Apparatus and methods are provided for controlling a double-acting hydraulic cylinder during a load-induced rod-extending operation, where the cylinder is activated by fluid supplied from a reservoir by a pump, and the cylinder has a rod end, a head end, a piston connected to a rod for engaging the load, the cylinder piston being urged toward the rod end by the load during the operation. The apparatus includes a cylinder activating circuit including an activation valve for providing a flow path from the pump to the cylinder head end; a flow regeneration circuit fluidly connecting the cylinder rod end and the cylinder head end and configured for providing flow from the cylinder rod end to the cylinder head end during rod extension, the regeneration circuit including a regeneration flow valve; and a controller operatively connected to the regeneration flow valve and the activation valve, the controller being responsive to rod-extending rate demands from an operator to control the activation valve to provide flow from the pump to the head end and to control the regeneration valve to provide flow from the rod end to the head end. The cylinder activating circuit also includes a return flow path and a return valve positioned in the return flow path and configured to control flow from the cylinder rod end to the fluid reservoir. Both the activation valve and the return valve are controllable by the controller independently from the regeneration flow valve.