Cylinders on tilt deck

I have a little towmaster tilt deck trailer that I just bought this summer.

The deck is hard to get to tilt. It’s fine if you have a machine to tip it, but if I back off it with something that I can’t use to pick the ass up to get it latched back flat, I can’t jump on he nose and make it tip back.
The cylinders have no hoses or flow control. Just a plug in each side.
Anyone else have something like this?
Do I just need to be King Kong? Eat more donuts?
Are the cylinders engineered in a way internally that they bleed oil past the glands? Should they have hoses and a flow control? Could I make it power tip with the hydraulics off the truck?

If the plugs are sintered brass inserts or plugs with very small holes, it sounds like they are just acting as a speed control device using air compression as the cushion and speed control. Those types of plugs are usually used on single acting cylinders to ensure no excessive dust/dirt can get into the internal parts of the cylinders. If the mounts look solid enough to handle hydraulic pressure, add a pump and hoses to get you fixed up.

If the cylinders are correctly installed to lift and lower the deck with hydraulic force, it would be easy enough to purchase a small 12v hydraulic pump with integral tank and the required hoses. Check on Ebay for 12v hydraulic double acting pump with reservoir. They usually run around $200 or so. A 1 or 2 gallon reservoir should be enough. Once installed with hoses and oil, you should try working it at a reduced pressure to make sure nothing is binding and you don't twist up any of the structure. If everything works good, you can increase the pressure, if needed, to rated specs.

I use one of these pumps on my truck ramps and it works well. It certainly saved my back.

Our tilter has similar cylinders but with a hose connecting the ports I think it has an orifice of sorts

I guess the first thing would be to take the plugs out and try it

I have pulled a tilt bed like this on & off since 78, and owned it from 92 til 08. It had a single hyd cylinder with a bypass, basically a shock absorber. The deck, while being longer to the tail than to the front from the pivot point was balanced so well that a chain & binder on the deck would make it tilt down or up. I added diamond plate to the 4' wide center to haul forklifts, but it became tail heavy with the extra 6' length. I welded some old cutting edges under the front til it balanced properly again, 150 lbs maybe? The trailer was shopbilt by a lowbed driver/welder in 1968 with used military type axles. I bought it from that company, sold it when I sold my trucks, and just last Feb, re-aquired it for the Const Co, I have been working part time for. It has seen it's share of service. Might have a pic somewhere.