A fifth wheel hitch (10) has a skid plate (28) pivotally mounted to a housing (18) for lateral pivotable movement. The hitch is closed with a sliding jaw plate and has a lock block (54) that optionally can affix the skid plate to the housing during towing of a trailer. Both the jaw plate (36) and lock block (54) are operated and set by a handle (20) that extends out of the side of the housing. The handle has a crank (21) that can both be rotated and pulled by the operator from the side of a pickup truck for convenience in operation to control both opening and closing the hitch and selectively setting the lock block.