MERLO displayed its Multifarmer 40.9 CS, a combination tractor and telescopic boom that boasts a hydro-pneumatic CS cab suspension. This Multifarmer model will be sold in Europe in 2010 and could become a key product in North America for cereal and dairy farms, says Paolo Peretti. The MultiFarmer has a 3-point linkage, 140 hp Deutz engine and a boom lift height up to 29 ft. that can lift up to The MutliFarmer also has an optional front PTO and it can lift up to 8,800 lb. Through an importer, Merlo is selling more than 100 telehandlers a year in Canada, with the company developing its markets from east to west. But plans for the U.S. are still developing. "In Canada we discovered something closer to the European mentality toward machines, so why not use the same approach there?" Peretti says. "With any new markets, we want to enter them step by step."

MANITOU showed its MLT 735 LSU Turbo multi-purpose telehandler, which features a 7,500-lb. lift capacity, lift height of 22 ft., 9 in. and a maximum forward reach of 12 ft., 9 in., a 123 hp Perkins engine, 3 steering modes and a JSM joystick. Francois F. Piffard says Mantiou recognizes the need for telehandlers in agriculture and the demand for the machines in North America. "We have to find the right-size machines and the right dealers," Piffard says. "The farmers need high-capacity machines." He also says the exchange rate between the dollar and euro is making expansion in North America difficult at this time.