A lift crane (10, 410) comprising: a) a carbody (12, 412); b) moveable ground engaging members (14, 414) mounted on the carbody (12, 412) allowing the crane (10, 410) to move over the ground; c) a rotating bed (20, 420) rotatably connected to the carbody (10, 410) about an axis of rotation, the rotating bed (20, 420) comprising a counterweight support frame (32, 432); d) a boom (22, 422) pivotally mounted about a fixed boom hinge point on the front portion of the rotating bed (20, 420) and including a load hoist line for handling a load; characterized by: e) a boom hoist system connected to the rotating bed (20, 420) and the boom (22, 422) that allows the angle of the boom (22, 422) relative to the plane of rotation of the rotating bed (20, 420) to be changed, the boom hoist system comprising a live mast (28, 428) pivotally connected to the rotating bed (20, 420), and boom hoist rigging between the live mast (28, 428) and the boom (22, 422) comprises only fixed length members; f) a counterweight unit (35, 435) supported on the counterweight support frame (32, 432) in a moveable relationship with respect to the counterweight support frame (32, 432); and g) a counterweight unit movement device connected between the rotating bed (20, 420) and the counterweight unit (35, 435) so as to be able to move the counterweight unit (35, 435) toward and away from the boom (22, 422); h) wherein the crane (10, 410) is configured such that during crane operation, when the counterweight unit (35, 435) is moved to compensate for changes in the combined boom and load moment, the moment generated by the counterweight unit (35, 435) acts on the rotating bed (20, 420) predominantly through the counterweight support frame (32, 432). a) a carbody (12, 412); b) moveable ground engaging members (14, 414) mounted on the carbody (12, 412) allowing the crane (10, 410) to move over the ground; c) a rotating bed (20, 420) rotatably connected to the carbody (10, 410) about an axis of rotation, the rotating bed (20, 420) comprising a counterweight support frame (32, 432); d) a boom (22, 422) pivotally mounted about a fixed boom hinge point on the front portion of the rotating bed (20, 420) and including a load hoist line for handling a load; e) a boom hoist system connected to the rotating bed (20, 420) and the boom (22, 422) that allows the angle of the boom (22, 422) relative to the plane of rotation of the rotating bed (20, 420) to be changed, the boom hoist system comprising a live mast (28, 428) pivotally connected to the rotating bed (20, 420), and boom hoist rigging between the live mast (28, 428) and the boom (22, 422) comprises only fixed length members; f) a counterweight unit (35, 435) supported on the counterweight support frame (32, 432) in a moveable relationship with respect to the counterweight support frame (32, 432); and g) a counterweight unit movement device connected between the rotating bed (20, 420) and the counterweight unit (35, 435) so as to be able to move the counterweight unit (35, 435) toward and away from the boom (22, 422); h) wherein the crane (10, 410) is configured such that during crane operation, when the counterweight unit (35, 435) is moved to compensate for changes in the combined boom and load moment, the moment generated by the counterweight unit (35, 435) acts on the rotating bed (20, 420) predominantly through the counterweight support frame (32, 432).