Secondary hood latch

In a tractor vehicle having an engine enclosing hood assembly utilizing a rear hood section and a front hood section mounted on rollers and capable of being rolled forward to provide access to said engine the improvement comprising:

• a primary latch having a hood latch bolt horizontally fixed to a front hood bracket, a catch mounted for pivotal rotation on a primary pivot point mounted to said rear hood section, an unlatching bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said primary pivot point for urging said catch to an unlatched position;
• a secondary latch pivotally mounted for limited motion to a secondary latch pivot point carried on said rear hood section, said secondary latch in close proximity to said primary latch and interconnected therewith through a linkage means connecting said secondary latch to said unlatching bell crank lever, said secondary latch extending forward from said rear hood section and including a latch hook and a hook fixed to said front hood bracket, said hook having an inclined face portion, said hook bite projecting toward the front of said vehicle for engagement with said latch hook;
• a remote handle release connected by a cable to said secondary latch for urging said secondary latch away from said hook, said secondary latch progressively connected to said primary latch by said linkage means whereby said primary latch will be released after said secondary latch upon further displacement of said remote handle release;
• a hood release handle located inside said engine compartment enclosure and accessible from outside said engine compartment enclosure pivotally mounted in said rear hood section connected to said secondary hood latch for unlatching said secondary hook latch from engagement with said hook.