Well I have an older Bale King, which is a lot like Vermeer. Most people around here run haybusters. Main reason is because the dealer buy in mass volume. They make a lot of multiple bale machines.
I like the Vermeer style because I can accidentally drop a bale in flat side down & it will feed. The old style haybusters....like the plus 2's, you had to watch the loading beds. Also they had just two chains instead of three. The pto's had sharper angles. If your looking new, a lot of that stuff has been changed. One guy thinks the bale kings are noisier than the haybusters. Haybuster is a very good machine. They all work good. If money isn't a concern, I wouldn't go with anything older than a 2650. Nothing wrong with 2620, Plus II, or older but they had some flaws like chain & loading table.
Highline use to make Vermeer's machine. I liked their design etc better, just me. I think they parted ways 2-3 years ago. Vermeer had to come up with there own stuff. For various reasons I'm not crazy about it. If dealer support is a concern, I'd think you should still be able to get the highline parts from Vermeer. Highline hasn't changed their design, so a new highline should have parts support through Vermeer.
How much hay are you going to feed? I've had my 810 Bale King for 13 years. Broke 3 flails. Replaced drum(rotar) due to design flaw. I had to remove flails, so replaced bolts & bushings just because. Honestly, there isn't much that wears out. U joints, orbit motors, bearings, are all pretty much standard. My machine is made in Canada. PTO shaft & c.v.joint are kinda spendy because of the brand....can't remember. Pretty sure haybuster is square, so plus there. Guess what I'm saying is parts, for the most part are universal unless your getting a grain tank or something.
I personally like the way a rotar style spins the bale vs haybuster with the roller chain. The turning drums get a better grip on turning the bale. Say with a soft core bale, the haybuster sometimes wear a grove through bale & not turn it. Hard core bale, you can almost lock your hydrolic level in place & never look back. Where with the other style, occiosanlly, you might have to change rotation of the bale while feeding, but not often.
I really like my Bale King. The new Vermeer don't impress me, but that's just me. Haybuster is a good machine too.
