Rough terrain vehicle

Claim 1

A material handling vehicle adapted for rough terrain usage comprising a frame, front and rear wheels on said frame, an engine on said frame adjacent said rear wheels and coupled to the same for propelling said vehicle, a turntable rotatably mounted on said frame intermediate said front and rear wheels, a boom pivotally mounted at its inboard end on said turntable and equipped with material-handling means at its outboard end, hydraulic valving means mounted on said turntable on one side of said boom for moving said boom through a vertical arc, a cab on said turntable on the other side of said boom from said hydraulic valving means and relatively elongated in the direction of boom length, said boom being collapsible to a position rearwardly so as to provide unobstructed visibility on both sides of said cab, said cab being equipped with a set of controls at each end thereof, the control set adjacent the material-handling means being coupled to said hydraulic valving means for operating said boom and for rotating said turntable so as to move said boom through a horizontal arc, the control set at the other end of said cab being coupled to said wheels for control of said vehicle during self-propelled operation over a road, an operator seat midway between said control sets in said cab, said seat being mounted for rotary movement about a generally vertical axis whereby said material-handling means is adapted to be operated by an operator seated in said seat when said material-handling means is positioned forwardly of said front wheels and whereby said vehicle is adapted to be controlled for forward self-propulsion by an operator sitting in said seat with said material-handling means positioned aft of said rear wheels.