Off-the road vehicle for recreational and work applications

Abstract

An off-the-road recreational vehicle is described which has at least one steerable front wheel, two driving rear wheels, an engine unit mounted in the vicinity of the center of the vehicle frame for transmitting power from the engine's shaft to the rear driving wheels through a transmission mechanism and a rider's seat arranged above and rearward of the engine unit. To convert the recreational vehicle to a work vehicle, a hydraulic pressure generating mechanism, including a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic fluid reservoir provided with the pump being driven by the engine's shaft at a point upstream of the vehicle's transmission. A manually-operable hydraulic pump clutch is interposed between the engine's shaft and the hydraulic pump for selectively engaging and disengaging the pump from the engine. A quick-disconnect coupler mechanism is disposed along the length of a hydraulic line which is used to connect the hydraulic pump to a working hydraulic accessory detachably secured to the vehicle's frame. The coupler is of a type which prevents the hydraulic working fluid from flowing out of the lines when the quick-disconnect coupler is uncoupled. The hydraulic accessory would typically include a hydraulic motor and a tool of some sort driven by that hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor may be a part of the accessory itself or, alternatively, may be a part of the vehicle so as to be used with a variety of working attachments.