to slinging regulations (LOLER 1998, BS 7121) and the attachment-specific load chart must be in the cab.
Concrete skips. Eliminate the need to hire a separate concrete pump for smaller pours. A telehandler with a 400-, 600-, or 1,000-litre tipping skip can easily navigate muddy sites to pour footings, columns, and slabs safely. The skip itself weighs 150–300 kg empty, which must be deducted from the chart capacity.
Block grabs and brick grabs. Hydraulic clamps that grip a full bunker of blocks or a strap of bricks. Massively speeds up loading bricklayer gangs onto scaffolds — what used to take three operator runs with bare forks happens in one.
Waste, tipping and agricultural attachments
Heavy-duty muck grabs. Essential for waste transfer stations, recycling centres, and agricultural mucking out. These hydraulically operated grapples allow operators to bite into compacted waste or manure with massive breakout force. The muck grab is one of the most demanding attachments on the hydraulic system — we only dispatch with machines rated for the duty cycle.
Bucket sweepers and block brooms. Keep your site compliant with local road sweeping regulations. A sweeper attachment allows your operator to clear mud and debris from site exits and local roads at the end of the shift — avoiding the £100–£300 council fines that are now routinely issued for soiled highways across major UK boroughs.
Buckets — utility, GP, light material, grain. Telehandlers fitted with the right bucket replace a wheel loader on most house-builder sites. A 1 m³ general-purpose bucket on a JCB 540-180 handles topsoil, hardcore and aggregate without needing the contract a separate loading shovel.
Bale spikes and silage forks. Standard kit for agricultural and farm-contracting hires. The Manitou MLT and Merlo TF agri-spec machines accept hydraulic bale grabs as standard.
Safety warning: re-calibrating the lift
Site managers must remember that attaching heavy steel implements reduces the machine's net lifting capacity. A 500 kg sweeper brush sitting at the end of the boom shifts the centre of gravity drastically, and the LMI will derate the chart automatically — but the operator must still consult the attachment-specific load chart, not just the machine's standard chart.
We supply the relevant load chart with every attachment in the cab folder. If you receive an attachment without a chart, refuse the on-hire under PUWER Reg. 8 (information and instructions).
Quick-hitch compatibility
Most modern telehandlers use one of two industry-standard quick-hitch systems: the JCB Q-fit (on all JCB Loadall machines) and the Manitou / Merlo / CAT carriage (variants on the broadly compatible euro-hook). Cross-brand compatibility is good but not universal — we can supply hitch adapters with any cross-brand attachment hire, but the lead time is 24 hours longer if you don't specify it at booking.
Bundle your hire
When you request a quote for any of our machines, simply select the attachments you need from the form, and we will deliver them on the same low-loader. Most attachments add nothing to the transit cost; they ride on the deck or in the carriage on the way to site. Get a quote [blocked] and tell us what you need to lift, grab, pour or sweep — we will match the machine and the attachment set in one quote.
Reviewed against EN 1459-3:2015+A1:2018 (Rough-Terrain Trucks — Variable Reach) and BS 7121-2-5 (Code of Practice for safe use of cranes — Telescopic handlers). Last review: 23 May 2026.
