The disclosure relates to a crane comprising an undercarriage, a uppercarriage mounted rotatably on the undercarriage, a boom connected to the uppercarriage, a derrick boom connected to the uppercarriage, via which the boom is braced, a guide connected to the uppercarriage, and a derrick ballast comprising at least two ballast elements that can be stacked on top of one another and a cross member, which is connected to the derrick boom via a ballast bracing and to the uppercarriage via the guide. The cross member can be connected to a stack of ballast elements via a retaining element comprising first connecting means for releasably connecting the retaining element to second connecting means of the ballast elements of the stack. The retaining element can be connected to a partial stack of ballast elements of the stack by moving the retaining element and/or the cross member relative to the uncoupled stack.

A self-stabilizing hoist apparatus for a lifting system is provided for re-positioning articles which, due to their weight and form, are not readily movable manually. The apparatus includes a support section, a collar section, and a plurality of stabilization members. The support section is adapted for securement to the lifting system, and the collar section is coupled to the support section by the plurality of stabilization members which extend therebetween. The collar section is reconfigurable between open and closed configurations and includes a plurality of arm portions each pivotally coupled to at least one other of the arm portions. At least first and second ones of the arm portions terminate at a free end. The collar section in the closed configuration defines a loop slipped about for capturing the article. In the open configuration, free ends of the arm portions are detached from one another to interrupt the loop.

A lifting assistance apparatus includes a vertically-suspended lift control device configured to selectively linearly retract, linearly extend, or hold a retractable load-bearing feature, a lifting attachment attached to the retractable load-bearing feature, where the lifting attachment includes an angled portion having two horizontally opposed lifting arms connected via a member and configured to fit to a container with a protrusion, such that the two lifting arms when positioned directly below the protrusion are configured to selectively contact and lift the container as the lifting attachment is at least partially lifted by a retraction of the load-bearing feature, and a graspable portion configured to permit a user to select a horizontal position and height of the container using the control device by moving the container vertically and/or horizontally, where the control device operates to provide assistance to the user when moving the container in the vertical direction.