Do I need to shred hay for horizontal TMR with a Silage Special baler?

With all the trouble with rain over the last few years, I am considering upgrading my JD 535 baler to a Silage Special and putting up baleage. I have a small Patz horizontal TMR with knives (not sure what good they do) and a tub grinder that I use to shred the hay before I mix.

If I buy a silage special baler, do I still need to shred the hay in the tub grinder before I mix with a horizontal TMR or does the baler cut up the hay enough that I can skip grinding hay? I would love to skip the tub grinder. I was going to upgrade my TMR to a vertical with knives, but I can not afford to upgrade both my baler and TMR at the same time as well as buy a wrapper.

Are there some balers (brand/model) that work better than others? I have small herd so I am looking for a baler less than 15k.

I see a lot of talk about silage special, crop cutter, bale slicers. What is the difference or are these just different names for the same thing.

Thanks in advance.

Do I need to shred hay for horizontal TMR with a Silage Special baler?