inline baler vs 'conventional' baler....

[sunrise77]

Background:

I cut and bale somewhere between 70 and 85 acres of grass hay for my wife's horse boarding operation yearly.
Currently running a NH273 and a very 'touchy' farmhand accumulator that i did eventually get running last year.
Last year I put up somewhere around 2200 square bales. Probably fewer this year, but not by much...and it may end up being more....depends on how a new field does.

Situation and circumstances:

Started haying because we wanted control over the quality and availability of bales -- it was a dry year and nobody was selling. I have a pretty good job, the deductions of equipment and land leases/purchases works out very much in our favor at tax time.
My tax accountant has advised us that it would be in our best interests to find some more equipment to buy and depreciate.

Questions for the group:

I really like the look of the inline massey balers -- 1838, 1840, etc... Being able to lazily roll down the windrow and have a super-wide pickup directly behind me seems incredibly effort-free. Pretty sure my farmhand accumulator could be setup to work with it, or if not...a new accumulator isn't out of the question.

But -- the newer JD/NH/etc conventional balers look pretty good too -- and there must be a darn good reason why there are so few manufacturers that make inline balers and so many that still make conventional 'off the side' models...

I'm looking to end up with 65 to 75 pound bales from my brome/orchard/timothy/sweet clover various fields....that are straight and very square. I'm looking for something that will tie and function as reliably as my NH273 has, and something that generally doesn't require a rocket scientist to repair. I do all my own work and demand to keep it that way so i can fix my own broken crap when the rains are coming.

I wouldn't say that money is no object, because it always is of course... and i'm sure there are other discussions that i should probably search for....but i'm wondering what the general consensus is on what you all would buy if you were buying a new or nearly-new machine to take over your square-baling duties...

There is a a JD, NH, and MF dealer all within 35 or so miles of me for reference as well.

As A custom harvest operator for 10 years, i stacked over a million bales with new holland bale wagons . the Hesston inline design , produced by far the most consistent size bales . Easiest to stack and handle , and from the farmers that owned them the most trouble free. I owned NH and JD balers at the time . I preferred the JD over the New Holland for bale consistency , though was in the process of buying an inline when I switched careers . just realized I was replying to 10 year old post .

 

[Hay Dude]

I, too have found Hesston to build the best balers. In the large square baler category, too.
Now Fendt is in the market And along with Krone, presents some serious competition.