A hydraulic cylinder enclosing a cavity, the cylinder containing a thru hole, an inner cylinder surface, and a longitudinal axis, and a piston within the cavity and movable relative to the cylinder in parallel to the longitudinal axis between a first and second positions. The piston includes a rod extending through the thru hole, the piston attached to the rod and in sealed engagement with the inner cylinder surface, and dividing the cavity into low and high pressure cavities, and each of the low and high pressure cavities containing a hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic cylinder further including a flexible bladder within the high pressure cavity containing a gas and preventing the gas from mixing with hydraulic fluid in the high pressure cavity. The flexible bladder is attached to an end of the cylinder, and is expandable within the high pressure cavity so that when the piston is in the first position, the flexible bladder and the gas are compressed, and as the piston moves toward the second position, the flexible bladder and the gas fill at least a portion of the high pressure cavity.