Container lifting system

A lifting attachment, comprising:

• an angled portion having two horizontally opposed lifting arms connected via a member, a portion of the member being semicircular, 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 lift the container as the lifting attachment is lifted;
• an angled offset portion configured to connect to a vertically-suspended lift control device configured to selectively linearly retract, linearly extend, or hold a retractable 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 or horizontally.

A method of manipulating a container, comprising:

• receiving a container to be moved to a desired location, the container comprising a protrusion, the container having a primary diameter and the protrusion having a diameter that is larger than the primary diameter;
• positioning a lifting attachment having two horizontally opposed lifting proximate the container and below the protrusion;
• raising the lifting attachment such that the lifting arms contact the protrusion, and a single movable unit is formed comprising the lifting attachment and the container;
• and
• using a controller to selectively control a height of the movable unit and/or manually move the movable unit horizontally.