the only hydraulic ironworkers I know that dont pivot (swing) are the peddis and maybe some later mubeas, which had a machined vertical slide for the punch ram, so it went vertically up and down.
Actually, that's only true on the little Gekas (Minicrop, Microcrop and I think just the smallest Bendicrop) - once you get into the Hydracrop series, the punch has it's own vertical cylinder that runs independent of the pivot function on the rest of the machine. Additionally, this makes the Hydracrop line a true dual operator machine (designed as such, not just something you 'can' do).
The way I see it, there are 3 trains of thought on ironworkers:
-If you're primarily repairing farm equipment, and need a machine to cut stuff out of remnants or scrap by eye, or just want to hook a tape measure on the blade, get a Piranha. They're a very durable machine that will put up with some serious abuse, and a very simple design with good visibility. Last I looked, they still haven't gotten with the program on providing decent quick set gauging systems.
-If you primarily are doing new fabrication and prefer to use positive stops, and work from measurements instead of just eyeballing where a hole needs to be, the Geka is absolutely the way to go.
-If you want a glorified shop press to be able to cludge together your own oddball tools and setups, go the Scotchman route.
Each one has their place, just a matter of what it is that you make, or how you typically work.
My shop has a Geka Hydracrop 55. I'm really the shop that a Minicrop was designed for, the Hydracrop is way more machine than I need for the type and quantity of work that I do, but while I was looking for a Minicrop, I ran into a deal I couldn't refuse on the bigger machine. For your needs, I don't think you can go wrong with a Hydracrop (or the bigger Bendicrop, if the flatbar bending attachment would do you some good).
If I was looking at new, I would give Sunrise a good look. They seem to be pretty much a Geka clone, and thus have most of the features that really make a Geka shine. When I priced both Gekas and Sunrise a few years back, the Sunrise was a couple or 3 grand cheaper for a similarly outfitted machine.