The 515-40 model is 1.8 metres high, 2.97 metres long and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes.

Gloucestershire plant hirer Rocket Rentals has taken delivery of some of the first of the new JCB 515-40 compact Loadall telehandlers to be sold in the UK from Holt JCB.

The Dursley-based company has ordered six units of the new telehandler model, which is the smallest Loadall telehandler produced by JCB. Each of the units ordered is specified with air-conditioning and licensed for road use.

Rocket Rentals has hired one out to Devizies-based construction firm Gaiger Bros Ltd, where it is working on a school renovation project in Warminster for three months. With a 1.56-metre (5.1 feet) width, the telehandler is the only machine which can travel through a narrow passway at the site's entrance.

Without the telehandler, Gaiger Bros would have been forced to hire a high-masted forklift for handling materials on a nearby sports field, and a compact dumper to take them through the passway to the construction point.

Gaiger Bros says the telehandler also provided health and safety benefits as the palletised loads it carries eliminate the manual handling of bricks that would have been necessary with the dumper option.

Rocket Rentals managing director Simon Tomblin says the plant hirer recognised the telehandler's strengths "from first sight". "It is so compact and low that you can now do jobs not previously possible without losing the lift and reach capabilities that make telehandlers so popular in plant hire."

"Versatility is the key for us and this machine can handle general construction duties as well as appealing to the waste and recycling industry, giving us a good route into a potentially lucrative sector... Another great feature is the compatibility with skid steer attachments like sweepers, augurs, buckets and forks, again creating a significant number of possible hire applications," he adds.

Launched last year, the 515-40 model is 1.8 metres (5.9 feet) high, 2.97 metres (9.7 feet) long and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes (Forkliftaction.com News #432). It features 4-wheel drive, 4-wheel steering and a hydrostatic transmission. It is powered by a 50hp Deutz engine and can handle a 1.5 tonne payload at a four-metre (13.1 foot) lift height.

Rocket Rentals, founded in 2003, has a fleet of about 300 machines comprising of 1-20 tonne excavators, dumpers, telehandlers and compaction equipment. It has over 40 JCB Loadall telehandlers in its fleet.