I'm doing a story on this antique cane loader and I have a question. There is a "thing" that looks like a hydraulic cylinder about a foot long and 4" in diameter that has hoses going to it but the ram is connected to nothing. The ram moves in and out as the boom on the loader swings side to side. Why is this "thing" in the hydraulic system? What function does it perform? What is it called?
The loader
The "thing"