Have not owned an axial flow but have run beside one in a few crops and our 62 was equal to the 2188, and any given day in the right conditions either one could be in front. Our reason for the gleaners is their capacity, simplicity, (can have rotor out in .5 hour, all clutches are external and easy to get at all drives are fairly easy to get to as well, engine compartment stays relatively clean and engine is accesable from 3 sides)We have had 4 2series machines and have yet to have a major break and the ones we have had have not equaled much for down time. If you do go gleaner the mods that NDDAN has talked about are definately worth the investment. Now for the negative because all colors have some, feeding capacity has been a imiting factor, we plan on doing the feeder mods this winter(lowerd floor),straw chopping and spread even with fine cut is not always the most consistant depending on wind etc, baling behind one is not easy at the best of times with a chopper anyway, hydro location on 2 series can have a whine to it. To sum it up we realy like our machines and feel the benefits outway the negatives. We had the oportunity to demo an AFX 8010, CR 970, and 470 lexion this fall and although 2 of the 3 were somewhat bigger than our 62 they were not as much bigger than we thought for 10 years and 150 extra hp. Whatever you choose good luck and remember all dealers have parts departments and shops.