Pettibone Celebrates 50th Anniversary of First Extendo Telehandler

Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pettibone Model 88 Extendo, which, according to Pettibone, is the first telescopic handler ever produced.

Michael Roth

Jan. 27, 2020

2 min read

Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Pettibone Model 88 Extendo, which, according to Pettibone, is the first telescopic handler ever produced. Developed in the late 1960s, the first Model 88 Extendo unit was completed and delivered in early 1970, as documented by the original bill of sale from March 24, 1970.

“Pettibone has a rich heritage of which we are extremely proud,” said Scott Raffaelli, vice president and general manager for Pettibone. “For almost 140 years, Pettibone has established a very high standard for rugged, reliable material handling equipment, and that’s a standard we continue to try to exceed today.”

Current Extendo models include the 944X, 1246X and 1258X, all part of Pettibone’s next gen X-Series lineup. The X-Series also includes the unique Traverse, the only telehandler line currently on the market with an extendable traversing boom that moves loads with a horizontally sliding carriage.

Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC is part of the Pettibone LLC Heavy Equipment Group. Founded in 1881, Pettibone has been recognized as an industry leader in material handling equipment since the company revolutionized the industry with forward-reaching, rough-terrain machines in the 1940s.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.