Abstract: A front end loader mechanism for a refuse handling vehicle wherein a pair of swingable lift arms have a pair of pivoted fork arms for engaging a refuse container and lifting it to an unloading position, the fork arms being foldable relative to the lift arms when the latter are in a transport position to minimize the overall length of the vehicle and have a cam abutment arrangement establishing the minimum angle to which the fork arms can be moved relative to the lift arms in the unloading position to prevent interference between various components of the loader mechanism, vehicle and refuse container.