18.05.2026

When a telehandler falls short

Spotted in Albufeira, Southern Portugal, last week, a telehandler with a platform and…. A ladder!

One of our regular magazine readers spotted some men working on the stabilisation of a soft cliff face in the coastal town of Albufeira and could not believe what he was seeing.

In his own words: "I had noticed a work team spraying the limestone cliffs, with what looks like a mustard coloured ‘render’/concrete. Then I noticed them organising things in a basket attached to the telehandler in which they had placed a ladder. But I could not believe any of them were actually going to go up as far as the telehandler could reach and then use the ladder to add a few more metres!"

But that is exactly what they did.

"This is a huge civil engineering project, but our friend needed just that extra few metres beyond the Manitou’s platform. Fret not, though, he was wearing a full body harness…. But he clipped it onto the… ladder!"

"Who on earth trained them?"

Definitely one for our Death Wish series