A hydraulic boom control system for a forestry machine includes a pump forpressurizing ahydraulic fluid on a high pressure side, a reservoir for storing hydraulicfluid on a lowpressure side, and a first hydraulic cylinder including a cap end and a rodend. The firsthydraulic cylinder is configured to actuate the hoist of the boom. A secondhydrauliccylinder includes a cap end and a rod end and is configured to actuate thestick of the boom.A first control valve is operable to control the first hydraulic cylinder. Asecond controlvalve is operable to control the second hydraulic cylinder. A variable returnmetering valveis fluidly connected to at least one of the first or second control valves.The variable returnmetering valve is operable to modulate shared hydraulic fluid flow between thefirsthydraulic cylinder and the second hydraulic cylinder.
