Abstract: An improved container dumping apparatus is described for automatically lifting residential refuse containers to an elevated position and dumping them into the elevated access area of a collection tank. A carriage with gripping arms is guided up the vertical portion of a set of tracks. The tracks transition into a curved portion at the top end which inverts the container over the access area through movement along the curved track. The carriage is self-powered by a hydraulic motor mounted on the carriage. The dumping apparatus uses an rack and pinion arrangement for forcibly elevating the carriage, with the rack being parallel to the set of tracks and the pinion mounted on the shaft of the motor on the carriage. A piston operated power assistance apparatus is located coincident with the curved portion of the track to engage the carriage as it approaches the curved portion, to provide additional power to aid movement of the carriage over the curved portion, and to control its speed.