Your points are fair enough, Leno. However, I think that the idea of a pvc/air/hydralic bears some thought. Around here, teenagers are fond of "potato guns", made from 3 inch pvc tubes, and that is a lot of expanding power. Schedule 40 PVC pipes have 3/16 sidewalls and are seamless. I would suggest that for the weight and travel of this theoretical braking system, four 3 inch pipes on 4 corners with decompression holes at the bottom to let the air out of the ram, it might work to adequetly slow a falling platform of roughly 400 pounds down.You understand, again, I'm just brainstorming. (The four hundred pound figure comes from the weight of the platform, 200 pds, with a counterbalance, and two, 200 pound people.)
