I'm not telling anyone what to do. all options mentioned here work.
Wire tie balers fell out of favor locally back in the early 50s around here - before my time.I think I have seen 2 of them in my lifetime.
I understand the could pack more hay tighter - so the bales indeed should be much heavier. This made them popular out west, where shipping hay was important.
Anyone who used hay on their own farm just hated the wire. Bales heavy, metal bits in feed, and so on.
I don't know of a store around here even selling wire any more. As a little boy, I remember the last bundle of wires dad used up for handy use around the farm - was binder wire actually. He was happy to be rid of the wire tie baler long before then.....
As to the new round baler vs an old one - either one will break down, a NH, Vermeer, or JD baler I can have any part I need on my farm in 30 minutes to 24 hours. And lots of people that can explain the problem over the phone to me.
Those new tiny round balers are imports from China or a Soviet Bloc nation, and parts - what parts? Hope you can find a metal shop to fab what you will need..... Just my opinion.
--->Paul